• (L-R) Jim Shannon MP, UFU president William Irvine, DEFRA Secretary Steve Reed, UFU parliamentary officer Alexander Kinnear.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union has met with Steve Reed Secretary of State for DEFRA, facilitated by Jim Shannon MP, and gave evidence at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Parliament, highlighting how disproportionately Northern Ireland’s farm families will be affected by the changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR).
UFU president William Irvine said, “After laying all the facts on the table, it seemed that the detrimental impact that the budget changes will have on NI is only beginning to hit home. The DEFRA Secretary took on board our arguments and gave a commitment to facilitate a meeting between the Chancellor and the UK farming unions.
“It’s absolutely critical that government realises how disproportionately NI’s farm families will be affected by the changes to APR and we made this clear during our meeting with the DEFRA Secretary, and to the NI Affairs Committee. Price per acre is much higher and more farms are under sole ownership so there is less opportunity to use inheritance tax reliefs from other individuals including spouses.
The UK budget, including the changes to APR, has put the future of many farm families at risk, threatening the UK’s ability to produce food. Currently, NI produces enough food to feed over ten million people, six million of whom are in Britain. NI also exports local produce to the Republic of Ireland and beyond.
“We made the case that farm families, like many families, tragically experience sudden death and sickness, sometimes, more than once in a generation, and some elderly farmers can’t prepare for changes with less than two years notice. Therefore, a succession plan is not always in place when a farmer passes leaving farm families with a huge tax bill that they simply do not have the money to pay. Also, with the ‘seven-year rule’ remaining unchanged, inheritance tax can still apply if the previous owner dies within seven years of signing over their farm.
“From 2025/2026 onwards, NI is set to no longer receive a ring-fenced budget for agriculture that can only be spent on farm related schemes. Whilst there is positive indication that the DAERA Minister is engaging with officials to reconsider this, we reiterated that support for agriculture needs to be ring-fenced, as well as being multiannual and inflation proofed. The current budget falls immensely short when inflation and strategic goals including safeguarding food security, promoting farm efficiency and supporting environmental objectives is brought into the equation. We would need another £50million for farm support just to stand still,” said Mr Irvine.
