By making Jeremy Clarkson their spokesperson, Farmers have shot themselves in the foot

[Coolasfeck]

JC openly admitted to becoming a farmer to avoid IHT. Why do farmers think having him as the figurehead will help them? Just because he’s off the telly doesn’t mean ordinary people will support him. It makes them all appear to be out of touch millionaires.

Feels like a spectacular own goal. Either that or the media is setting them up by making him the focus.

Quote from Sky News:

‘Those generous reliefs have made agriculture an attractive investment for those seeking to shelter wealth from the taxman.

Clarkson, the UK's highest profile farmer - and opponent of the government's plans - said as much when promoting his Amazon series about becoming the proprietor of Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire.

"Land is a better investment than any bank can offer. The government doesn't get any of my money when I die. And the price of the food that I grow can only go up," he told the Times.

Mr Clarkson is far from alone. Private and institutional investors, along with so-called "lifestyle" farmers funding purchases from previous careers, like the former Top Gear presenter and his Oxfordshire neighbour, the Blur bassist Alex James, now dominate agricultural land purchases.’

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/whats-the-beef-with-farmers-inheritance-tax-13256257

He has changed my view about farming and farmers for the better.

If you bother to learn about what he did on his land you'll see the challenges and why he went into it. So what if part of it is to ensure his money stays with him or his family, that quote doesnt even give IHT as the sole or main reason so your premise is flawed anyway

Honestly though I don’t care who there leader is if it stops farms being sold off to pay tax to be able to farm. The more farm land that’s sold off the less farming will actually happen. The more we will rely on imports which places our food security in an even worse position that is already is.

Farmers don’t tend to be rich apart from assets as it costs so much to farm but those assets are the farm, one bad crop or a case or TB or bird flu can wipe out more than a years “profits” farming is a life style and for the love that also feeds us.

If you want higher welfare and more organic you want more and better farming not imports or heavily sprayed for highest yields vs managing the land well.

He gives them publicity for their cause which is a good thing. He's got a worldwide following thanks to Top Gear being broadcast in so many countries so why wouldn't they let him speak to raise awareness of what they are protesting against?

They should pay their tax in the same way the majority of us do. They keep very quiet about the ‘averaging’ of their businesses profits, rolling in their losses etc. which greatly advantages them tax wise. (Look up
farmers averaging tax scheme) to see what I am talking about.

I literally was just discussing this..it's a bloody cheek of him getting involved when he admitted he bought the farm to save tax! I'm sympathetic to genuine farmers, but I do think they're making a bit of a fuss, and I'm not sure if lots of the protesters even understand the proposals judging by those I heard interviewed this morning on the radio. You still get 3 mill tax free if married, and then it's only half the tax rate every one else pays. Too many wealthy people are exploiting the loophole. Someone needs to pay more tax after the blank check Tories.

90 minutes with a solicitor and an accountant would solve the IHT issue totally for most farmers.

You don't see the Duke of Devonshire worrying about IHT on his vast estates do you.

*MarkWithaC *Sorry I wasn't very clear. The signing land over early would be to take advantage of the 7 year rule, assuming we lived for 7 years after signing. The point about lowering land prices was referring to the new tax measures which might mean agricultural land is no longer attractive to big investors and if its only genuine farmers who are looking to buy then the price might fall.

Massively left wing feminist etc etc here. Can't stand Grand Tour or Jeremy usually

I think Jeremy has done a lot for the understanding of what it means to be a farmer. He is good at communicating and being entertaining.

The long and short of it is that the government has done a stupid thing. I'm looking from an ecological point of view and as someone who lives amongst farmers. Farmers are mostly method agnostic. They are ruled by economic and law constraints to try and make a profit somehow - anyhow. Try and talk to them about leaving hedges a bit higher, maybe leaving a margin round a field, maybe not using neonicotinoids on the potatoes, and they will sigh and move on - the best of them would love to do this, the worst of them don't give a shit, but at the end of the day they can't afford to do it. Government needs to step up and make friends of farmers, support them to use the land in a way that won't end in environmental disaster.

They simply can't afford to do the right thing by the land at the moment, and unless government puts money into research and support for farmers to work with the land and maintain biodiversity, and keep land in a way that reduces flooding, and be able to do so because their kids will then have a farm; then we are on. A highway to hell.

Even if the government raises as few £mill it's counterproductive in the extreme

And suddenly everyone hates these farmers. The ones that produce over half the food you eat.

Do you think its a good idea to rely on imports for 100% of our food? Its bad enough as it is.

As a country we are trying to reduce reliance on other countries for our energy, yet seem to want to up our reliance for food. Food of all things!!

Clarkson is an example of a landowner. Many many landowners are not like Clarkson. They may have a lot of land, machinery, animals - but that does not equal cash in the bank. They are not rich in terms of money - they are merely custodians of the land, producing food for you to eat, before passing on to the next generation to continue to do the same.

You split up these farms, they become unviable. Scale really matters. That means less food security, at a time when the world is in a funny place. Sounds fabulously short sighted to me.

They don't all they need is to talk to their accountant or land manger to see this is a none issue

and Clakrson is part of the problem - millionaires buying up farm land to avoid tax - not the solution......

Farmers would have been better understanding the rules than charging of too London - i also see Farage was there the man whose done the most damage to British farming.

are you an account or land manager specialising in farming?

no, but my accountants are.......

He is just the loudest voice and a media savvy personality

what a weird thing to say!! 😂

did your brothers cousin also once go to a farm?

Anyway - as our resident expert. What should this person do?

The more farm land that’s sold off the less farming will actually happen.

This bit I don't understand.
If the farmland is sold, it can only go to another farm - likely a much bigger farm.

I suppose if it got planning permission then houses could be built - which is a good thing as I think the need for houses is greater than the need for UK-grown food.

It seems vanishingly unlikely that the land would be bought for anything else. Golf courses?

Sorry - didn’t attach

Exactly. Farmers are the new people Labour are going for but we really need more food security not less.

For grazing horses so no food.
Hobbyist farmers who only provide for their own house. People who just want a patch of land to one day do something or because land goes up in value.

Purchased by investors and Left to just sit because they cannot currently get planning but holding the land till one day they hope they can.

Not every bit of farm land sold ends up back in large scale farming.

He is great at self promotion and self interest.

I can't see land prices coming down - because at 20% tax instead of 40% it is still a good inheritance tax dodge.
Just slightly less good than it was.
So millionaires will still buy up farmland.

Add allotments to that list. Lovely for individuals but again not as useful overall as being farmed large scale.

It gets sold to huge farming conglomerates who will get as much yield for as little money as possible and in so doing use chemicals, tear down hedgerows and ruin our bio-diversity. It will destroy our food supplies, deplete already nutrient starved soil, damage the eco-system and allow the government to start having control over the food we eat.

It will be straightforward for real inter-generational farming families to pass down these assets to avoid IHT. What we have is a group of very rich landowners like Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail and James Dyson stirring up smaller farmers to protest so they can retain the tax breaks.

For grazing horses so no food.
Agree this is a bad use of land. Not as bad as golf courses but still bad.
Until the day oil becomes too expensive and we return to horses for transport.

Hobbyist farmers who only provide for their own house.
So like a super-big garden then? I have no issue with this (at least, no more of an issue than I have with anyone owning a huge house and/or garden).

People who just want a patch of land to one day do something or because land goes up in value. Purchased by investors and Left to just sit because they cannot currently get planning but holding the land till one day they hope they can.
But banked-land will have to be used eventually (even if years later), or sold on with tax to pay at some point. So only a temporary delay.
Meanwhile, idle land is very good for nature and wildlife (as long as they don't keep 'clearing' it), and it gives the soil a chance to recover.