WE HAVE all heard it said that when a New Year dawns, you must look forward not back. I do not altogether go along with that so I tend to look back a little bit anyway and hope that the great world tragedies do not recur, that the rotten weather is not repeated and that we learn from our mistakes, politicians please note.

In farming we see the dawn of the new reformed Common Agricultural Policy; you know the thing that Margaret Beckett and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs got very excited about. Not forgetting, of course, that the latter took over from MAFF, having first removed any reference to agriculture from its title and changing all its' emphasis to the environment in spite of many of us being involved with government environmental schemes for years and will be carrying them on anyway.

Because January 1, 2005 is the date when the CAP reformed Single Farm Payment Scheme came into being with payment in 12 months time, computer permitting, "experts" on new CAP reform are being asked for their views. However, I suspect that most of the people being interviewed would not claim to be experts, rather that the tag was attached to them by journalists. The plain fact is that there are not any experts on the new CAP reform because nobody knows what is going to happen. Look at it this way, Margaret Beckett said: "The Reforms will open up great opportunities to farmers, they will be required to reconnect with the markets and produce only what the market wants," whatever that may mean. For there was me thinking the market wanted meat from our quality cattle and sheep produced to the highest standard of environment and hygiene not bettered anywhere in the world.

I do not believe anyone will say the food produced without recourse to any of our high standards and flown here using all those polluting air miles is better. But they may well say it is cheaper.

To get back to all those exciting prospects that Margaret Beckett says are there for farmers. I am not saying for a moment that there is no future for farmers because most of them are survivors and they will adapt and farm on in spite of what politicians throw at them. But what I am saying is this. With all these new opportunities opening up, farming should become really prosperous, so should I believe the Secretary of State? My problem is I have just read that accountants Deloitte and Touche have carried out a study which leads them to forecast that farm incomes will drop by 58 per cent over the coming year. Help! I am going to stop reading for now as I have just read that although the Single Farm Payment Scheme came in on January 1, DEFRA has decided to make the first payment in May 2006. That will likely be to help cash flow, won't it?

I will let you into a secret. On the quiet it is the done thing for government departments, no matter who is in power, to hang on to monies due to people for as long as they can, thus claiming the interest. As Michael Caine said: "Not a lot of people know that".

Dialect word: Laiting meaning looking for.

Thought for the day: The New Year is like a new baby many changes will be necessary, some of which may be neglected.