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Whitehall was awash with waxed jackets, woolly hats and flat caps and those who had chosen to come in wellies to boot certainly didn’t regret the choice. The sky over Westminster loomed lead grey, the rain varied from thin spray to drizzle, with proper showers in between. Shortly after 11am on Tuesday morning the organisers of the London Farming Rally took to the stage, surprised by the sheer number of farm families who heeded the call and had come from all parts of the UK, even as far away as Northern Ireland.
In the last few years farmers had to contend with summer droughts followed last year by the wettest period since recordings began. Since Brexit they have tried to adapt to the loss of the EU Basic Payment Scheme, they have struggled to make sense of SFI, the government’s Sustainable Farming Initiative, that comes with a 170 page handbook and a set of conditions that change about as often as the weather. They’ve been hit by labour shortages, by world politics and trade deals dictating farm gate prices, and by supermarkets securing their margins by cutting those of their suppliers. But it took the October budget and the announcement of a 20% inheritance tax for agricultural properties worth over one million pounds to get farmers to come out and protest. The threat that the family farm may not go to the next generation was the last straw: in order to cover the tax bill the family might have to sell land, which, in turn, could render the business unviable. According to the government only 27% of farmers will have to pay, but property consultants such as Strutt & Parker have calculated that taxes would be due on any farm with more than 200 acres of land. The average farm size in England is 370 acres.
“We are here for our children”
On the stage, one by one, farmers share their story. “After 175 years I could be the last generation on this land“ says a 5th generation farmer. “For 139 years my family turned up to provide food every single day”, says beef farmer Claire Price. The government has advised farmers to plan for succession early, if they live for seven more years no inheritance tax has to be paid. “I am the sole owner”, says Price, “I can’t hand over my farm to my kids because they are children. What if I drop dead tomorrow?”. And there are secondary consequences to the inheritance tax: tenant farmers speak of their worry that landlords won’t invest as not to raise the land value, and their fear of being evicted, so that tenant land can be sold to cover the landlord’s inheritance tax bill.
“We just want to feed you”.
As we stand in the rain, straining to listen to the speakers I think back to last year, when tens of thousands of farmers protested against planned changes to the EU’s common agricultural policy. Manure was dumped in the streets of Brussels, go-slow tractor convoys brought traffic to a halt in Berlin, and the outrage hasn’t stopped – only this week French farmers blocked roads to protest against the EU-Mercosur deal. By contrast, here in London, the neon pink banner above the stage reads: “We just want to feed you”.
The lady next to me wears a hand knitted woolly hat with a blackface sheep pattern. “I chose that on purpose”, says Katie Summerfield who runs a 300 acre mixed arable, beef and sheep farm in Staffordshire. She’s also come for the elderly farmers in her neighbourhood who are so very worried she says. When the tax was announced they tried to get life insurance to help their children cover the tax bill upon their death, but they were turned down because of their age.
Next to her stands Samantha Palmer and her 16 year old daughter Abby, the family farms 240 acres beef and arable. Abby would like to open a farm shop when she leaves school. “I’ll give her all my savings to make that work for her and the farm”, says her mother.
Keeping the farm, whatever it takes
Taxes have to be paid, and so the thoughts revolve around how they could make it work. “We made a loss on wheat”, says Summerfield, “we hope we have better chances with oats next year”. Expansion is not an option. When agricultural land is sold it is snapped up by solar companies and for carbon credits, she says, farmers don’t have a chance.
A few feet away stands Andrew Jesse. Together with his three brothers he runs a 250 acre arable and beef farm in West Sussex. For generations, the family had dairy cattle, but three years ago it became clear that huge investments would have to be made, not least to comply with regulations for slurry storage. “So we decided to sell the dairy herd”, says Jesse. They now grow feed for a neighbouring dairy farm, cater for polo horses, have a dog walking service, a camp site in summer… Four families make a living from the farm. What will happen if they have to sell land to cover the tax bill?
There is no anger in this crowd, but also no energy, no joy that so many have shown up, no hope that this might be a turning point. Instead many people stand rigid, the atmosphere is as leaden as the sky above – but everyone is “holding it together”.
Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president is the last speaker to get up on stage and senses the mood. “When you are back on your farms tomorrow, pick up the phone to a friend, a neighbour, someone you haven’t seen for a while, have a yarn, make sure they are ok.”
Marianne Landzettel is a journalist writing and blogging about food, farming and agricultural policies in the UK, the US, continental Europe and South Asia. She worked for the BBC World Service and German Public Radio for close to 30 years. Follow her on X at @M_Landzettel and m.landzettel on Instagram
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