UK Farmers

[SunQueen24]

Can someone please explain to me what today is all about?

I care about it and the IHT changes don’t affect me. Who the hell is Guy Singh-Watson and why should I care about his opinion.

I care about it and the IHT changes don’t affect me. Who the hell is Guy Singh-Watson and why should I care about his opinion.

Yes. Also, I don’t think the tax justice UK organisation will offer a balanced view since their mission is to make anyone they consider rich pay maximum tax.

Guy Singh-Watson owns and runs one of the largest mostly organic farm to fork businesses in the UK. Riverfood Foods, based near Exeter in Devon, and has huge farming acreage supplying veg boxes across the south of England. It is a large and very successful business. I see their vans delivering all around, and I live 50 miles from their operating base. This one is for @38thparallel

Thank you Papyrophile. That is very interesting and so he’s a farmer who supports it. Fair enough.

Actually, if I was going to follow anyone, it would probably be Guy Watson-Singh. Never met the bloke, but he appears to run his company well and fairly. It really is not possible to pay the picker of vegetables the same hourly rate as the commercial bods who do deals for the company.

Well yes that’s a sensible point.

Yes, it is the minted people looking for a safe haven to park their money who are whipping up the frothing in the papers. But there are also a large number of yeoman farmers who actively run 200-400 acres of farmland whose businesses will be slaughtered by this badly thought out tax. It is going to hurt the not quite big enough to survive farms.And it really is not thought through.

Sell off land then fill it with bloody solar and wind farms - great

No..why should anyone pay it?

Well, you could all go back to buying wool carpet instead of laminate flooring. That would help. It currently costs a farmer on Dartmoor 3x as much to have the sheep sheared as he gets for its fleece.And the sheep needs shearing annually to live a healthy life. That's why sheep are eaten.There is no value in wool now, but it used to be the main commodity traded between England and Europe. Warm clothing....

I know there are P E T A enthusiasts here, posting as often as they can. The UK's climate and rainfall has made it superbly adapted to produce wool (from sheep) and meat (from cows and sheep and pigs). The UK has the highest standards in the WORLD for animal care. Cheap meat is only available if the welfare standards are compromised. I would not eat Dutch or Danish meat, because their welfare standards are completely based on ultra-intensive farming methods, and all the nasty compromises that follow from cheap meat. Meat should be quite expensive.

Think that subjects been discussed to death and not everyone agrees with you there.

Like the tax on schools predictions ( which were wrong ) I suppose we’ll all be forced to see.

I think the answer is to get shut of this government at the earliest and hope no small farmers die in the next 4 years so their children and grandchildren aren't out on the street after the tax has been paid

We should be producing wool and linen for clothing rather than synthetics - lasts longer, warmer/cooler respectively and biodegradable, rather than all the synthetic tat we import - there should be a landfill tax at point of sale on all those rails and online purchases of polyester etc etc - the only material I would give a by-ball on that tax is good outdoor clothing.

Nope try again under the seven year rule he gives his house and farm to his kids then after seven years he moves out to a flat somewhere maybe sheltered accommodation

@Littlemissgobby he has to move out straight away, he has to stay alive for 7 years

No. The moment the house and farm are signed over he can no longer live there. That's the point. He would lose his home and income.

Erm. Nope. You try again. Try to understand GROB…

He and others going on about minuscule amounts are clearly wrong

And choosing to ignore the every day farmers speaking at the protest. There were so many there and who were interviewed

Labour included, who are so bad at listening to anyone on pretty much any policy it's ludicrous

Even where farms fall below the threshold, if I were a farmer I'd be thinking - those thresholds are fixed. Inflation and land valuations are not, so this is the thin end of the wedge.

For those saying that this IHT policy will make land less attractive and so values will fall - I fear you are deluded - unless compulsory purchases are in store to push through planning. Otherwise corporate farms, land-banking, corporate Co2 offsets etc will hoover it up as a limited and therefore high value commodity.

Although the cynic in me says that compulsory purchases only need to be threatened, the value will fall, land will then be hoovered up by corporations/investors at an ever increased rate as we fail to support the farming community (already 40% sales p.a quoted up thread) and the country will then be set to lose out on IHT and food security and generational guardians of the land in one fell swoop.

I know hundreds of farmers who went on the march yesterday and every single one of them is a small farm, multi generation, most struggling to survive.

Whoever says its only the rich farmers complaining, has no idea.

It's clear this is the case. Pp should listen to more of the interviews

Personally I think I should be abolished. But if it isn't then farmers should pay it like everybody else.

@Viviennemary what about other family businesses, did you have a problem with them having IHT relief or just ‘rich’ farmers?

Businesses come and go farming is not only our food but the countryside is our heritage and culture massively different