“Many farmers genuinely worry about whether they will make it to the end of 2025,” Tom Bradshaw said at the event in London on Tuesday, which was dominated by the dispute with the government over planned changes to inheritance tax (IHT) for agricultural properties.
Bradshaw told reporters he doubted whether British farmers would benefit from changes to public sector procurement rules, aimed at getting more British food into hospitals, schools and prisons.
Bradshaw criticised the government’s IHT move as “cruel” and “morally wrong and economically flawed”, adding he had had received “hundreds” of letters from NFU members worried about the impact of the tax changes on elderly farmers.
Reed announced at the conference he would set up a new “farming profitability department” within Defra and would begin shaping a 25-year roadmap through workshops with the farming industry.
Reed also made a fresh commitment that food produced to a lower standard than that in the UK would not be permitted for import in any future trade deals.
