FARMERS across the North are being urged to hold onto a sense of cautious optimism as Rural Support reflects on what it describes as ‘one of the most challenging years in recent memory’ for the agricultural community.
The farm support charity says 2025 placed intense pressure on family farms, with rising input costs, market volatility, adverse weather and disease outbreaks combining to test both business resilience and personal wellbeing.
Alongside these challenges, ongoing uncertainty around agricultural policy and taxation added further strain for many farming families.
Rural Support reports that demand for its confidential Support Line, farm business guidance and wellbeing services increased steadily throughout the year – a clear indication of the emotional and financial stress being experienced across the sector.
While farming families face the same life events as the wider population, such as bereavement, accidents and relationship difficulties, the charity highlights that farm businesses continue to operate every day of the year, often leaving little space to pause or recover.
A particular source of anxiety in 2025 was the proposed reform of inheritance tax reliefs, long seen as critical for enabling family farm succession.
Late in December, revisions announced by the UK Government were widely welcomed by farming organisations.
While not eliminating inheritance tax entirely, Rural Support says the changes represent a meaningful improvement on earlier proposals and an important recognition of the role family farms play in sustaining Northern Ireland’s rural
economy.
“Farmers and farm families have shown immense strength and courage through another difficult year,” said Gyles Dawson, director of programmes at Rural Support.
“The pressures of farming life are real and complex, but we are encouraged by positive policy developments and the determination
within the farming community to build a resilient and sustainable future.”
l Rural Support’s free and confidential Support Line is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm, on 0800 138 1678
