Agricultural landlords and tenants have joined forced to warn MPs of the dangers of a no-deal Brexit.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) have come together to ask MPs that a no-deal Brexit is removed from the negotiating table.

It comes after Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a humiliating Brexit defeat in the Commons this week, after her deal was rejected by 230 votes – the largest defeat for a sitting government in history.

It prompted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to table a vote of no confidence in the government, which Mrs May narrowly survived with MPs rejecting Labour’s motion by 325 votes to 306.

The CLA and TFA have said a no-deal Brexit, where the UK leaves the European Union at the end of March without a withdrawal agreement in place, would leave all farmers facing significant tariffs on exports or potentially the inability to trade with the EU.

The organisations said that in 2017, this accounted for 60 per cent for all UK food and drink exports, adding that the lack of a secure supply of migrant labour would also leave the danger of crops being unpicked this summer and food “rotting” in the fields.

CLA president Tim Breitmeyer said: “Avoiding the uncertainty and catastrophic effects of a no deal Brexit is critical for both landlords and tenants as well as the wider rural economy, and the entire farming community is united in our opposition to a no deal Brexit.

“Leaving the EU without an agreement firmly in place is likely to have disastrous long-term consequences for the nation’s countryside and its rural communities.

“The UK’s future relationship with the EU must include the free and frictionless trade on which so many rural businesses depend.

“A no deal scenario would throw this into doubt. It is crucial that all MPs and the government work together to ensure a deal is in place before 29 March.”

TFA chief executive George Dunn said: “The sustainability of the landlord tenant system in agriculture depends on ensuring the long-term profitability of the sector.

“Landlords and tenants cooperate to manage over a third of the agricultural land of the country producing great food and a host of wider public benefits.

“Both landlords and tenants need the confidence to invest for the future and the ramifications of a no deal Brexit would put that in jeopardy.

“Farm tenants are proud of the high-quality output for which they are responsible and the thought that these standards could be undermined by cheaper, lower quality imports in a no deal Brexit is a major concern.

“It is vital that the government delivers a viable framework to ensure that Brexit provides more opportunities through a good deal than the challenges that would be presented by a no-deal scenario.”

The CLA is the membership organisation for owners of land, property and business in rural England and Wales, while the TFA gives advice to all non-land-owning farmers in England and Wales.