Farmers say Labour’s shock changes to inheritance tax rules will lead to the “destruction” of village life and accused politicians of failing to understand the countryside, as dozens joined a first protest against the measure.
Under Rachel Reeves’s Budget announcement last week, farmers will be charged 20 per cent on agricultural assets above £1m from April 2026.
The move has met with a storm of fury in the farming industry, with fears it will mostly impact family-run farms where owners could have to sell land to pay the levy on a bereavement.
On Wednesday, dozens of farmers joined the first protest since the policy was announced at the Northern Farming Conference in Northumberland, attended by environment minister Daniel Zeichner, while NFU president Tom Bradshaw has warned of “militant action” ahead of a rally being organised for 19 November.
At Frome Livestock Market in Somerset, farmers voiced their anger over the “tractor tax”, with many claiming the government had overlooked the consequences.
“It’ll lead to the destruction of village life as we know it,” said Rupert Cox, a 63-year-old farmer with 200 acres of land near Langport in Somerset.
“Family farmers have civic pride in their villages and communities where they are; they will help out at the church fete by supplying straw bales for the skittles, they will give a hand to an elderly person needing a lift or something moving – such contributions to local village life are underestimated and overlooked.
“You also have the local spend. Yes, the tractor may come from further afield, but the local farmer will spend money in the local shop, send the car to the garage.
“If big businesses take over land, it changes things – their number one priority is profit, and they are limited companies with dividends to serve.”
The Treasury claims that the changes to the agricultural property relief will only impact 500 estates each year, with smaller farms – three-quarters of estates – not affected.
However, the NFU disputes the figures and claims the move will hit capital-rich, cash-poor, family farms already facing the phasing out of delinked payments (formerly the basic payment scheme).
Caroline Cunningham, 68, farms 250 sheep near Lacock in Wiltshire. She said there was now only one farm operating in the town, compared to “dozens” when she was a child.
She added: “Village life is changing so fast with fewer family farms – I don’t think they [politicians] understand these are not rich people, and the impact the decisions will have.”
John Strachan, also a farmer near Lacock, said: “The inheritance tax is a spiteful attack. It will impact the middle lot, the family-run farms, and it will further destroy village life.”
Dominic Jones, 47, farms beef and sheep on around 220 acres of land in Sturminster Newton in Dorset.
He said: “We are seeing a slow erosion of country life as it gets harder for farmers and less attractive for people with endless hours and low return.”
Defra figures show that more than a third of farmers are aged 65 and over, with the total number falling three per cent to 173,000 between 2023 and 2024.
Rob Beckley, the high sheriff of Somerset, told The Independent: “I see a lot of farmers getting older and not having younger people come in behind them to pick up the reins and there is real, real danger that the proposals from the Budget would create an even greater barrier.
“Many farms in Somerset are small and run by people beyond retirement age. What there needs to be is real understanding of the environment of the farming world and I’m not sure people really see it or get close to it.
“Communities support themselves very closely because there isn’t an urban centre, and the danger of a lack of recognition of that economy and system means that decisions have unintended consequences.”
At Hexham, outside the Northern Farming Conference, farmers held banners saying “No farmers, no food, no future” ahead of Mr Zeichner’s speech.
Iain Brown, 50, whose farm is in north Northumberland, said: “We’ve taken time out of our day to come here today, and I’m needed at home but we can’t take any more. It’s tax, tax, tax.
“The amount of capital you have to have tied up to make a living in farming, there’s no other business like it. I can only see family farms disappearing and it’ll be more of the big corporate companies.”
At Prime Minister’s Questions, newly appointed Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she would “reverse Labour’s cruel family farms tax” and asked the PM to “reassure the farming community”.
Sir Keir Starmer responded: “I’m glad she’s raised farmers. Because the Budget last week put £5bn over the next two years into farming. That’s the single biggest increase, unlike the £300m which was underspent under the last government.
“But when it comes to inheritance, the vast, vast majority of farmers will be unaffected, as she well knows; as they well know.”
A government spokesperson said: “We understand concerns about changes to agricultural property relief but the majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.
“This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers.”
