Any hopes that the lifting of the European beef ban would mark an upturn in the fortunes of Britain's farmers have been thoroughly dashed. Since 'beef day' on August 1, the crisis has deepened.

Livestock farmers are being driven to ever-more desperate measures. Twenty calves and hundreds of sheep have been abandoned in Wales. In North Yorkshire, as we reported on Monday, shocked farmers are selling their cattle for as little as £1 each.

Drastic problems call for drastic solutions. The Government is considering paying farmers £40,000 to retire early. In effect it is a redundancy package.

Just as Britain's mining, steel and car manufacturing industries were "downsized", the same is happening in agriculture. Much of the process is happening by stealth: no one can be sure precisely how many farms have gone to the wall, or have not been passed on to the next generation, in the last few turbulent years.

By offering farmers cash to leave the land, Nick Brown would effectively begin the state-sanctioned reduction of Britain's agricultural sector.

The question is: what other choice does he have? Mr Brown cannot ignore the terrible plight of the smaller livestock farmers. They need his help.

And although £40,000 seems at face value to be a large sum, it is no great reward for a lifetime's toil. The money equates quite closely to that handed out in redundancy payments for miners and steelworkers. It should be enough to see older farmers into retirement.

North Yorkshire farmers welcomed the idea today. While remaining unconvinced by the figures, the general view was that the idea is worth exploring.

If the policy gets the go-ahead, however, it must be part of a larger regeneration package. When Britain's heavy industry was dismantled in the 1980s, workers got a lump sum but nothing more. It was years before the devastated areas were helped back to their feet with regeneration grants.

The Government must act now to help beleaguered farming communities develop alternative sources of employment. Otherwise we face widespread rural recession.

Mr Brown's redundancy packages also need to be carefully rationed. Once farmers have left the land, they are gone forever. The family tradition is lost.

British agriculture's first aim is to provide enough food to feed its people. We should strive to avoid being over-reliant on imported meat and crops.

The current crisis will not last forever. It would be a terrible irony if it is replaced by a farming recruitment crisis when the industry's climate begins to improve.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.