The NFU left the meeting after the independent members of the board rejected the NFU's last-ditch attempt to achieve a fair settlement by putting forward an alternative proposal to the 2002 Agricultural Wages Order on the table.
The award that was confirmed will land farmers and growers with an extra £100 million bill over a year.
Leading the NFU delegation, Employment and Education Chairman Bob Fiddaman said: 'We had no choice but to resign.
'We have gone as far as we can down the line to resolve the situation but our proposal for a more realistic - but still costly - settlement was thrown out.
'Of course workers must be paid a fair rate for a fair day's work. But the proposed order was not the market rate and farmers and growers just do not have the ability to pay it.
'Workers in Britain will lose out in the long run as farmers and growers will simply be unable to keep them on and farm businesses will be exported to other EU countries with markedly lower wage rates.' The Order was confirmed in the absence of the NFU delegation and the NFU is now seeking professional advice on its legality. NFU President Ben Gill will write to DEFRA Secretary of State Margaret Beckett to inform her of the NFU's decision.
Agriculture is unique as in addition to general employment law like National Minimum Wage and the Working Time Regulations, the industry is also governed by the AWB. The layers of regulation lead to an extremely inflexible system that hampers the ability of the industry to make the adjustments needed to be sustainable and profitable.
Mr Gill said: 'Frankly, this debacle has highlighted just how ludicrous and outdated the regulations governing farm workers' wages are. This false labour market cannot be allowed to continue in future.
'Government must follow the recommendation of both ourselves and the recent Curry report on the future of food and farming and abolish the Agricultural Wages Board.'
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