The measure, dubbed the tractor tax by critics and announced in the new government’s budget last month as it sought to raise funds, has drawn an angry backlash from farmers who say the ruling Labour Party does not understand rural communities.

The protesters held placards stating “no farmers, no food, no future” and “Starmer the farmer harmer”, in reference to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Police estimated about 10,000 protesters took part.

Farmer Emma Robinson, 44, said she was “absolutely livid” and would take part in measures to disrupt food supplies if the government did not back down.

Robinson said her farm in northwest England had been in her family for 500 years and she was going to pass it on to her children.

“It’s being taken out of my hands by someone that’s been in parliament for literally days,” she said.

The passing of farms down through generations was tax-free, but under the policy set out by finance minister Rachel Reeves, from 2026, 20 per cent tax would be paid on the value of a farm above 1 million pounds (C$1.8 million).

Existing personal allowances, which a married couple can combine, takes the threshold for a farm and associated property up to 3 million pounds (C$5.3 million).

Farmers say that while their land and machinery has a high value, the farms themselves have low profit margins, meaning their children would have to sell land to cover the tax bill.

Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter who owns a farm, was among those demonstrating and said his message for government was: “Please back down”.

The government has said the reforms would only target the most valuable farms while helping fund public services that farming communities rely on.

Environment Minister Steve Reed said he did not expect the majority of farmers to pay any more, adding: “There are a lot of figures flying around that I do not recognize.”

The government said the tax change would affect about 500 farms a year, based on the number of inherited farms in 2021-22, with the tax rate payable in instalments over 10 years. But farmers say the numbers affected will be much higher.

The government’s 500 figure does not include assets like livestock and tractors, they said. The Country Land and Business Association has estimated that 70,000 farms are worth more than 1 million pounds, and could be affected.

The backlash is only one part of a wider opposition to the Labour government’s first budget since it won an election in July, with businesses warning Reeves’ other tax-raising measures will fuel inflation.

Farmers say they are already suffering from unfair competition as cheaper imported produce does not have to meet the same environmental and welfare standards, while their incomes have also been squeezed by supermarkets and hit by climate change.

—Reporting by Sarah Young, Sachin Ravikumar and Paul Sandle

The post Thousands of British farmers protest against ‘tractor tax’ on inheritance appeared first on Farmtario.

A price war between supermarkets in Britain has led to milk being sold at rock-bottom prices, at a time when lower global demand has also caused the price to fall, pushing many dairy farmers out of business.

The report said the number of British dairy farmers had fallen below 10,000 for the first time in recent history, with the BBC reporting that farmers are being paid 20 pence (C36 cents) for a litre of milk which costs 30p to produce. Around two litres of milk costs around 89p (C$1.61) in some supermarkets.

“Farmers are not covering the cost of their production, it’s unsustainable,” Anne McIntosh, chairwoman of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, told the BBC.

“What we don’t want to see is mass numbers of dairy farmers leaving production, and maybe in five or 10 years time, we then are short of milk production and we have to import,” McIntosh said.

The report said the government should expand the power of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), who oversees the country’s grocery market, to also cover small-scale suppliers such as individual dairy farmers, so their complaints can be investigated.

Currently the GCA can only probe the relationship between Britain’s top 10 retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury and their direct suppliers, while small farmers are indirect suppliers.

With supermarkets involved in a price war intensified by the increasing popularity of discounters such as Aldi and Lidl, there have been complaints from farmers that prices of everyday items such as milk have been pushed ever lower.

Separately on Tuesday Britain’s largest dairy food company Dairy Crest said it had retained a contract with the country’s No. 4 grocer WM Morrison.

Dairy Crest, owner of the Cathedral City cheese and Country Life butter brands, said it had secured a three-year extension from Morrisons to provide fresh milk, but supply would be reduced by about a third from March.

— Sarah Young is a reporter for Reuters’ U.K. bureau in London.

The post British lawmakers call for more protection for dairy farmers appeared first on Farmtario.