Farmers in the county have rejected the suggestion from Environment Secretary Michael Gove that "unjust" European subsidies favour large land owners.

In a major speech yesterday, Mr Gove said the Common Agricultural Policy, which has subsidised food production since 1962, has a “fundamentally flawed design”.

He said it pays landowners by the amount of agricultural land they possess, which is “unjust, inefficient and drives perverse outcomes”.

He said: “It gives the most from the public purse to those who have the most private wealth.

“It bids up the price of land, distorting the market, creating a barrier to entry for innovative new farmers and entrenching lower productivity.”

Grain farmer Kevin Attwood, who farms 4,500 acres on the North Downs, said the system does not favour large farmers over smaller ones.

He said: “It is the effects of the market place that have led to the rationalization of farms into larger more efficient enterprises.”

Mr Attwood, whose family have owned Down Court Farm in Doddington, near Faversham, for more than 35 years, said overall Mr Gove’s speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on Thursday was a “positive signal”.

Mr Gove indicated farmers will continue to receive subsidy support until 2024, subject to consultation, having already pledged to do so until 2022.

He said financial support for farmers after Brexit will be on a “public money for public goods” basis, with landowners expected to plant woodland, provide new habitats for wildlife and contribute to improved water quality.

Mr Attwood, who is the National Farmers’ Union’s delegate for Kent, said: “The detail has yet to emerge but there is commitment to farm support while we go through a transition period and that will allow time for government and the industry to work together to devise a deliverable policy and allow businesses to adjust.

“Key to any system going forward is that support goes to active farmers who are actually producing food and delivering the environmental benefits that Michael Gove highlights and the profitability of farming is key to that delivery now and in the future.

“Without profit farms will not survive to deliver any policy objective.”

Paul Cobb, an independent farm environment adviser at Kent Farming Wildlife Advisory Group, based in Wye, called for more detail.

He said: “We need to see some more flesh on the bones.

“We don’t know what farmers would provide in that sort of scheme and how they would be supported.

“Farmers need to get together and say ‘this is what we can provide in the way of public goods and this is the support that we would need to do that’.

“There is a lot still up for grabs out there.”

Cameron Tucker from KMTV reports on the reaction to Michael Gove's speech