FARMERS in the North-East have been hearing about changes in the European subsidy system.

The Single Payment Scheme will involve one lump sum handout, as opposed to various smaller amounts that depend on production.

Officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Rural Payments Agency are touring the country with seminars to explain the biggest change in farm payments in the last 30 years.

Officials say the scheme will mean farmers can concentrate on meeting the needs of the market as opposed to hitting subsidy targets.

Ron Scrutton, head of the single payment scheme for Defra, said: "Up until now we have had a series of Common Agriculture Policy schemes that depended on how many sheep they reared or how much grain they grew.

"There was a lot of form filling and this will reduce the amount of bureaucracy and paperwork. They will not have to produce goods if the market conditions do not require it. They just have to maintain the land based on the conditions we set."

The roadshow was at Newcastle Racecourse yesterday and will be at Thirsk Racecourse, North Yorkshire, today.