BELEAGUERED hill farmers' corner was fought by West Somerset's MP Ian Liddell-Grainger in a speech at Westminster this week.

He told the House of Commons how people whose families have farmed the same land for generations have had to make-do with a string of subsidies that "have not kept pace with the growing list of environmental responsibilities" farmers face.

He said they battle in "a minefield of baffling bureaucracy" and, because of the nature of the land, are not in a position to diversify.

And he called on Defra to rethink plans to reduce subsidies and top to invest in a thorough analysis of the beef and sheep supply chains, to try and get better prices for producers.

Mr Liddell-Grainger, who had secured the debate on upland farming, told the House: "The muddle is caused by a basic conflict between trying to help farmers and looking after the natural world at the same time. This is where common sense begins to break down.

"The major funding that farmers get is called the SPS now known as the BPS. It amounts to about £200 per hectare. But to claim the cash you have to keep the land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC).

"Among the compulsory standards of GAEC is 'avoiding the encroachment of unwanted vegetation on agricultural land'. What this means is that if farmers want the money they have to keep wild weeds in check .... which is an awful lot easier said than done if you farm up on Exmoor."

He explained the difficulties and cost of meeting that demand, and added: "This is just one example. Farmers have been told they haven't been doing enough to protect butterflies, or beetles. So they get lumbered with yet more controls.

"I don't think hill farmers go around wilfully vandalizing flora or fauna. They love to see it as much as any of us. But you can't expect them to be full-time guardians of the countryside for next to nothing.

"The problem is that subsidies have not kept pace with the growing list of environmental responsibilities. That is one of the main conclusions of an important new academic survey produced for the Exmoor Hill Farming Network."

Mr Liddell-Grainger said: "There are no quick fixes. But I have to wonder about the sense of moving too fast to achieve Defra's ambition of reducing farmers' reliance on subsidies.

"It may be a good aim, but it should not be done until alternative sources of income can be guaranteed."

He said that Daniel Defoe had branded Exmoor a 'filthy, barren ground': "But then came the farmers who tamed the land. They continue to do so.

"If upland farmers ever call it a day who would look after Exmoor? Why would the tourists bother to come? What would happen to all those hundreds of rural businesses that rely upon them?

One farmer put it to me very simply: 'All I want', he said, 'is a level playing field'."