A NO Deal Brexit will be very bad for the farming industry, which is facing a time of “seismic, unprecedented change”, according to NFU president Minette Batters.

However, she told a meeting in the members marquee at the Royal Three Counties Show the union will continue to fight for an orderly Brexit and champion high welfare British food standards.

Mrs Batters said: “We are trying to be really open and honest with our membership; we have a divided country on what the future holds. We are an apolitical organisation but we are saying that we need to do what is right for British agriculture and horticulture. We feel no deal is really bad for our industry and we had a snapshot when they published the tariff schedule and it was very clear and of huge significance for this area.

“Horticulture was left out with no tariff protection, eggs were left out with no tariff protection, and the entire arable sector, which should be able to demand reciprocal tariffs, was left out; in the first year alone you would see a £300 million price tag with no tariffs on the arable sector. We will keep fighting on no deal and we will do everything we can to ensure we have an orderly departure from the EU.”

She also discussed key legislation, including the workforce, farm standards and land management.

“Herefordshire alone has more than 5,000 seasonal workers and very low unemployment,” Mrs Batters added, “ so it’s not hard to work out why we need a global seasonal workers scheme and we need more than 80,000 seasonal workers across the country.

“But it doesn’t stop there as we need permanent workers, a whole new immigration policy is needed that is about skill set and what we need as an economy, rather than this basis of you are going to come here if you are highly skilled and if you’re not you are not welcome.”

She also spoke about British food values, including animal welfare standards and levels of environmental protection, which are heavily legislated and regulated in the UK, as opposed to other countries where there if often no such legislation.

Mrs Batters also discussed the industry’s commitment to net zero carbon emissions, but was clear that this was “without disturbing net farming income or downsizing production”. She said: “We have committed as a senior officeholder team to face into this storm. Climate change is a challenge of our time, the moment I said that we can and will be part of the solution and we wanted to achieve net zero by 2040, the doors were open. We have, as an industry, to start saying we are up for this. We are part of the solution, so work with us.”