MORE than 10pc of arable land could come out of production as a direct result of CAP reform.

That figure arose from a survey conducted by the Royal Agricultural Society of England and Deloitte in April, but released last week. It involved members and clients who managed more than 70,000ha of land across the country.

Views on CAP reform varied from complete withdrawal from farming to no change. The average response was that about 10pc of farmed area would come out of production.

However Richard Crane, a partner in the Deloitte food and agriculture group, said: "A small reduction is really no more than fine tuning. The reform is radical and farmers need to think radically about their response. For instance, could they take on more land without any support? Or should they take the payments and make better use of their time?"

Glen Wrigley, of the RASE, said the survey showed farmers gained far more satisfaction from food production than from managing property rental or off-farm employment.

Off-farm employment produced a satisfaction rating just one-third of that for food production, but farmers surveyed saw the risks of off-farm employment as one-sixth of that of conventional farming.

Mr Crane said farmers' accounting systems must distinguish where profits were being made. It was encouraging that 75pc in the survey said their accounts did distinguish between food production and other sources of income.

Asked what type of lifestyle and rewards they aspired to, almost 80pc of farmers saw themselves akin to a professional or company executive. More than 5pc aspired to the lifestyle of a craftsman; fewer than 5pc thought they should be compared to a teacher.

"Given the capital tied up in farming, it is quite reasonable to aspire to a company executive's reward of, say, £50,000 a year," said Mr Crane. "We estimate that it might take 1,000ha (2,500 acres) to generate income of that level if farming incomes return to pre-2003 levels or lower and efficiencies are not made."

The survey identified a number of challenges, including facing up to the change needed; looking at ways of adding value, particularly to contracting operations, and improving business recording.

There was also a need to take a long-term view of the future, working with five-year averages and considering the effects of both increasing and decreasing returns as prices fluctuated.