NFU Surrey Vice Chair Paula Matthews, and her husband Laurence, hosted the meeting with the former prime minister at their mixed farm near Dorking.
They were joined by around a dozen NFU members, and County Adviser Harriet Henrick, covering a range of issues including the economic impact of farming, the work farmers do to protect the environment, the importance of national food security and the NFU’s calls for an enhanced multi-annual agricultural budget of £5.6 billion.
The NFU believes this budget is essential to give British farmers and growers the confidence to invest for the future and to deliver more sustainable, affordable homegrown food, while creating more jobs and delivering for nature, energy security and climate-friendly farming.
Defra figures show that farming provides more than 45,500 jobs in the South East and London and contributes more than £813m to the economy of these areas.
Mrs Matthews said: “We had a really good meeting and we pushed for an increase to the agricultural budget and how this will help British farmers to continue to do the good work we are doing.
“We are happy to host anyone on our farm who is interested in talking about food and farming, including politicians from all parties.
“We asked the former prime minister to do all he can, as the leader of the opposition, to keep the pressure on the government and to keep making the case for British farmers.”
The Matthews have worked with volunteers to plant more than 27,000 hedgerow trees across more than 3km of their farmland over the past three years.
This work has brought numerous environmental benefits to the area, including shelter and habitat for wildlife, improved soil quality and drainage and the removal of harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Mrs Matthews said: “We were able to talk about the hedgerow planting that has been done with the help of local volunteers and Mr Sunak was very impressed.
“Overall, he was very engaged and interested and he asked lots of questions.”
"We had a really good meeting and we pushed for an increase to the agricultural budget and how this will help British farmers to continue to do the good work we are doing."
NFU Surrey Vice Chair Paula Matthews
She added: “We are lucky to farm in a beautiful part of the country in the Surrey Hills.
“As well as producing food, farmers here work to protect this area and keep it so special.
“There are a lot of pressures but with the right support we can continue this good work.”