A GOVERNMENT minister who claimed British farming would be "stronger, safer, and better off" by remaining in the EU has insisted it is "business as usual" for the industry following the Brexit vote.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Liz Truss set out to reassure farmers and food producers on a visit to the Great Yorkshire Show, after the leaders of the industries in the region warned they were facing their biggest challenge for decades with the impending end of traditional subsidies and Common Agricultural Policy.

When asked if Brexit would hit the food and farming sector, Ms Truss declined to directly answer, but said she was "determined to make a success of it".

She said: "It is business as usual at the moment, in terms of migrant workers and farm support. We are beefing up our trade work through the Great British Feed Unit and also our work on tourism. A third of all visitors come because of food and it's incredibly important here in Yorkshire. We want to see more of that and we will be working on that in the coming weeks and months. Of course there will be work to do on the trade deal and the precise arrangements for migrant labour."

The ministerial visit came as the Yorkshire branch of the Farming Community Network revealed it had seen an eight-fold rise in calls to its helpline over the past year.

The group's chairman, Graham Lilley, said: "It's across all sectors, but livestock sectors and beef have been particularly hit and, perhaps for the first time, we are seeing arable farmers showing signs of stress."

Ms Truss agreed farmers were facing "a very tough situation in terms of global prices". She added: "Ultimately what we need to do is invest in more processing capacity so we can add value. Take Wensleydale, for example, that's a product the commands a premium."

Also attending the show was Wensleydale Creamery managing director David Hartley, who called on the government to start working on preventing inferior copies of products with provenance and heritage, such as Yorkshire Wensleydale and forced rhubarb, which have won EU protected status.

He said he wanted protective measures to be in place for when Britain left the EU.

Ms Truss said: "We need to hold further discussions about that, but I want to see some form of protection for products like that, which may be a British protection in the future."