Norfolk turkey farmer urges all to "shop local" to help sector "under pressure"
NFU President, Tom Bradshaw has recently met with The Prime Minister, following farmers' anger at planned changes to inheritance tax
A turkey farmer in Norfolk is urging everyone to buy their Christmas food locally this month -saying the sector has "never been under so much pressure" due to rising bills and tax increases
The campaign's being pushed by the National Farmers Union, which continues to lobby the Government to overturn its planned changes to water-down inheritance tax relief for these businesses.
The group's President, Tom Bradshaw has recently met with The Prime Minister, as farmers' anger at planned changes to inheritance tax show no signs of dwindling.
"You could never have imagined that this would all happen"
Mark Gorton is from Traditional Norfolk Poultry, based near Attleborough:
"It's been a few years filled with turmoil, from rising energy prices, Covid, labour shortage issues and bird flu.
"You could never gave imagined that this would all happen, but if you can get through times like this you generally come out of it stronger.
"Farming is a long-term business and we're always looking forwards, to what we're going to do next.
"The Autumn Budget will have a future impact on our succession plans.
"We also need to keep our products competitive as well, but that's difficult to do with all our costs rising."
What's the Government said?
In a joint statement issued, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed said:
"Farmers are the backbone of Britain, and we recognise the strength of feeling expressed by farming and rural communities in recent weeks. We are steadfast in our commitment to Britain’s farming industry because food security is national security.
"It's why we are investing £5 billion into farming over the next two years – the largest amount ever directed towards sustainable food production, rural economic growth and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.
"But with public services crumbling and a £22 billion fiscal hole that this Government inherited, we have taken difficult decisions.
"The reforms to Agricultural Property Relief ensure that wealthier estates and the most valuable farms pay their fair share to invest in our schools and health services that farmers and families in rural communities rely on."