Environment correspondent Robert Pigott: Farmers will insist on adequate compensation

Delegates at the National Farmers' Union conference will push for funds to make up for earnings likely to be lost with the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

There is widespread agreement that the CAP, which guarantees minimum prices for produce, needs to be drastically rethought.

The scheme costs �30bn a year, half the EU's total budget, and is responsible for huge food surpluses.

Ministers meet later in February to decide what changes need to be made to the CAP.

The NFU has backed reform. It believes that the efficiency of British farms will enable them to compete succesfully on a more open market.

Restoring the landscape

But as the EU looks at other ways to support farmers, many in the industry want assurances that their income will be protected.

Franz Fischler will hear farmers' concerns

Wildlife trusts want farmers to be paid to restore the landscape and the natural habitats of animals that have sufffered with intensive farming.

They say that this would cost only half the present cost of the CAP.

Food standards and Britain's beef-on-the-bone ban will also be high on the agenda at the two-day conference.

Delegates at London's Hilton Hotel will be addressed by Agriculture Minister Nick Brown.