CAMPAIGNERS have won important concessions in the Government's proposed single farm payment scheme.

But, while there was good news for some, there are still a number of questions which remain unanswered.

A major concession won is the exemption of fields under five acres from the need for a two-metre buffer zone around hedges and ditches.

New hedges planted after January 1, 2005, will not require a buffer strip for the first five years of their existence.

The other main victory is that land grazed by horses will be eligible for payment under the new scheme.

Lord Whitty, Food And Farming Minister, announced the concessions on Tuesday, saying that the decision on small fields was designed to avoid the cross-compliance measures being unfair to farmers with a high proportion of hedges and ditches.

"The Government recognises that many of these farmers have been responsible custodians of the countryside by keeping their small fields bounded by these features," he said.

The concession was welcomed by Dorothy Fairburn, Yorkshire regional director of the Country Land and Business Association.

She said many farmers had retained small fields and had, for years, suffered higher management costs while conserving important habitats and providing the diversity which was a key feature of much of the Yorkshire landscape.

"The new agri-environment schemes in 2005, particularly the Entry Level Scheme, will also bring options for the management and protection of hedges and watercourses and we would expect many of these features in smaller fields to be entered," said Miss Fairburn.

She also welcomed the inclusion of land grazed by horses in the new SFP scheme. She said the payment was for land management, not production.

"It is absolutely right that Defra does not need to know about the type of grazing animals used - it really does not matter whether they are sheep, cows, horses or llamas. What matters is careful land management," she said.

The Government intends to make traditional orchards, with the potential for grazing, eligible for SFP, subject to European Commission approval. Criteria for grazed woodland are being investigated.

Decisions on the national reserve have also been reached, although parts are still unclear.

However, anyone who has entered the industry on or before November 2, 2004, without entitlement to the historic element of the SFP, will be eligible. No other discretionary categories will be used in England.

Those taking part in agri-environment schemes and energy crops will be able to apply under the automatic "reconversion of production" category.

Decisions on how the SFP will apply to cross-border holdings and common land are still awaited.