More than 200 tractors, trucks, and other machinery gathered on the Royal Welsh Showground today to demonstrate the potential impact of the UK Government’s inheritance tax plans on the rural economy.
NFU Cymru brought together farmers and representatives from rural businesses across Mid Wales for a striking display, showcasing the far-reaching impact of the planned changes to inheritance tax reliefs announced in the autumn budget.
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 plans - dubbed a family farm tax - could force many farmers to sell their family farms to pay a tax bill that, for many years, they have been protected from to help keep their businesses viable and enable them to keep feeding the nation.
Those gathered at the Showground in Llanelwedd heard an address from keynote speaker Alistair Carmichael MP, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee Chair. During his address to the crowd, Mr Carmichael recognised the vital role that farmers were playing in feeding the nation and championed their role in driving rural growth.
Also present was MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, David Chadwick, who spoke of farming’s importance as the largest employer in his constituency. He challenged the UK Government to stop, consult and properly assess the impact of its proposals.
The rural community support day, hosted by NFU Cymru, comes in the same week that the UK Treasury rejected an industry-led proposal to the tax issue.
NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor County Chairman Rob Powell, who helped organise the rural community support day and opened the event on the Royal Welsh Showground, said: “The gathering of tractors and vehicles here today encapsulates just how wide the concern and impact of this proposed policy has spread across rural Wales. Put simply, the growth of the rural economy is reliant upon profitable farming businesses who reinvest those profits in the local community.
“The UK Government’s proposed changes to APR and BPR puts the future of so many Welsh farms in jeopardy, resulting in a contraction of farming expenditure that has a significant knock-on effect for those rural businesses who count farmers amongst their customers. For many of those rural businesses who have attended today, the impacts are already being felt with farmer confidence plummeting and investment on many farms being shelved given this high level of uncertainty.
“The UK Government cannot ignore the impact of this ill-considered policy on farmers and the stifling effect it is having on the wider rural economy.”
EFRA Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael MP said: “The damage to the rural economy done by a so-called budget for growth is already beginning to appear. That budget has had a chilling effect on confidence within the sector as farmers cancel or postpone any major investment.
“DVLA figures - analysed by the Agricultural Engineers Association - show that the number of new tractor registrations in 2024 fell by 13 per cent against 2023, with the biggest falls coming in the last quarter of the year. Here in Wales the figure was actually a fall of 15.3 per cent. This year so far we only have figures for one complete month but that is showing a 10 per cent fall against the same month in 2024.
“The Chancellor may have wanted a budget for growth but the budget measures - compounded by Treasury’s subsequent behaviour - has killed confidence to invest amongst farmers.
“If farmers do not have confidence to invest then, whatever happens in the towns and cities there will be no growth in the rural economy. In fact, we shall be lucky to see it flatline.”
NFU Cymru Deputy President Abi Reader closed the event, summarising the union’s work on the #StopTheFamilyFarmTax campaign and outlining further lobbying in the coming weeks.