CALLS for a greater share of government agriculture subsidies to go to environmentally friendly farming, including organics, are to be stepped up by the Yorkshire dales national park authority.

The authority's announcement on Monday comes as the government awaits the Curry report, a policy commission study on the future of farming and food, and in the wake of Lord Haskins' report on post-foot-and-mouth recovery.

Public subsidies to farmers have largely focused on production, which, along with economic pressures to increase livestock production, has pushed farmers into more intensive use of grassland and greater use of fertilisers, authority officers said.

Park officials say that, over the years, this had done little to protect or improve the environment of the national park.

A spokesman said public awareness of farming practices had increased over the last few months, as had pressure to provide subsidies to farmers who conserved and improved the landscape, particularly in special areas like the Yorkshire dales.

The year also saw the first organic farms in the park.

Mr David Butterworth, chief executive of the national park authority, visited Hazel Brow farm at Low Row, in Swaledale, at the end of November.

The farm recently converted to organic and is selling the first organic lambs and milk out of the national park.

Mr Butterworth said: "Foot- and-mouth disease has made everyone stop and think about how we farm the countryside. Lord Haskins, Tony Blair's key agricultural adviser, is on the record as saying that "green farms", run on sustainable principles, should receive increased support and subsidies.

"At the same time larger commercial farms should become more financially independent. This is an indication of the way farm subsidies are likely to be paid in the future, and it makes sense for our farmers to prepare now for this new approach.

"If the government adopts this new thinking we will eventually see more of the £3.1bn a year in European subsidies going to dales farmers, including the area's organic farms, to deliver conservation improvements in the national park.

"Clearly, organic farming practices are not a panacea to agriculture's problems, but they will play an increasing role in the industry. They represent one way forward for some of our farmers and, where they include less intensive and more sustainable land management, they can have real benefits for the environment of the national park as well."

In its submission to the Curry report, the authority called for a shift away from production-based subsidies to those that encourage less intensive and more sustainable land management.

Rewards should be given to farmers who take a more holistic approach to their holdings, including those who invest in woodlands, create or improve wildlife habitats or play a greater role in providing public access to the countryside.

"Those who are farming in a less intensive way, and who invest in the landscape of the national park, should be encouraged and rewarded," said Mr Butterworth.

"It is the public that pays the subsidies that go to farmers and today, more than ever, they want that money used to improve the rural environment rather than destroy it.

"The days of measuring the value of land solely by what it can produce are over.

Today, the economic value of the national park's landscape is far greater. It brings millions of people to the area who spend money and it is a valuable wildlife habitat that needs to be conserved.

"In the coming months we will be lobbying government to see that the value of the landscape of the national park is fully recognised and that our farmers who grasp the opportunity to farm in a more environmentally friendly way are properly rewarded."