By Matt Donald, pig & poultry producer, north Yorkshire
I write this as the news breaks that the treasury show no signs of backing down or even co-operating with farming unions over the IHT proposals. We all know it will be a massive blow to farming and food security if nothing changes. The data, which Rachel Reeves doesn’t seem to look at, tells us so.
What does this mean for poultry specifically? We will have to knuckle down and do what farmers do best, be resilient. Perform at the top of our game and leave no stone unturned when it comes to on farm efficiencies, largely because I don’t feel the government are backing down on their self-destructive decision making. Poultry meat will have to become more expensive if we are going to be businesses that cover the inheritance tax bills as they arise, that is without the rising NI contributions around the corner, reduced grant funding and all other increasing costs.
Even the supermarkets are agreeing with us on something, calling for change on the IHT proposals, is that not enough to make the treasury question their ludicrous policy? I agree in that we need to make land less attractive as a tax haven to the extremely wealthy, which could also result in a younger generation having easier access to land, but the thresholds appear to have been set without an understanding of true farm values.
Obviously, we are heavily reliant on arable farmers producing crops so we import less feed, they are likely to suffer from APR more than poultry businesses, who will be greatly affected by BPR. I know farms have high values and relatively low return on your assets compared to most businesses, but it seems that other sectors of business are not shouting loud enough by BPR. It looks like the best thing to do is to knuckle down, do what we do best, but even better, so back to the poultry shed I go.