The president of the National Farmers Union has called on the government to continue to lower the wage threshold for migrant workers.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recommended reducing the proposed post-Brexit salary threshold of £30,000 to £26,000.

But Minette Batters wants urgent clarity is needed as to whether the government will heed these recommendations in its forthcoming immigration policy.

“British farming plays a critical role in the nation’s health and well-being, putting traceable, nutritious, affordable food on plates," she said.

“While the proposed reduction in the current salary threshold is a step in the right direction, this needs to go further to match the current skills threshold.

“And if British agriculture is to continue delivering for the nation’s public after we leave the EU, it is essential we maintain access to a workforce with the skills needed across both permanent and seasonal roles, and urgent action is needed to ensure continuity of labour supply, as the MAC report recognises."

“When it comes to a safe and secure supply of home-grown food and plants, farming needs a wide variety of skills [to carry out the work].

"I firmly believe British agricultural and horticultural production – whether that is care for crops, harvesting and packing, or world-leading animal health and welfare – is too valuable to be restricted by an immigration policy that fails to recognise its wide and varying needs."

The threshold would take effect at the end of the Brexit transition period, on December 31, 2020.