FARMING and agriculture experts and business leaders met in Northumberland last week to discuss the Government’s position on the industry, trade and Brexit.

Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice, along with vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Stuart Roberts, held a round table discussion at Ogle Hill Head Farm.

Addressing the need for seasonal workers on UK farms, Mr Eustice said: “The migration advisory committee are compiling a detailed report on what migration we need after we leave the EU: skilled, unskilled and student labour.

“We’re investigating a new seasonal agricultural work permit scheme that will be up and running in time for leaving the EU.”

In 2016, the UK exported £20bn of food, feed and drink compared with imports of £43bn. Sixty per cent of the UK’s exports are to EU countries and 70 per cent of the UK’s imports are from EU countries.

“We have to recognise that access to the UK market is very important to EU countries, from Irish beef, poultry from the Netherlands, pork from Denmark and cheese and veg from France. It’s in everyone’s interests to do the type of free trade agreement we’ve talked about.”

Currently, there is free movement of all goods within the EU, with no tariffs or quotas on trade between EU member states.

Mr Eustice added: “It’s possible to have tariff-free trade, where we have the minimum amount of friction at borders and where we have an agreement where we can recognise each others’ rules and regulations as being equivalent.”

UK agriculture, post-Brexit, will be operating outside of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which provides direct payments to farmers. Currently, CAP support makes up around 50-60 per cent of farm incomes in England

Mr Eustice said: “We’d like to move away from area-based subsidies and all those complex rules attached, and instead move to a system where we’re genuinely paying farmers for the way they farm, and farming in a more sustainable way. This involves the payment for public goods rather than just an arbitrary payment for land.

“We’re going to keep the budget the same until 2022, with a funded scheme thereafter. We want to make the switch so there is more logic to what we’re paying farmers to do.”

Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman said: “It’s impossible to overstate how important farming and rural business is to our local community, and I was delighted to welcome George to the constituency last week, together with Stuart Roberts, vice president of the NFU. I will continue to do everything I can to champion the cause of farmers, food producers and rural businesses in my constituency.”