WHY, you might ask, are farmers so concerned about the recent Budget Proposals on Inheritance Tax (IHT)?

At the recent National Farmers Union Conference, a farmer asked Steve Reed, Labour Secretary of State for Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), this question: “When every farm business owner, farm finance expert and farmer representative body is able to demonstrate how you have got your sums wrong on Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR), why do you think you know better?"

Mr. Reed struggled to answer the question, which ultimately should be laid at the door of Numbers 11 and 10 Downing Street.

It’s somewhat of a Labour ideology that gives little thought to food supply or whether this is a good idea in terms of stimulating investment and the much sought after economic growth.

Uniquely for Northern Ireland, this inheritance tax issue has united our own politicians.

Alongside the devolved nations, they are all appealing to the Prime Minister and Chancellor to think again and look at how IHT is applied throughout Europe.

In order to ensure continuity of food supply they [European governments] only apply the tax if the farm is sold, within a certain number of years - for example, six years in the Republic or France, or seven in Germany.

The simple fact is that when a farm is passed down a generation, no money exchanges hands.

In fact, many farms with borrowings pass on that commitment to the next generation to keep making the repayments.

Unlike when a farm or business or home is sold, there is no pot of money from which to meet the Inheritance Tax Bill.

Therein lies the genuine fear and concern that part of the farm may have to be sold to pay the tax man, making it unviable, and a burden to the next generation.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, farmers producing food were considered essential workers, and despite the supermarkets' spin, it was farmers who fed the nation.

The fragile nature of our food supply only becomes evident when shelves are empty.

In 2021, a container ship wedged in the Suez Canal for six days caused a supply crisis that lasted for months.

A drought or flood that destroys crops anywhere in the world can suddenly upset supply chains.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine three years ago set off a chain of effects that we are still feeling today, in terms of energy, fertiliser and food costs.

As consumers, we may forget the cause, but a government that takes food supply for granted will reap what it sows.

The Association of Agricultural Valuers, and the Department of Agriculture (DAERA), and other economists have rubbished the Treasury claims that few farm families will be affected.

High land values alongside livestock, machinery and farm buildings make Northern Ireland farms extremely vulnerable to this tax change.

Elderly, ill or sole owners find themselves trapped by the tax, with few realistic prospects of reducing that burden.

Unexpected deaths could mean facing this burden twice in a short time period - a scenario very few family farms would survive.

Calculations by DAERA demonstrate that farms over 48 acres are likely to exceed the £1million threshold that the Treasury has set.

Even by Northern Ireland standards of small family farms, this has been a huge shock, affecting 12,800 farms – some 50 per cent of all farms in Northern Ireland, but more significantly, 80 per cent of the land area.

These are family farms where family income is derived from the farm.

There is a modest standard of living, and no pot of money to pay tax bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Over the past few years, there have been numerous challenges on family farms.

The daily challenges and long hours are chosen by farmers who generally enjoy outdoor work and the satisfaction of producing good quality, safe, nutritional food.

What the Government propose will threaten that supply of locally-produced food.

The United Kingdom is only 60 per cent self-sufficient, down from being more than 80 per cent self-sufficient just 40 years ago.

And yet, the Westminster Labour Government can’t see cause and effect.

In an industry where the average age of farmers is already 60 years old, they’ve chosen ideology over trying to encourage our home-grown food supply.

That choice would be good for the environment, good for consumers and give farmers back a sense of feeling valued for feeding the nation.

David Brown is a former UFU President.