Bedfordshire farming leader urges government to scrap family farm tax as new research shows 75% of farms will be hit

NFU Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire Vice Chair Andrew Mahon is urging the government to recognise it is working off the wrong figures, revisit its plans and save family farms from closure.

This comes as new polling, commissioned by the NFU, reveals the public believes the family farm tax is the most unpopular measure in the Budget.

Mr Mahon said: “The evidence is clear for all to see that the government is working off the wrong figures when it claims APR changes will only impact the wealthiest farmers.

“These changes will force the closure of many small and medium-sized family farms, who will need to sell-up to pay the tax bill.

“Tenant farmers will be greatly impacted, with landowners more inclined to sell their land, making less land available for farming here in Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire.

“This will rip the heart out of rural communities.

“The country’s national food security will be under threat, the great British countryside will suffer, an enormous amount of positive environmental work currently being done by farmers will discontinue and food prices in supermarkets could increase.”

The government plans to reform APR and BPR from April 2026.

This will mean farm businesses will need to pay a tax rate of 20% of agricultural assets valued over £1 million.

The government announced this will only impact the wealthiest farmers, with Treasury claiming that 27% of APR claims are above £1m. However, Defra’s own figures show that only 66% of farms are worth more than the new £1 million threshold.

Further analysis, after the NFU consulted with former Treasury and Office for Budget Responsibility economists, reveal that 75% of commercial family farms will be impacted.

The Treasury’s figures are based only on last year’s APR claims and do not consider farms that have also claimed BPR for diversified aspects of their businesses.

They also include a substantial number of smallholdings, which are not farms.

The new analysis finds that the majority of medium-sized working farms that will be hit by the liability will not be protected by the ten-year payment window because the resulting payments would still be unmanageably large relative to the economic returns they earn.

Put simply, the majority of farms don’t earn enough money to pay the potential Inheritance Tax bill without selling off some of their land or business, making the farm business unviable.

Meanwhile, public polling, carried out by Portland, shows APR changes to be the most unpopular measure announced in the Budget.

The data reveals that 65% of the public do not think that the government has fully considered the impact of its planned changes on family farms.

The polling shows the British public agree with the NFU, with only 27% supporting the family farm tax.

Other results show:

Inheritance Tax (IHT) on farms is the joint most unpopular measure in the Budget, tied with changes to pensions.IHT on farms is ranked the second least popular Budget measure among 2024 Labour voters, with (21%) picking it, fractionally less unpopular than IHT on pension pots (22%).49% of 2024 Labour voters think that either IHT on farms and businesses is unfair. Only 11% felt IHT on farms was among their most favoured budget measures.Only 17% of voters trust the Chancellor most to tell them about the impact of this policy on farms, with 52% trusting ordinary farmers to tell them the truth.49% of voters think the government is biased against the countryside, with only 26% disagreeingIHT on farms is also at the bottom of things which are popular with the public – just 8% agree with it.

Mr Mahon said: “The government needs to accept it has got this wrong. The economic experts can see it, the farming community can see it and the public can see it.

“The government must look again at this hugely damaging policy and work with the NFU and its members for the sake of future generations and for the sake of society as whole.”