A DELEGATION is in London this week to lobby the Westminster government on the controversial planned changes to farming policy.
With fears persisting on the impact the changes will have on rural farming families, such as those in Fermanagh, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has made the trip along with a 20-strong delegation.
The visit is aimed at discussing proposed reforms to agricultural property relief, amid mounting concern that the incoming inheritance tax (IHT) regime could devastate family farming across Northern Ireland.
The event, titled ‘Securing the Future of Family Farming in Northern Ireland’, will allow members to share their lived experience with backbench MPs and outline their fears should the changes, due in April 2026, go ahead.
Under the new rules, farms valued at more than £1 million will face a 20 per cent inheritance tax charge, a threshold that more than 48 per cent of farms in Northern Ireland exceed.
Ahead of the event, UFU president William Irvine said it would be “a much-needed platform to speak directly with MPs on the destructive nature of the changes to family farm tax.”
He added the aim was to convey “the inherently unique nature of our family farms here in Northern Ireland, characterised by high land values, an older demographic of farmers and prevalence of sole-owner livestock-based farms, in a plead for government to urgently change course on their proposals before the upcoming Budget.”
Calling the trip “a very important opportunity,” Irvine said the proposed IHT reforms risk “dismantling farms which have taken generations of labour to erect and threatening the very fabric of our rural communities.”
He confirmed UFU members will hold further meetings with politicians the following morning, saying they would “do everything we can to keep our farmers at the core of the decisions on the future of NI agriculture.”
Across Fermanagh, concern is rising that the reforms could “accelerate rural decline.”
Local MP Pat Cullen previously wrote to Chancellor Rachel Reeves urging the government to scrap the scheme.
“The imposition of this tax is nothing short of an attack on those families and on the continuity of farming as we know it,” she warned.
Ms Cullen, pictured left, added it would “undermine succession, force the fragmentation of holdings, and accelerate rural decline,” placing food security at risk.
“For food safety and security across these islands, this tax must be abolished,” she said.
“Family farms are the guarantee of safe, sustainable, and traceable food supplies.”
