Economics of Agriculture

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24-11-20 Farmers' Protest on 24-11-19 - Farming Explained > .

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19th November 2024 Protests >. We compare Keir Starmer's 2023 speech to the NFU conference to the protests held by farmers over the change to inheritance tax in the recent Labour Budget. We discuss the political representation at the protest from Reform UK, Clarkson, the Lib Dems and the Tories, including speeches by Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey, while also asking if this is going to become a culture war issue. We also look at ome press statemets from Reeves, DEFRA minister Steve Reed and agricultural minister Daniel Zeichner. We conclude that the protest itself was apolitical and single issue, but this is clearly not over yet.

2024 November United Kingdom farmers' protests: On November 19th, 2024, protests were organised by some farmers in London against new inheritance tax laws on agricultural land. The measure emerged from the Labour government of the United Kingdom budget plans, resulting in thousands of British farmers protesting in Parliament Square and addressing MPs directly in parliament.

The dispute centered on changes to inheritance tax on agricultural assets. Previously, the intergenerational transfer of farms had been exempt from taxation as a result of a 1992 tax break.

In November 2024, the newly elected Labour government announced plans to remove this tax exemption for farms valued over £1,000,000 in order to generate revenue for public services. Set to take effect in April 2026, the new policy would see a 20% inheritance tax on farm valued over that threshold, half the usual rate of inheritence tax, and could be paid across ten years. The inheritance tax exemption would remain in place for farms valued below the £1,000,000 threshold.

Opposition to the change from some farmers stemmed from the claim that farmers, while asset rich, are "cash poor", which they claimed would create a situation where some inheriting families would have to sell their farm lands to meet tax obligations. Supporters of the change claimed that farmers' had been manipulating the tax break to avoid taxation on profits.

Organisiations representing British farm owners said income declines across various agricultural sectors in the year ending February 2024, with some farms experiencing revenue drops exceeding 70%. Average annual incomes ranged from a modest £17,000 for livestock grazing operations to £143,000 for specialized poultry farms, further exacerbating the thinness of profit margins despite high land valuations.

The scale of potential impact is a point of contention. UK Government figures suggested the measure would affect approximately 27 percent of farms in the UK (aproximately 56,700 farms), equivilent to 500 farms annually. The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) suggested that 35 percent of farms (aproximately 70,000 farms) would be impacted. Analysis by BBC News Verifty stated that the figures of the UK government were more probable than the CLA's.

Oct 24, 2018