NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren raises an interesting point in his recent News Release concerning the re-targeting of support to beef and sheep producers in the uplands.
He argues that topping up their single farm payments by slicing 10% off everyone else's is "flawed".
Since the SFP is decoupled from production, these producers would be under no obligation to keep any more beef or sheep - indeed they could keep less. Alternatively, they could just sell their entitlements.
"At worst, this could be seen politically and publicly as 'money for nothing' and it could actually accelerate the exodus from the industry," says Mr McLaren. "I don't know how the industry could justify those circumstances to itself, let alone the public."
It's a fair point, but it also shines a light on the entire issue of decoupled payments, what they are for and how sustainable they may be.
By definition they are no longer there to support production - though it can be argued that, without the single farm payment, many more people would quit the industry and production would tumble.....
Direct payments also no longer represent compensation for past price cuts, as they once did. And they are certainly not social payments as, throughout the EU, larger farmers still get the largest payments, much to the chagrin of small farmer organisations.
So that leaves environmental payments, which probably encapsulates the role of SFPs the best - a reward for meeting certain environmental standards through cross-compliance.
But that also exposes their vulnerability. It has often been argued by those who oppose the use of any taxpayers' money to support agriculture that these cross-compliance standards are nothing more than minimum legal requirements. Why should farmers be paid for simply obeying the law?
The EU Commission is certainly taking a keen interest in this subject. Last week it opened a tender for a new study into the impact of direct payments on the beef and veal sectors - the latest in a series of such evaluations.
And early next month EU farm ministers will meet in the Czech Republic to consider a Presidency paper entitled "What future for direct payments?" That will look at policy options for 2013 and beyond, asking in particular what should be the future role of direct payments.
On this basis, the current debate on the use of SFPs in Scottish agriculture looks like being a small taste of a wider debate to come.
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Lets not forget this debate is not a UK only issue. The influence of Non Government Organizations in the UK is very different to those in other countries. I don't think the Italian hunting lobby would sit well with the RSPB although it would be a great meeting to sit in on!