FARMING leaders are urging the Government to end months of uncertainty over the latest anomaly thrown-up by Common Agricultural Policy reforms.

Anyone letting or renting pasture for grazing or silage faces a serious headache over how to make sure they get their single farm payment for the land.

As a result of the recent historic shake-up to CAP, from 2005 farmers will no longer get subsidies linked to production. Instead a single farm payment (SFP) is being phased in over the next eight years, offering a cheque based on land area as long as the land is kept in good agricultural condition.

But land calculations are causing problems with grazing lets this year and next. The SFP on such lets will only be payable to those farmers who can show, come May 2005, that they have had the land at their disposal for at least ten months, starting from a date to be fixed but not earlier than September 1, 2004.

The rule is throwing-up problems because, traditionally, much of Britain's grazing is done on short-term let or licence arrangements, allowing stock owners to graze their animals on others' land - usually for six months over the summer.

Yet as the SFP requires land to be at the claimant farmer's disposal for at least ten months, the six-month agreements will give neither the grazier sufficient time to claim entitlements, nor the landowner. The result will be that the land cannot be declared eligible next year for the SFP and farmers will miss out on vital Government support cash.

Further confusion is being caused because the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not yet set the applicable start date for British farmers. It has discretion to set a window of start dates between September 1 and April 30, within which farmers may choose a date that suits their practice but it has not done so yet.

The Country Land Business Association and Tenant Farmers' Association are lobbying ministers to hurry up and sort out the muddle, both by setting a start date and by clarifying what level of occupation or interest in the land farmers will need to show to satisfy the test that it is "at their disposal".

"Until we get a date, its causing uncertainty," said TFA chief executive George Dunn. "We really needed this announcement before the IACS form deadline on May 17. Now we need it as soon as possible. People have found ways to get round it but it's by no means perfect. It's quite a serious problem."

He said farmers had dealt with the confusion by setting-up letting contracts to expire at the end of August to keep their options open, or inserted break clauses to get out of tennacy agreements early.

Laura Coode, the CLA's senior legal adviser, also pressed for a date. "This year's grazing season is now well advanced, and farmers remain uncertain as to when this year's grazing should end, or what form next year's grazing agreements should take."

She added that Defra had known it was obliged to fix a start date since September 2003 and that the CLA had been lobbying for one for some time but getting very little response.

So far, the department had indicated to the CLA that it was considering a start date window between November 1 and April 30 but there were concerns that too wide a window would be open to abuse. It also needed confirmation from Scotland and Wales.

A Defra spokesman said the department certainly understoood the need for certainty and an annoncement on the ten-month rule would be made "shortly". It was taking time to settle on the ruling due to consultation with farming organisations and the devolved authorities.