草榴社区 for Action (FFA) in Northern Ireland has warned the announced changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) in the Chancellor's Autumn Budget could ‘wipe out' succession planning for many of Northern Ireland's family farmers.
Sean McAuley, FFA steering committee, said hope that the Labour Party understood food security were ‘now in tatters' and suggested nothing had been learned from COVID-19, the Ukrainian war and accelerated climate change.
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"Even as we speak this week with Spain's accelerated climate change disaster in Valencia now affecting food exports even to the UK – the Labour Parties reputation is alive and well – tax and spend," he said.
Autumn Budget
Over a third of Northern Irish farmers are aged 65 or over. Mr McAuley said many family farms will be forced to sell land to pay the tax bill and allow the next generation to go forward on a reduced sized farm.
He added: "It goes from bad to worse, in that full time employees on farms will cost almost an extra £2,500 per annum on top of this farmers purchase from 123 different suppliers and those suppliers will be hit with similar increase costs and have to pass them on to guess who – the farmer.
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"Then we have a new tax burden levied on double cab pick-up (DCPU's) vehicles with a payload of one tonne or more. To conclude, every farm organisation in Northern Ireland needs to now pile the pressure on every MLA in Stormont to take forward the Northern Ireland Farm Welfare Bill - currently with the Agriculture Committee.
"With farm support money melting and farmgate prices abysmal, this is the only lifejacket in town and would return Northern Ireland farmers a minimum of the true cost of production inflation linked plus a margin for their produce at the farm gate.
"If enacted, this would turn farming around financially - from being mostly cash poor and asset rich to then having the money to pay their bills like any other business."
