The NFU has expressed its disbelief after the Unite union submitted a pay claim to Defra calling for a substantial counter-inflationary pay rise and a public holiday to commemorate Workers’ Memorial Day.

Unite has said it will present more detailed information behind the claim in May and the negotiations will be held in June.

The timing coincides with the opening of the annual wages negotiations leading to a new Agricultural Wages Order, which is expected to come into force in October.

The NFU has backed government moves to replace the AWB, calling it a ‘contradictory and cumbersome regulatory framework’ which is ‘out-dated and does not have the best interest of farmers or workers at heart and is uniquely the only sector to still retain a wages board’.

Figures show the average full-time skilled farm worker earns £448 per week while an unskilled farm worker gets £352 per week. They are both above the average earnings for a full-time baker, at £326 per week, or the average full-time butcher, who earns £322 per week.

NFU Deputy President Meurig Raymond said: “We need to fully assess the detail of the pay claim but on the surface this looks like an outrageous demand on an industry that is already experiencing tough economic pressures across the board. Already the Agricultural Wages Order awards an annual holiday entitlement that is higher than usual employment law which applies in every other sector.

“The NFU and farmers alike are increasingly concerned by the insinuation from Unite that farmers do not value agriculture workers when the exact opposite is true. Farming is a skilled sector, where the experience of workers is held in the highest regard.

“Farmers are fully prepared to invest to ensure they have a skilled and motived workforce - and this is why they have nothing to fear from the abolition of the AWB.

“Defra’s own farm income figure forecasts out last week show that most sectors will be operating or are already operating at a loss. Beef prices for much of 2010 were down on 2009 levels, and pig prices spent much of the year under pressure, with many reporting losses of £20 per pig.

“The NFU has well-documented the situation in dairy where, despite rising global commodity prices, the price paid to farmers for their milk remains painfully slow to increase, leaving many operating under the cost of production.

“Even in the arable sector, in which Defra forecasts a 73% increase in farm incomes, these rises follow a fall in cereal sector incomes of 34% in 2009/10 when, without Single Farm Payments from the CAP, many arable farmers would have faced losses.

“Farmers need to turn a profit to enable essential reinvestment in their business. This move by Unite will not help build a secure food and farming sector; one which will be crucial if farmers and growers are to fulfil their potential, rising to the food security and energy challenge that has been outlined in the recent Foresight report.

“We will consider Unite’s proposals and will respond in due course.”