YET ANOTHER delay in reforming farm payments under the notorious Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is causing more dismay for farmers and landowners.

The past two years have been marred by late payments from the Rural Payments Agency, a newly created branch of the rural affairs department Defra, but now another glitch has arisen in Brussels which represents another severe threat to farm incomes.

...previous funding schemes closed in the summer, and we still have no clear idea of when to expect their replacements

Douglas Chalmers - Country Land and Business Association

According to the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), the launch of the new rural development funding element of the CAP now seems even further away. This new delay is a result of the EU Parliament failing to agree Defra's plans for voluntary modulation.

"This news is very serious, with major implications for rural enterprise and employment. We are now looking at a major funding gap at a time when both Government rural policy and market pressures are encouraging farm diversification and the development of novel rural businesses, "says Douglas Chalmers, Northern Director of the CLA

"The previous funding schemes closed in the summer, and we still have no clear idea of when to expect their replacements.

"The original plan was for new funding schemes to commence in early 2007. We are now looking at many months later. In the meantime, what are those businesses and rural entrepreneurs to do? Delays lead to further delays. Unavailable funding means projects cannot be committed to, and builders or weather opportunities lost, often for a full year. By that time, the moment or new opportunity may have been lost, or an existing business has failed.

"Once again, decisions at the highest level will have the greatest effect on the ground, stifling the very people and businesses whose activities can generate the most valuable benefits for rural communities. These are the very people and businesses who should be receiving the greatest encouragement.

• Farmers and landowners in Yorkshire are also being warned to get up to speed on new animal transport regulations which come into effect on January 5 - but few people in the industry seem clear about their new legal responsibilities, says county CLA Director Dorothy Fairburn. For more information, see www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/farmed/transport/eu-transportreg.htm