The Commission first suggested that payment entitlements would be calculated by multiplying the average number of animals in the three year reference period by the premium rate for 2002 and dividing by the average number of hectares in the three year reference period. This calculation would mean the number and value of entitlements would be less for a young farmer farming in one or two of the reference years than if he had been farming for the three years of the reference period. Following representations from the Minister, the Commission agreed that the average in such cases should be obtained by dividing by two where the farmer was farming for only two years of the reference period or by taking one year as the average where the farmer was farming for only one year of the reference period.