TV PRESENTER and farmer Adam Henson has pressed the government on contingency plans for UK agriculture should the country leave the EU.

The Countryfile regular was speaking during the Three Counties Farming Conference held at the Malvern Showground.

He asked guests including George Eustice, the minister of state at Defra, and UKIP MEP Stuart Agnew, what Plan B is should the UK vote to exit the European Union in two years time.

More than 200 landowners and farmers from across the region attended the conference.

Other speakers included Mike Gooding, the managing director of a farming and agricultural research business in Oxfordshire, and Graham Redman, a partner at specialist agriculture consultants The Anderson Centre.

Questions were also raised as to whether a Brussels-led system might be more sympathetic towards family farms and smaller units, than a Westminster-based policy.

But a rural affairs specialist said the question of whether farmers can make do without EU subsidies had triggered more questions than answers.

"Adam Henson spoke for many farmers in questioning what would happen to the industry if the public opts to leave the EU, and it was clear there really is no such thing as a Plan B in the pipeline at present," said Ben Compton from Bruton Knowles, which sponsored the event.

“Three of the speakers were very much pro-Europe arguing for general reform of the EU to cut down on red tape and regulations rather than complete withdrawal. They felt it would be a great mistake for the UK to ‘burn its bridges’.

“Mike Gooding was particularly concerned at the loss of trade links, a cut in subsidies and falls in land prices if the UK left the EU.

“However UKIP MEP Stuart Agnew was very much against EU membership and favoured a flat payment of £80 per acre for all farmers based on a net saving of £3billion.”

Mr Compton's colleague, Philip Cowen, said there appeared to be industry support for the UK to remain within Europe.

“There was considerable support for Mike Gooding’s observation that many of the nation’s more progressive farmers would much prefer to be able to farm without grant or subsidy, but in a profitable manner where market prices provide realistic returns for the produce which is ‘manufactured’ in the British countryside," he said.

"This was the first agridebate held in the Three Counties area for some time and farmers were clearly keen to hear the details of likely policies which the ‘No’ and ‘Yes’ camps will be taking in the event of an exit from the EU.

"Whilst the debate will grow as we near the in/out referendum, particularly in respect of EU financial assistance for farmers, we believe the UK population will continue to support its farmers when push comes to shove, whichever way the vote goes in 2017."