Yorkshire landowners and farmers have received some of the country's lowest average payments under the Government's top level agri-environment scheme, it has been revealed.

We will be demanding answers from Natural England as to why these payments...are so low

Dorothy Fairburn - CLA

Figures announced by Rural Affairs Parliamentary Secretary, Barry Gardiner, in the House of Commons this week reveal that in 2006/2007, the average Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) payment made in Yorkshire and the Humber was just £14,865, compared to over £28,000 in the east of the country and over £22,000 in the south east.

Of the nine English regions defined by Natural England, Yorkshire and Humber received the third lowest payments overall, ranking slightly higher than the West Midlands (£14,647) and the North West (£13,326). The report also revealed that of the 154 applications for HLS received in Yorkshire and the Humber, only 78 were granted.

Regional director for the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), in Yorkshire, Dorothy Fairburn, said: "Considering our region's extensive agricultural activity, I find it hard to understand why our average payments are so low.

"Encouraging land managers to participate in Environmental Stewardship schemes is one of this Government's key rural objectives. We will be demanding answers from Natural England as to why these payments - which help deliver really significant environmental benefits - are so low."

Launched by Defra two years ago in a bid to encourage land owners and farmers to "go green" Environmental Stewardship schemes are split into three levels - Entry, Organic and Higher. The five primary objectives of Higher Level Stewardship schemes include wildlife conservation, landscape enhancement and protection of natural resources and the environment.