Do you need your parent/s to die before April 2026? *MNHQ adding content warning mentions suicide*

[Spatulation]

Absolutely reeling that we're losing the farm that my grandfather bought, my father expanded and my son hoped to takeover.

The budget today means that we'll owe £1000000 in tax and we won't be able to get a mortgage as that's 5 times our annual income and over 35000 times bigger than last year's profit.

We own soil. That's it.

Agriculture has the highest suicide rate in any profession - sadly I can see it hitting an all time high in the next 18 months. My father (83) is already talking about it.

Having worked in farming @Spatulation I really feel for you. The level of ignorance, jealousy and stupidity from people and politicians regarding the countryside in general and farming in particular is staggering.

People moan about food prices but have no idea about production and the cost pressures on small farmers from larger suppliers. In a time of increasing world hostility, the need for a secure food chain for this increasingly isolated island country is rising. Taking out a whole chunk of farms by forcing them to sell and be broken up is not going to help matters.

🤦‍♀️

I've only read the first few messages.

Wow I can't get over people ignorance. Do you actually know where food comes.

This government are dividing the country. What's the obsession with being down trodden and poor.

OP I'm so so sorry.

Familiarise yourself on how inheritance, gifting and tax works

They are talking about it in GMB just now. Ed Balls suggested it may not have been thought through properly and asked if it was ‘ringing alarm bells’ for the government. So perhaps they will end up rolling back on this? It would be a disaster to have these farms bought up for other development or by big corporations.

@Zanatdy and what happens to the farm as every generation sells off a bit to help pay IHT? And who is going to buy a bit of a farm?

And if you transfer before death there maybe CGT issues down the line

Do people not understand where food comes from? All these farms which will have to be sold to settle inheritance tax bills won't be bought by other struggling farmers, they'll be bought by developers who are probably already rubbing their hands in anticipation. But obviously food security isn't important to mumsneters.

It is a family farm. It's not as easy as selling a car and getting a new one.

Ok.

Reassure your father. Get together with anyone who will listen and oppose this. Build a mass movement and lobby anyone who will listen.

My FIL lost his farm which had been in the family over 300 years. It was tough. It altered his life and those of his eldest son and there was a rift between them.

While life turned out differently, my BIL had a very successful business career and his children have great jobs and have no interest in farming. You can get through this if the worse happens. It is just different.

100% agree

I have voted labour all my life and have worked all my life so I'm no stranger to the idea of distribution of wealth or the idea of the broadest shoulders etc. Not sure farms are a particularly good target though given the link with food security.

AAaaha. have been listening to the news on the radio and the point of the reduced IHT protection was to discourage the big investment companies from buying up farms to protect them from IHT.
Hopefully there is another way of doing this which doesn't affect farmers

Then perhaps we should be considering what is going wrong in this industry that so many people find the thought of being unable to force this apparantly thankless, hand to mouth life of hard graft and no reward down the generations a trigger for suicide.

I am so sorry OP. The decision about farms was an awful one. I live rural lying so I understand just how hard farmers work doing a very important job and all the difficulties they already face. Selling the farm to pay £1 million and still having £5 million left over is no consolation when you are losing a farm that has been passed down through the generations and you planned for that to carry on.

We live in a farming community and this is devastating news here.

Farmers are asset rich but certainly cash flow poor and work long hours every day of the year.. there is no weekend..

This new policy will come as a shock to many and hits quite small farms as well as big ones.

OP can the farm convert to a business? I don't understand it but if the farm is a business it can pass between directors without inheritance tax or something? Something to look into?

Very best of luck to you.

Not being able to leave the farm to his son as originally planned is definitely not a reason to commit suicide as by all accounts if you’re paying £1 million in inheritance tax that still leaves a very significant chunk of money that would still buy some kind of Farm. Yes, maybe some land needs to be sold and that will break up the farm but it won’t destroy it
Some of the most profitable farms these days are on under 20 acres because they intensively Farm something. Be it grow tomatoes under poly tunnels, or produce eggs in sheds. Farmers need to be very clever with how they create money. If you have several hundred acres and you’re barely scraping by you definitely need to question what you’re up to
this change has also been on the cards for a couple of years now. It’s bad estate planning to have left it so last minute to react to this change.
As for farmers feeding the nation, I am surrounded by several large family owned farms and they mainly grow wheat for beer and sugar beat for creating highly processed sugar. No one is being fed by them in our area. And they use and mismanage contractors, not caring when they spray and if the wind is up. I will give no shits if one in particular cannot carry on given the total disregard he demonstrates for everyone around him. His son he stands to inherit everything is a layout and has no interest in farming anyway.
There is a farm across the road that was bought by an older lady specifically so she could avoid inheritance tax. I guess that game is up now.

I’d love to know where you think there are budding farmers just waiting for a £5M farm to come to market.

Here we have a life long skill set of dedicated farmer who are willing to do the work. OP is one such family who will not be in a position to continue - yes they could sell and buy a smaller farm - freeing up land for developers - and let’s face it most farms are in the deep country side so where are these new home owners going to work?

We’ll have more homes, more families and nothing to feed them with. More unemployed and higher food costs isn’t helping the economy. And the social security system isn’t set up for annual labour to help out on seasonal jobs.

I think you are all bonkers if you don’t think this will have a ripple effect on the economy.

I wouldn’t swap my small house and safe job for 24/7 farming for all the free food in the world.

I largely thought the budget was fair other than this change. Hopefully the NFU and other pressure groups will manage to change the Government's mind (it does happen! ). Meanwhile I agree that your family should see a financial planner.

I'm really sorry as it must be soul destroying.

You're correct that the general population, which includes me, doesn't understand farming at all.

Can you explain the £200,000 annual income a bit more? How many people does that support? Does all your family live and work on the farm? Do you employ any other workers? Is the £28,000 profit standard for a farm of your size? It seems very low for a business worth £6 million.

I'm sorry your dad is feeling such despair.

Your father should immediately give this farm to his son. And then try and live as long as possible!!!

Because I have to get up so early to go to work I have started to listen to farming today. This is what happens when you get old, farming today becomes something you look forward to. Anyway I'm amazed by how much work farmers do to protect and invigorate the environment. I probably shouldn't be amazed, I probably should have known about it all anyway but (yes they are paid for it) their efforts to combat climate change are amazing. Innovative, creative and making a difference. Aside from food security, If farms are sold to larger corporations because of IHT it would be terrible if that work ceased.

We do know what’s wrong with the industry. Food is too cheap. Some farmers destroy crops rather than spend money on harvesting them because they lose less money that way.

Would you be supportive of change if all your fresh produce and agrifoods were 10% more expensive next time you went to Sainsbury’s? To cover the cost of production, to cover the loss of food subsidies and pay the farmer a decent (NMW+) wage?

Most farms are being kept alive by their diversified interests, meaning farmers are personally subsidising the nation’s household food shops from glamping holidays, dog walking fields etc.

A bit like the tories did for so many years to.thepoorest and most vulnerable.

YEAH! Payback time!

Does everything money-related on this site have to descend into tit for tat point scoring?

It's a diabolical decision from a diabolical government. But most people don't understand farming, the discussion of it as a 'business' really highlights that. It is but it's just not comparable. Farmers are asset rich but cash poor and it is about much more than money. If they wanted money they would sell off to land developers - and then where would we be? We want more local food production not less.

I am so so sorry. I hope something can be done, I really think this was a very poor decision. Even as one that does not impact me at all.

@thepariscrimefiles you should watch Jeremy Clarkson’s programme about farming. He is an obnoxious git and some of what he does is obviously for the cameras, but it highlights how little return you get from your acres. The reason why many farmers try and diversify is to raise money so they can actually make a living. Most cash rich farmers have probably sold off some land for development. Most family farms are not lucrative if solely ran as a farm.