For the last few weeks there’s been little else on people’s minds beyond the outcomes of the Autumn Budget.
At the forefront are the impacts of changes to APR, as well as the increase of the cost of employment with the changes to National Insurance. With so many potato growers being family farms, we are no less affected than any other sector.
The aspect that’s really worrying me as a potato grower though is the changes to BPR.
Potatoes are a particularly expensive crop to grow and require a significant amount of specialised investment. It’s a crop that requires full commitment, planning, and investment, and not one you can dip in and out of.
Tax bills could wipe out profitability
Potato harvesters are about as expensive as farm machinery gets, and that’s before you get to tractors, trailers, destoners, sprayers and spreaders for example.
In addition, we have to consider our potato stores which are an enormous investment. With these considered, our sector is particularly exposed, and with even quite conservative figures, the payments required to cover the tax bills could easily wipe out any profitability for the years ahead.
I would urge you to have a look through what the changes to BPR could mean for your farm, and take professional advice if necessary. But I'm afraid you may not like the figures that come out of it.
“Our sector is particularly exposed, and with even quite conservative figures, the payments required to cover the tax bills could easily wipe out any profitability for the years ahead.”
NFU Potato Policy Group chair and Horticulture & Potatoes Board vice chair Tim Rooke
Budget undermines investment and productivity
Of course, the APR changes are still a huge concern on top of this, both as a direct impact and an indirect one.
We are a sector which rents considerable amounts of land, and already has much difficulty doing so; PCN (Potato Cyst Nematode), solar farms, and weather impacts are all working against us already, so if our landlords are forced to sell land, then we have no idea what the land might be used for by the new owner.
We’re coming out of a year of significant pressure on the supply of potatoes, and we’ve seen similar growing challenges in Europe, so we know that we cannot simply import potatoes instead.
These budgetary changes undermine investment and productivity improvements and will ultimately worsen food security.
The number of potato growers has been reducing steadily for years, and breaking up family farms will only accelerate this, and leave British potato production in a very uncertain position.
Contact your MP
We saw the strength of feeling on these changes on 19 November with both the NFU mass lobby event and the rally in Westminster.
It is critical that government understands the flawed data behind its decision, and we must get the hard facts and evidence across to show how precarious a situation it has put British farming in.
If you have not already been in contact with your MP about how these changes will affect you, then I urge you to do so, particularly making the point about how it will affect you and your business individually.
