Agricultural leaders have welcomed the government's promise of a "new deal for farmers" - but warned there is "a lot of work to be done”.

Defra has announced a series of commitments to boost food security, provide stability and address low business confidence in the farming sector.

They include optimising new environmental land management schemes to produce "the right outcomes for all farmers while delivering food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way".

There are also pledges to cut red tape at EU borders, protect farmers from being "undercut by low welfare and low standards in trade deals" and increase public sector procurement of British produce.

Meanwhile, Defra says it will set up a new British Infrastructure Council to steer private investment in rural areas, and speed up the building of flood defences.

This "new deal" comes at a time of mounting challenges for farmers, including extreme weather and flooding, high costs and dwindling farm payments as EU-era subsidies are phased out.

As a result, Defra survey data suggests that half of farmers don’t feel positive about their future in the sector. Of the farmers saying they are making changes, a quarter plan to reduce the size of their businesses and 14pc plan to leave farming in the next 3-5 years.

Environment secretary Steve Reed said:  "Confidence amongst farmers is extremely low. 

"The new government will restore stability and confidence in the sector introducing a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen food security alongside nature’s recovery. 

"We will protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals, make the supply chain work more fairly, prevent shock rises in bills by switching on GB Energy, better protect them from flooding through a new Flood Resilience Taskforce and use the government’s own purchasing power to back British produce."

National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw, who farms near Colchester, welcomed the government’s “positive intentions to achieve our shared ambition of boosting UK food security”, but said increased investment would be needed to rebuild business confidence and inspire growth.

"There is a lot of work to be done and hurdles to overcome to ensure farming can continue to play its part in the health and wealth of our nation," he said. "Which is why we really value the open dialogue we have with the government to find those solutions which will deliver a more stable business environment where British farming can thrive."