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AHDB still has some way to go in engaging levy payers with everything it does, but its sector council chairs believe farmers who understand its work will back a levy increase.

Speaking on the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Guardian podcast, beef and lamb sector chair Colin Bateman said farmers saw the levy being taken off when they sold their animals, but there was no column which said told them the value which had been delivered.

AHDB levy rise

"I am absolutely passionate about communicating better to farmers about what we do," he said, adding he believed it would be difficult to find people who did not find AHDB value for money when they understood everything the levy body delivered.

Lyndon Edwards, dairy sector chair, said whenever he met with farmers at an event who asked him what AHDB does with their money, at the end they tended to agree the levy needed to increase.

Tom Clarke, cereals and oilseeds chair, said they had had a flat budget since 2012, and been able to do ‘less and less' as costs had not stayed flat.

"²ÝÁñÉçÇø are going to need us to do more. To do more, we need investment."

Mr Edwards added it had been 24 years since an increase in the dairy sector, and there were many things they now were involved in, such as exports and marketing, which did not happen then.

See more: AHDB levy increase must deliver for farmers

"Without that increase we will not be able to do the best job for the industry going forward," he said.

The ballots in the horticulture and potato sectors have shaken up the organisation. Mr Clarke said he got involved after voting to keep the levy as a potato grower.

"I can see from my own business that we need the activities to be done," he said.

More podcasts: Labour's Daniel Zeichner answers farmers questions on right to roam