Farming Minister Lord Whitty told farmers at yesterday's Oxford conference that the reason they continued to receive subsidies from Europe was to enable them to act as protectors of the countryside.

He said he had no sympathy with farmers opposed to cross-compliance regulations, such as care for land, soil and water.

"There's no other justification left... for the level of support which Europe gives to farming," he said. "I have heard some farmers complain that `the environmentalists have won'. I think that's seriously wrong-headed and counterproductive.

"Delivery of the environmental benefits is the new compact for European farming for the continued support of the rest of society.

"It is the minimum requirement for billions of taxpayers' euros to continue to be paid to farming - you are the deliverers of the rural environment."

He also told them they should feel "no resentment" over rights of way which lead to increased access to land for members of the public forming part of the regulations.

And Lord Whitty warned that farmers should be prepared to disclose the level of subsidies they receive under the Common Agricultural Policy now the Freedom of Information Act is in force.

In more placatory mood, he expressed sympathy for the frustration felt by some farmers over the Fischler reforms of the CAP.

"I understand and very much share the frustration at the time this is taking and at the detail we are obliged to go into in what is supposed to be a liberalisation and simplification of the system," he said.

"But I firmly believe that these are teething problems and that, as we get into the new system, we will deliver a hugely better system."

The minister was involved in a scuffle with anti-hunt ban protesters as he arrived at the conference. Police had to intervene as several demonstrators brandishing Countryside Alliance placards cornered the minister. The confrontation lasted for around a minute.

One of the protesters, George Juer, 23, is kennel hunt man of the Radley Beagles in Oxfordshire and said that the hunting ban would destroy "what we live and breathe for".

"We were trying to ask him if he had any reason for the ban," he said. "All the reports say that there's no reason for banning hunting on the grounds of cruelty.

"The only thing I heard him say is `It's cruel, it's cruel', but I'm willing to bet he's never done a day's hunting in his life."

Thames Valley Police said later that no one had been arrested during "a verbal confrontation".

At a press conference, Lord Whitty denied the allegations that the Government was not sufficiently sensitive to the views of people in the countryside.

He said: "There's a feeling that's being whipped up by the pro-hunting lobby and to some extent by the Conservative Party.

"But I have to say that I think we have dealt more with issues in the countryside than other Governments."