Government ministers are moving to draw farmers away from subsidies which lead to stockpiles of surplus food - like the thousands of tonnes of barley kept stored in an old aircraft hangar on the outskirts of York.

A view inside the grain store in Water Lane, Clifton Moor, today.

Money saved on ending cash support based on the amount farmers produce could be used for "green" measures and to help some rural communities.

And Agriculture Minister Nick Brown is now asking farmers across the country for their views on the industry's future direction, as he seeks "vital" reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

He says the policy, which evolved in the post-war world of shortages and rationing, has led to food mountains and wine lakes over the years.

In a written Parliamentary answer on Monday junior Agriculture Minister Jeff Rooker said the Government wanted to reduce and eventually phase out all price and production-related agricultural support.

"We are also pushing for part of the savings from such a reduction in production support to be directed to measures which will protect the environment and help the rural economy adjust, particularly in more fragile rural areas," he said.

The CAP has been attacked by Cambridgeshire farmer Oliver Walston in the BBC programme, Against The Grain.

He says the minority of farmers get the lion's share of European cash, at a time when many in the industry are facing a bleak future.

In the programme he is shown inspecting a grain store at Driffield, where his own surplus barley has been sent.

When the price of certain commodities falls below a set figure farmers can sell it to the Intervention Board, which stores the food.

A spokeswoman for the board said it currently had 3,800 tonnes of barley in an old hangar at Clifton Moor, though at the end of September it contained 60,000 tonnes. At that time it had 64,000 tonnes at the Driffield store, and 12,000 in another at Pocklington.

In December it had a total of 957,000 tonnes of cereals, 86,000 tonnes of beef, 77,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder and 680 tonnes of butter stored away..

The spokeswoman said the barley stored at Clifton Moor was for animal feed. None of it was over two years old and it was currently being sold to countries outside the European Union.

York MP Hugh Bayley, who has previously highlighted the role of the York store, said Mr Brown was right to press for reform. "I want the EU to bring in new states, particularly the former Communist states like Poland and the Czech Republic, but it simply won't be possible unless the CAP is changed.

"Ever since Britain joined the EU British taxpayers have paid more in taxes to the CAP than British farmers have got out in subsidies."

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