The agriculture minister, Nick Brown, has thrown Britain's struggling farmers a lifeline.

To a desperate man, a lifeline makes all the difference. But it does not mean his problems are over.

The government's farming aid package is worth about �100m. But farmers' leaders have said the industry needs seven or eight times that amount.

The crisis is real, and it is affecting all of farming, from livestock through dairy to arable holdings.

In most previous crises, there has been one sector that has weathered the storm better than the rest.

This time, they are all in it together, and many farmers are deciding to sell up.

Staying away

There are fewer young people entering the industry, which is a worrying sign for the future.

The battered farmers are prepared to give Mr Brown credit for what he has managed to achieve.

"At least he is prepared to listen to us and argue our case with his Cabinet colleagues", said one.

Although nearly half the money will come from Brussels, it will not have been easy for the minister to persuade the Treasury to provide matching funds.

There are several reasons for the crisis, with the strength of sterling perhaps the most serious.

Hard to see the way ahead

Apart from that, there is the global slump in farm prices, and the collapse of traditional British and EU markets like Russia.

Another cause is the continuing BSE crisis, though there are hopes that an end to the ban on exports of British beef may be in sight.

Even when exports do leave these shores again, though, there may be a battle ahead to recapture consumer confidence and lost markets.

Some farmers, even while applauding Nick Brown's efforts on their behalf, believe this Government is dominated by urban values and is therefore hostile to the farmers.

Jobs at stake

But there are few reasons for thinking they are right. The Cabinet knows that many jobs in rural Britain depend on farming, and it is keen to boost the rural economy.

What it does recognise, though, is the inexorable trend - not just in Britain, but across most developed countries - towards fewer and bigger farms.

Fewer hands can do the same work

Advances in technology mean you need fewer people and less land than even a few years ago to produce a given amount of produce.

So the grim logic of the market place decrees that only farmers who can afford to invest in modern machinery and techniques will survive and prosper.

It is not a matter of ideology, but of economics. And what Nick Brown has done for the farmers is not to rescue them, but to give them a respite.

The plight of Britain's farmers today is all too similar to the situation of its coalminers 15 years ago.