MANY farmers across the region will be hit hard when their subsidy system changes, with payments to some in danger of dropping from £16,000 to £4,000 a year.

A plea has been made to the Government on behalf of farmers in Teesdale, County Durham, to have the changes toned down to save them from ruin.

Phil Barber, secretary of the NFU in Teesdale, said: "There is a real danger that some farmers will be forced out of business and their land abandoned.

"I feel that if the proposals go through, about 20 per cent of our local farmers will end up severely worse off.

"There are about 300 farms in Teesdale at the moment. The total has been dropping steadily, but I think the decline will speed up."

"We have been told the new system will be phased in over a few years to ease the hardship. But I know of farms where the annual subsidy will drop from £16,000 to £4,000, and that will cause hardship."

In the past, subsidies were based on the number of cattle and sheep kept but under new proposals due to start next January it will be based on acreage.

The change is also causing alarm to farmers in North Yorkshire. Rodney Kettlewell, who farms near Bedale, said: "The idea behind the changes is right because the old subsidy system couldn't carry on as it was.

"But the problem is that some farmers are going to lose out a lot while some are going to gain. Basically they are combining two old systems and it is going to be tougher for those on the uplands."

Mr Barber said: "Lowland farms are due to get around £220 a hectare, while upland farms will get £75 a hectare.

"The big losers will be those which have a lot of stock on small but productive farms."

He and a group of dale farmers met Derek Foster MP on Friday, and he promised to urge the Government to bring in a fairer system.

No decision on this is expected before the end of this month.