More than 200 tractors congregated at the Royal Welsh Showground to outline the impact of Labour's 'shocking' inheritance tax plans.
Welsh farmers undertook a striking display showcasing the far-reaching impact of the planned changes to inheritance tax reliefs, announced in the budget.
Those plans – dubbed a 'family farm tax' – could force many farmers to sell up to pay a tax bill that, for many years, they have been protected from to help keep their businesses viable.
Farmers gathered at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells on Friday (21 February) heard an address from keynote speaker Alistair Carmichael MP, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee chair.
During his address to the crowd, Mr Carmichael said he recognised the vital role that farmers were playing in feeding the nation and championed their role in driving rural growth.
Also present was Brecon, Radnor & Cwmtawe MP, David Chadwick, who spoke of farming’s importance as the largest employer in his constituency.
He challenged the UK government to stop, consult and properly assess the impact of its proposals.
The event, which was hosted by NFU Cymru, came in the same week that the UK Treasury emphatically rejected an industry-led solution to the tax issue.
That revenue neutral proposal, and its ‘claw back’ mechanism, would have offered a reprieve for the significant number of farms affected by the proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR).
Instead, UK Treasury has vowed to continue with its plans, despite evidence and calls from industry, MPs, tax advisers and the independent Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) warning of its seismic impact on farmers.
NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor County chairman, Rob Powell said: “The gathering of tractors and vehicles encapsulates just how wide the concern and impact of this proposed policy has spread across rural Wales.
"Put simply, the growth of the rural economy is reliant upon profitable farming businesses who reinvest those profits in the local community.
"Government’s proposed changes puts the future of so many Welsh farms in jeopardy, resulting in a contraction of farming expenditure that has a significant knock-on effect for those rural businesses who count farmers amongst their customers."
He added: "Government cannot ignore the impact of this ill-considered policy on farmers and the stifling effect it is having on the wider rural economy.”
Alistair Carmichael MP, who is EFRA Committee chair, said the damage to the rural economy was already beginning to appear.
"That budget has had a chilling effect on confidence within the sector as farmers cancel or postpone any major investment," he warned.
“The chancellor may have wanted a budget for growth but the budget measures - compounded by Treasury’s subsequent behaviour - has killed confidence to invest amongst farmers.
“If farmers do not have confidence to invest then, whatever happens in the towns and cities there will be no growth in the rural economy. In fact, we shall be lucky to see it flatline.”
Farmers are set to rally in central London again next month, as campaigners continue to urge the government to reconsider the 'cruel' inheritance tax proposals.
The organisers of the successful farming rally in November 2024 are staging another protest event in the capital, on 4 March.
Elsewhere, the NFU is set to 'bring to life' the effect of the proposals with a display of agricultural machinery and toy tractors outside its conference in London on Tuesday (25 February).
The union is asking for donations of 'pre-loved' farm toys and other agricultural memorabilia as part of its ongoing campaign to stop Labour's 'family farm tax'.
