British farmers will not accept lower welfare and hygiene standards under any post-Brexit trade deals, and will fight to remain as part of a customs union, the new president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has pledged.

Minette Batters, the first woman to head the powerful farmers’ lobby since its foundation 110 years ago, set out a vision of farming as a unifying force across the UK, providing high-quality but low-cost food to consumers on a tight budget while safeguarding the environment and providing one in eight of the UK’s jobs.

“A customs union [with the EU] is absolutely vital,” she said, pointing out what farmers have to lose from EU trade, which accounts for 40% of lamb, 80% of dairy and 75% of the UK’s wheat and barley exports.

In her first public speech since her election last week, she said: “The food we produce is a public good. Good quality, safe and traceable food is a public right and above all else a necessity. I want British farming to be the food producer of choice for every British citizen, no matter who they are, where they live and regardless of their income.”

She also told the Guardian: “The floor [in the Brexit negotiations] is for our standards to be in line with the rest of Europe. We are regulated now to this high baseline, and we achieve above it. A huge number of farmers are very happy with where we have got to on standards and see market opportunities through this.”

Her position effectively sets out a ceiling and a floor on the Brexit negotiations from a farming point of view, in stark contrast to the views of ministers, including trade secretary Liam Fox, and of free-market thinktanks that advocate allowing imports of products of lower standards.

Batters’ speech came as the government kicked off a 10-week consultation period on its post-Brexit agricultural strategy, inviting farmers, landowners and food producers to give their views on what form farm support should take when EU subsidies cease.

Though the existing payment structure will continue to 2019, the government is proposing that after that payments to the biggest landowners - the major beneficiaries of current subsidies - will be reduced or stopped, potentially saving £150m in 2020 and more thereafter. This money could be redirected to reward farmers for protecting the environment.

Michael Gove, environment secretary, said: “As we leave the EU, we have a historic opportunity to deliver a farming policy which works for the whole industry. Today we are asking for the views of those who will be affected to make sure we get this right so any future schemes reflect the reality of life for famers and food producers.”

In a veiled warning to ministers of the power she wields, Batters also noted that farming and food would make up a major part of any new trade deal with any trading partner. “There is always a big agriculture dossier in every trade deal. And we know we are the last chapter of any trade agreement to be agreed. This is about bringing good, high-quality British [food] to a wider market.”

She also singled out the Labour party for particular praise on its pledges to bring forward a scheme for seasonal migrant workers, independently of any post-Brexit restrictions on immigration. The NFU has often previously been more associated with the positions of the Conservative party, which derives a strong vote from its rural heartlands.



But she warned that the idea that farmers could ramp up their protection of the environment without major change was wrong. “If you are serious, you have to recognise that the environment has a price tag attached to it. The British public have said they want high standards, so these efforts to bolt on [stronger regulations on environmental protection] come at a cost.”

Food, she added, had “never been cheaper”, considered as a proportion of household budgets, and there should be no conflict between nutritious food and price. “People across the UK are struggling to make ends meet – why should they be deprived of high quality food?”

However, one attendee who wished not to be named said the speech was “full of contradictions”, on the one hand promoting British farming as a source of cheap food and on the other implicitly demanding higher payments for farmers to deliver environmental protection. “They want nice things without having thought through the basic economics.”

The idea of a customs union with the EU is rejected by some. Matt Kilcoyne, head of communications at the Adam Smith Institute thinktank, told the Guardian it was “sad to see the NFU arguing for protectionism”.

“A comprehensive free trade deal with the US could open up a market of 323 million [people] to our world-beating financial services, high-quality food, legal services and cars, while driving down costs for consumers,” he said. “Corbyn might be getting all in a flap about chlorine chicken but EU institutions have said it was safe to eat. Throwing away the chance of trade deals with the US by hamstringing the UK to a customs union with the EU would be like buying a chicken burger, throwing out the meat, and eating the wrapping.”