ISSUES affecting farmers, land-owners and gamekeepers in the Yorkshire dales come under the spotlight at an open day to be held in the new year.

The dales advisory group, made up of farmers and land-owners, has not yet set a date for the meeting but invitations will be sent to the Yorkshire Dales national park authority members, managers at English Nature's national headquarters, the Ministry of Agriculture and its farming and rural conservation agency.

The event aims to provide an update on farm and land management issues in the dales, including the agricultural crisis, the range and limitations of agri-environment schemes, the lack of business advice for farmers and increasing red tape.

Mr Adrian Shepherd, farming and conservation officer with the national park authority, which organises the group's meetings in conjunction with English Nature, said: "The dales advisory group feels quite strongly that there is a need to explain the problems they are facing and to inform those who make the decisions of the pressures and mounting bureaucracy farmers have to face as a part of everyday life."

Dr Peter Welsh, from English Nature, said: "Through the dales advisory group, we have been told that farmers and landowners want to manage their land for the benefit of their families as well as the environment. To help them achieve both aims, the decision and policy makers need to be as up to date as they are on the current agri-environment schemes and the farming crisis. An open day is a very sensible way of achieving this."