I realise that farming has always been subject to Government policy and controls of different kinds, but it really came home to me as I received the annual statement from the Department of Agriculture, specifying under what headings I had received various payments.

There was, of course, the normal basic scheme payment (BPS), including the 30% greening element. This greening element itself is subject to intensive debate in the current discussions on the new CAP. But as well as the BPS payment, I received the beef finisher compensation, triggered by the drop in price because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Obviously, I applied for the money – I met the conditions, there were no other requirements and, unlike the BEAM scheme, there were no stock number implications.

All of these payments required detailed applications

The payment for the beans is now well established to encourage protein production and it too has arrived safely, as has the TAMS payment for a new fertiliser spreader I bought during the year.

All of these payments required detailed applications, sometimes with passwords and security links, but more than that, clear titles of one kind or another to land use and as they were all online, a good working knowledge of computer technology or access to somebody with that capacity.

What I found terrifying about the form from the Department was that the total received, I reckon, when the accounts for the difficult year of 2020 are actually done, will actually exceed the net farm income. In other words, without these subventions we would have farmed at a loss.

Personally, I would prefer if we were given a choice to have a payment for the importation of organic manures

And it seems there are more complications to come. I will be fascinated to see how the new straw incorporation payment will work. As a way of getting carbon back into the soil, it is to be welcomed, though when our tillage soils were being measured for organic matter, I was always pleased at how the organic levels had stayed up.

Personally, I would prefer if we were given a choice to have a payment for the importation of organic manures such as mushroom compost, dairy sludge from the dairy industry’s manufacturing facilities, or pig slurry. The principle of returning organic matter to tillage soils is welcome, but at the same time, I would like to see my existing straw customers being facilitated to continue using it.