My family’s farm has run for five generations – now its very existence is under threat

For five generations, my family has farmed sheep and arable crops on our land in Yorkshire. Despite its modest beginnings, over time, the business has grown – and it is my hope to carry on building it for future generations.

Only, after Rachel Reeves delivered her autumn Budget last week, that hope – and, indeed, the future of our family farm – is under threat. Why? Because of the changes to inheritance tax.

Set to come into play in April next year, the new rules will mean that inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20 per cent. No wonder there’s been such a wave of backlash among our industry.

Now, don’t get me wrong – at 260 hectares, I can understand why, on paper, our farm is seen as a valuable asset. But what many people don’t see is the struggle that farmers have to endure; we work extremely hard for very little reward, and rarely do we have surplus cash in the bank. What we make goes back into the business.

In recent years, my family and the rest of the farming industry have been forced to navigate changes caused by Brexit, the rocketing costs of production (which have squeezed profit margins even further), and the increasing number of extreme weather events. And all that is before we even get to the job at hand: feeding the nation.

As is often said, everyone needs a farmer three times a day. The Labour government said it sees food security as part of our national security, but it’s difficult to see how what was announced in the Budget marries up with a desire to maintain and increase the amount of food we, as farmers, produce.

By our calculations, even using personal allowances, the Chancellor’s proposal could hit us with a tax bill of nearly £1 million when my parents die. And this is money that we just don’t have.

To pay a tax bill like that, we’d probably have to either borrow the money – plunging the business into debt it would take many years to recover from – or sell off some of our land, undoing years of hard work, destroying our family farm and calling into question whether we can carry on as a food-producing business.

We’re already having conversations about what the future looks like for us and our farm business, and whether there is anything we can do now to reduce the fallout – I’m sure other worried farming families are doing the same.

Although there’s no denying that these changes will impact the super wealthy, they will also impact the vast majority of farm businesses – which are mostly family-run and operating on very tight margins. Land size doesn’t always equate to wealth in these instances.

When the next generation take up the reins, they will no doubt have the same desire we do to produce great British food for the nation. The trouble is; the announcements in the 2024 Budget do nothing to ensure – or encourage – this.

Rebecca Wilson is a fifth generation farmer based in Yorkshire