FARMS taking part in the North York Moors land management scheme are to receive more money.

The scheme was launched in April 1990, when the grant was fixed at £3,000 a year, and there have been payment reviews every three years since then with the ceiling being increased in proportion.

Over the 12 years of the scheme the ceiling has been increased to £3,573, a 19pc increase based purely on profitability and the cost of farming. The payment review process does not recognise the external factors, such as the higher standard of living, which fuel the amalgamation of farms.

Farmers will this year lose out on the annual maintenance payment for rights of way, an average of £263, to comply with the European Union's Rural Development and State Aids Regulations as it is held that the occupiers have a statutory responsibility to maintain rights of way.

Presenting a reason for the proposed increase to a ceiling of £4,787 Rachel Pickering, conservation assistant told a meeting of the North York Moors National Park Authority that there had been significant changes in the farming industry since the scheme was launched. Many farms had amalgamated.

It must also be recognised, she said, that the larger farms which were affected often had to provide a living for two or three families. "These include some of our younger farmers whom the authority would like to see staying on the land to continue traditional farm management."

Park authority member Jean Tallentire said: "This proposal would keep our young people in the area and would help overcome some of their difficulties. The increase is not a cure, but help."

The scheme came about in 1990 when Yorkshire Water started selling off plots of land to tenant farmers in Farndale. They all had to find large sums of money-and the grants system was set up to help these farmers and, later, others in the area.