It’s been quite the year as NFU President since being elected in February and, as I write my first New Year’s message, it’s impossible not to reflect on the stark picture of the challenges faced by UK farming over the past 12 months.
Volatile input costs, commodity prices at record levels in some farming sectors and on the floor in others, a reduction in direct payments and one of the wettest periods in decades that resulted in a disastrous harvest, have left their mark and many farming businesses worse off.
Anger, despair and betrayal
To cap a wretched year, we saw a Labour government, which, after 14 years in opposition, promised to reset its relations with British farmers and deliver a much-needed lift to farmer confidence.
Instead, it delivered an inflationary Budget and all but removed the tax reliefs for agriculture property and business property.
In all my years in the industry, I’ve never experienced the anger, despair and sense of betrayal following the Chancellor’s announcement to changes to inheritance tax, which has long protected farming’s ability to pass on the farm business to the next generation, thereby protecting food producing businesses and the nation’s food security.
“We are keeping up the pressure on government, targeting those rural labour MPs with a powerful, visual reminder from the banners going up all over the UK that the fight is far from over.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
We saw these raw emotions play out at our mass lobby of MPs in Westminster, the farmer rally in Whitehall, and at the various tractor protests in London and around the UK, with tens of thousands of farmers passionately expressing how this tax will devastate their businesses, families, rural communities and national food security.
The fight continues
We are keeping up the pressure on government, targeting those rural labour MPs with a powerful, visual reminder from the banners going up all over the UK that the fight is far from over.
Ultimately, this needs to be sorted out by the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a solution sought that will mitigate the extreme human impacts of this indefensible family farm tax policy on the current holders of those businesses, for whom, up until 30 October, the best tax advice was to hold their farm until death.
Rest assured, we will keep fighting to find a solution.
Labour manifesto commitments
Pre-election, there were a number of policies within Labour’s election manifesto that provided optimism, and we all need to see those delivered and at pace.
The Agricultural Transition Plan needs immediate action and focus.
Rolling over the Higher Tier environment schemes and with an uplift in payment rates, rethinking the SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) to ensure it is compatible with food production alongside environmental delivery, and ensuring the new ELM (Environmental Land Management) schemes are available and working for all farm businesses in all sectors is key, particularly the uplands, so we can help to deliver those legislated environmental targets.
Building blocks for UK food security
A robust system of core standards for food imports is essential to protect farmers and consumers from imported food that would be illegal to produce here and allow the economic marketplace to function properly rather than our members being constantly undermined.
There needs to be vital legislation to boost promised public procurement of British food, and a planning system in place that enables us to invest in on-farm infrastructure that delivers for food production and mitigates environmental risk.
“It is also hugely important that the overwhelming public support British farming continues to attract remains steadfast.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
These are the building blocks needed to secure UK food security and provide Britain’s farmers and growers the confidence they desperately need to invest for the future and deliver on our joint ambitions.
That is, to produce more sustainable, affordable homegrown food, while creating more jobs and delivering for nature, supporting greener energy security and climate-friendly farming.
Overwhelming public support
Despite a challenging year, there have been successes which mustn’t be overlooked.
These include new legislation on dairy contracts after more than a decade of campaigning that provides fairer and more transparent supply chains, a first US export opportunity for UK beetroot growers, a Code of Practice for tenant farmers, and eight of the UK’s major retailers backing the NFU’s long-standing call for ‘buy British’ tabs to be added to their websites.
It is also hugely important that the overwhelming public support British farming continues to attract remains steadfast.
More than 265,000 people have signed our family farm tax petition expressing their anger and frustration, and backing NFU calls for an immediate u-turn.
It gives me great strength to know that Britain’s farmers and growers are respected and much valued by the public, who rank our job as one of the most important and well-respected professions, second only to nursing.
Fairness in the supply chain is key
Our ambitions are clear, and the manifesto commitment from this government, that national security is food security, gave us hope to deliver the thriving industry that farmers and growers want to be a part of.
This acknowledgement must go hand in hand with investment to grow the farming sector and see it deliver on its potential for increased productivity, job creation, and economic and environmental delivery.
We are proud to produce the raw ingredients that underpin our essential food and drink sector, the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, worth a huge £148 billion, and employing more than four million people.
All of us know that fairness in the supply chain is key. We also know how hard it is to achieve, given the entire supply chain and government needs to move.
We’ve started a concerted effort this year to try to see change here, and while it’s early days, we are seeing real progress behind the scenes.
It’s a big task, but amid all the heat and light of other issues, we will be pushing hard on this in 2025.
“We will build on the momentum of the public’s unwavering support and strive to ensure we are doing everything we can to help deliver a thriving and profitable farming industry.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
A thriving and profitable industry
Clearly, the shadow hanging over the industry from the disastrous proposed reforms to IHT (inheritance tax) makes delivering these ambitions impossible.
To move forwards, we need the government to urgently recognise the need to pause and consult so we can focus on delivering the far more exciting agenda above.
As we head into the new year, we will build on the momentum of the public’s unwavering support and strive to ensure we are doing everything we can to help deliver a thriving and profitable farming industry – one that is good for shoppers, good for the environment and good for a secure supply of British food.
