
The start of a new year is usually a time to look forward – a time of hope for a better and brighter future.
In that respect, 2025 begins just like many other years – if not more so in farming terms. But growers and livestock producers will also be well aware that there is a lot of unfinished business which needs dealing with from 2024 too. And it needs to be dealt with urgently.
Big issues
The biggest issue is, of course, the government’s decision to impose 20% inheritance tax on farming assets worth more than £1m. It is a decision which at best shows how little the government understands the industry – and at worst shows a callous disregard for farming families and livelihoods.
Anger at this family farm tax has seen farmers descend on London no less than three times since the autumn Budget. And the government’s intransigence on this issue suggests we must prepare to dig for the long haul.
The season of goodwill has just ended. Farm leaders behind the London protests insist they will not take no for an answer – and are planning more protests to get their message across.
Then there is the issue of capital grants, which the government postponed overnight just before Christmas – arguing that it had been overwhelmed by applications and was putting payments on hold with immediate effect.
This is blatently unfair to farmers who have applied in good faith to undertake environmental improvements after being told by Defra they would be paid to do so.
The government says it will make an announcement on capital grants early this year – and we wait with bated breath to see what it contains – but it does nothing to engender confidence in our political leaders.
Looking forward
Still, at least we know where we stand – which is largely on our own and doing our best to produce food and look after the environment while our political leaders seem to think the opposite.
At times like these, it would be easy to become despondent. But it is important to look positively to the future, rather than sticking our heads in the sand or harking back to better times long ago.
Farming – and farming families – have faced many trials and tribulations over the years and are still here to tell the tale. It will take more than an ignorant government to make us go away.
Johann Tasker, Editor
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