FARMERS must speak up more to get their points across in any consultation exercises or discussions.

That plea came from Robert Campbell, the national chairman of Leaf (Linking Environment and Farming), as he opened a tour of his Oneholmes Farm, near Stokesley, where he led discussions on the likely impact of CAP reform.

Many non-farming groups had been very successful in lobbying for their own particular proposals on environmental issues to be taken into account, he said. Farmers needed to do more to have their own say in the proposals.

Mr Campbell was host to a visit by the North Yorkshire Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group. Phil Lyth and Karen Stanley, FWAG conservation advisers, held a short farm walk and a lot of serious discussion, entitled Preparing for 2005.

Oneholmes is run by Robert, Fiona and James Campbell and has been a Leaf farm for a number of years.

Leaf was founded 13 years ago and works to promote integrated farm management - farming practices which combine modern agriculture with environmental sensitivity.

The first stop on the walk was to look at thorn hedges and adjacent uncropped field margins and field corners, noting the importance of such areas for skylark nesting sites.

Mr Campbell pointed out that there was a proposal for an unpaid-for, mandatory requirement of the new single farm payment, which was based mainly on eligible acreage, and it might require farmers to keep at least a two-metre uncropped margin from the centre of any hedge.

He said this should be strongly opposed as it penalised farmers with extensive hedgerows, since the margins would not be eligible for area payments.

Oneholmes Farm had an average 93m of hedge-side per hectare of land, so a one-metre uncropped margin would account for one hectare in every 107 hectares on the farm.

After looking at the plants growing in a 20-metre set-aside strip, the group stopped in woodland by a tree-lined pond, where there was a talk on woodland management, and the care needed before undertaking any pond renovation.

The walk continued across an example of permanent pasture, with rigg and furrow still evident, and culminated in the examination of test pits dug into the soil, one in cultivated land, one in set-aside headland, and one in permanent pasture, to demonstrate soil structure in relation to differing agricultural use of land.

Karen Stanley reminded the group how much organic carbon had been lost from soils in recent years, and stressed the need for farmers to pay much more attention to soil management.

Farmers might be described as sunshine harvesters and, although agriculture had always been a market-driven system, this had been distorted by government grants for particular types of production, she said.

There was no new support money for farmers, and the redistribution through the introduction of the SFP, together with cross compliance and the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme, would make such great changes to the support system that food production could almost become optional.

Farmers would be supported on the eligible area of their land and for the way their land management complied with specific environmental issues. Farmers who wished to influence the system must be prepared to speak out.

Organisations such as Leaf and FWAG could provide valuable assistance to help farmers progress under the new system.

The event was attended by Alan Dodsworth, Northern regional manager of FWAG; Ben Scotting, sustainable woodlands adviser for Yorwoods, and 34 visitors, including farmers from a wide area.

The event was supported by J G Paxton and Sons, Northallerton.

* On Thursday, North Yorkshire FWAG takes a look at farming and conservation in the River Ure catchment area, near Ripon.

Low Lindrick Farm was originally part of the Studley estate and extends to 1,400 acres of farmland, with 600 acres of woodland.

The farm has been arable and dairy for the past 25 years but CAP reform has seen it quit livestock to focus on environmental and equestrian projects, with a simpler arable enterprise.

A new flood storage scheme is under discussion as part of the Ripon Flood Alleviation Scheme.

Anyone interested should meet at Cow Myers, Galphay, Ripon, at 6.30.