FARMLAND birds will drop in number this year even before the scrapping of set-aside land is taken to account.

The government has a target for reversing farmland bird declines by 2020 but worsening trends suggest that target will be missed by some way.

A report on replacing the environmental benefits of set-aside is expected soon but any measures announced by ministers will not be in place until late 2009 at the earliest.

The latest calculation of farmland bird numbers - the government's Farmland Bird Index - will be published this autumn but figures released last week show the breeding populations of 13 of the 19 species making up the index have fallen.

These include well-known farmland birds such as skylarks, corn buntings and yellowhammers. The loss of set-aside last year will almost certainly cause their numbers to drop even more.

Dr Mark Avery, Conservation Director of the RSPB, said: "Attempts to help farmland birds back onto their feet are clearly failing and the delay in replacing the benefits of set-aside will worsen their plight.

"If ministers are serious about helping wildlife then the problems facing farmland birds should be amongst the first they tackle. Targets mean nothing if too few measures and too little funding is available to enable us to hit them." There are 19 species making up the Farmland Bird Index, on which population trends are based. Overall, these birds declined by 47 per cent between 1970 and 2006.

The set-aside report, commissioned by the Government and chaired by Sir Don Curry, is likely to recommend a set of measures farmers could use to help farmland birds.

Set-aside - an EU measure to control over-production - varied each year but required up to 15 per cent of land on every farm to be left uncropped.

The RSPB believes a smaller amount of land may be sufficient to reverse bird declines if the right measures are used. The society says this should be a condition of subsidy payments to farmers, which are already linked to the condition of land. Currently, all farmers are paid the same even if they do nothing for wildlife.

Gareth Morgan, Head of Agriculture Policy at the RSPB, said: "It is crucial that ministers accept the report's advice and announce measures to help farmland wildlife without any further delay.

"Voluntary action by farmers may help but if farmland birds are to have any chance at all, compulsory new measures must be in place soon so that farmers can include them in their plans for next year."