SIR Donald Curry's Policy Commission report on the future of farming and food contained a lot of fine words. Many of the issues and initiatives referred to in the weighty document are things that most farmers and consumers would sign up to.

The promotion of locally-produced food is one concept which many people are beginning to realise offers farmers significant opportunities and the report has a number of good ideas in this area.

The key, and most controversial, issue is that of the switch of subsidy away from production to environmental and rural development. Everybody says we must stop producing food for which there is no market and most agree there is much to be done to protect the attractiveness of the countryside. The difficulty is in the practical detail of changing the subsidy system.

At the heart of the problem lies Europe and the Common Agricultural Policy. Again everyone has been saying reform is essential but our politicians have been incapable of bringing about that reform within the EC.

France and Germany, who pay great heed to their farm lobbies, have been and remain a major obstacle to reform. It is hard to see how reform will come about with the current political realities.

In the meantime Britain's farm industry continues to decline, disadvantaged by an unsympathetic domestic Government, and an international food industry driven to take profits wherever it can.

If any farmers thought Sir Donald's reports would offer tangible support in their hour of need, they have been badly misled.