FERMANAGH farmers are expected to round up as many as 400 tractors for a procession in protest to agricultural inheritance tax changes.
According to a recent Parades Commission application submitted by Ulster Farmers Union, the rally is expected to take place on January 25 at 2pm, commencing at the Enniskillen Mart on the Old Tempo Road in opposition to tax changes which could negatively affect around half of the North’s farms.
Rallies are also expected to take place in Tyrone, Antrim, Armagh, Derry and county Down in opposition to the British government plans to enforce tax on farms valued at over £1 million with a 20% rate on assets above this.
The proposed application route begins at Enniskillen Mart before heading down the Tempo Road, Dublin Road, Wellington Road, Queen Road, Cornagrade Road, Irvinestown Road and Forthill Street, before returning to the Old Tempo Road around 3.30pm.
Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president, William Irvine, expressed that they are ‘stepping up efforts’ to overturn family farm tax.
“The family farm tax as it stands will destroy our agri-food industry, everything we have built up over decades,” he said.
“Government need to take a long hard look at what they are on the brink of doing.
“Having access to high-quality nutritious food is critical to our wellbeing, and yet, the Labour government continues to play with fire.”
According to Mr Irvine, the North produces enough food to feed over ten million people, six million of whom reside in Britain with exports to Republic of Ireland and beyond.
“The UFU alongside the other UK farming unions, are committed to doing whatever it takes until government does what is right for farm families and rural communities.
“No one is forgetting about the family farm tax, not on the mouth of Christmas and not in the New Year. This only stops when changes are made that uphold our proud farming legacy and the family farm structure that defines us,” he added.
“I urge our UFU members to participate in their local rally and be part of this collective effort, we must make it crystal clear to the Labour government that we are not backing down on this issue.”
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