Government is 'moving the goalposts' with inheritance tax, claims farmer ready to scrap energy efficiency plans

17 January 2025, 17:50

A dairy farmer in Sheffield has accused the government of “moving the goalposts” with the inheritance tax, which will impact a number of farms across the country.

Our Cow Molly Farm, four miles from the city centre in the South Yorkshire countryside, has been producing milk for the Steel City since 1947.

Eddie Andrew’s grandad started the farm with six cows, and it’s grown ever since. Like many farmers, Eddie was left with a sour taste in the mouth following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget in October.

“Even though we’re a small dairy farm, this new tax now includes every single cow here, every building, every tractor,” he says.

“So over the years as we’ve built the farm up and grown, we’ve essentially created a pretty large asset.

"Beforehand, when my mum and dad are not here anymore, myself and my brother could have seamlessly carried on producing without any disruption.

"But now, we’re going to have to pause and see how many tractors, how many cows we’re going to have to sell before we can continue.”

Read more: Farmers declare 'war' on inheritance tax changes as hundreds of tractors roll through London

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From April 2026, tax will be payable on inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1 million.

Our Cow Molly Farm has been working to become more energy efficient. They’ve installed solar panels on the roof and are in the process of building a brand new building for milking cows, all to make things greener. But Eddie says they’re now questioning whether it’s been worth the effort.

“The plan for us was to put more solar panels on the roof, making things greener. But that’s the first thing that’s going to go, if there’s more of a tax to pay.

"The government has got time to reflect their policy and see that it’s affecting tractor dealerships, the agricultural builders and their labourers. For us, the bottles of milk and labels are produced in Sheffield. The impact is on everything we buy.”

Eddie is now putting labels on the bottles of milk produced at the farm, all in support of the ‘Stop the Family Farm Tax’ campaign by the National Farmer’s Union.

It will go on 10,000 bottles which will be sold across the area, including in Morrisons and Sheffield’s two universities.

Eddie says: “If we start to see this on lots of packaging at lots of retailers across the country, it just puts more pressure on the government that this is something that needs to be changed.”

NFU President Tom Bradshaw says: “The Stop the Family Farm Tax campaign is a powerful visual reminder to the government that our fight to protect family farms is far from over.

"These tax changes are unjust, based on flawed data and risk destroying the very backbone of British agriculture."

A spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast. This government will invest £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history.

"We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.  

“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than standard 40%, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free.

"This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year.”