Welsh farming unions have been left "deeply disappointed" following a meeting with UK Government officials over concerns regarding changes to inheritance tax rules for farms.

On Tuesday, February 18, UK farming unions, including the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) and NFU Cymru, met with Treasury officials to discuss the proposed changes. Under the government’s plans, from April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1 million, which were previously exempt, will be subject to inheritance tax at 20 per cent. These changes have raised significant concerns across the agricultural sector.

FUW President Ian Rickman accused the Treasury of providing a "dismissive response" to the unions’ legitimate concerns.

He said that the unions outlined the "potential economic, emotional, and cultural devastation" these changes could cause, but that these arguments "fell on deaf ears."

"Serious questions remain about the Treasury's own figures and given steep trajectories in land prices and the current and historically low farm profits for the farm types which predominate in Wales, such inheritance tax bills would be unaffordable for a significant proportion of family farms," said Mr Rickman.

NFU Cymru President Aled Jones explained that a "fully costed, revenue-neutral alternative" was put to Treasury officials during the meeting. However, he accused the Treasury of showing "no engagement and no willingness" to consider alternative solutions.

“If the government is truly intent on pursuing this policy it must also own and understand the long-term outcomes," said Mr Jones.

"I have no confidence in the government’s policy choices, the damage to family farms, the impact to farmers well-being, the loss of farmer and wider business confidence, the impact on long term domestic food production, food prices, our tenanted sector and of course our unique language and culture."

Both unions have vowed to continue pushing for a fairer solution.

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe accused Labour of "throwing Welsh farmers to the wolves" and said they must "end their ideological war on the countryside."

“Their family farm tax could be the final nail in the coffin for many communities struggling to cope," he said.

"It will worsen rural depopulation and damage the Welsh language, in addition to the serious impact on the economy."

In response, a UK Government spokesperson said: "We regularly meet representatives of the farming industry to listen to their views, but strongly believe this is a fair and balanced approach which helps fix the public services we all rely on.

"Our reforms to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean three-quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter will pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free.

"We are also investing £5bn into farming over the next two years, the largest amount for sustainable food production in our country's history, and are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production."