'Disbelief' - The day everything changed for this third-generation Yorkshire farmer

“The day before, on October 29, family farms up and down the country, the backbone of the UK’s food producers, were getting on with the job in hand, putting in the effort, dealing with the challenges thrown at us each day, taking the risks associated, often with little recognition, appreciation or understanding of what we do.

“On the 30th we were all knocked sideways by the Chancellor’s statement about Inheritance Tax in particular, but also the rapid removal of the old scheme payments, introduction of a new taxation on fertiliser, the double-cab pickup and National Insurance hikes, and subsequently the stalling of stewardship schemes and capital grants.

Richard is used to speaking on NFU committees and is the current Northern Environment Lead for the National Farmers Union.

He was speaking at a Westminster conference on ‘Options for supporting sustainability within the agri-food sector’ the day after the York protest and tractor rally around the city, held in December.

“The key message of the conference was supposed to be the huge potential of our farms and the need for investment,” says Richard. “You can only laugh at the irony.

“Lord Deben, Selwyn Gummer, former MAFF minister said, after I pointed out farming had just had a cannonball through it. ‘Government has thrown away its relationship with agriculture just at the time when it most needs it, just as we are dependent more on farmers than we have been for some time.’

Richard says he still hasn’t come to terms with the Chancellor’s announcement but that he and his fellow farming colleagues are not going to let it lie.

“Disbelief. That was my first thought on hearing the announcement. It still hasn’t fully sunk in. If you’re farming you have to be an optimist and the optimist in me says this is so wrong on so many levels that they will amend it.

“We’ve still got until the 26 March 2026 so there’s a proper period of time for reflection. I don’t know what’s going through the minds of Government in hammering farming so savagely.

"What has been proposed will take the majority of farms to breaking point. The Government is showing absolutely no consideration for farmers, farming families or their mental state.

“Trying to explain to many in the public why this is such a problem isn’t straightforward, especially when the Government is repeatedly talking of a £1m or £3m exemption.

"What they are failing to mention is that those figures are taken up by the land necessary to grow food, the buildings necessary to store grain, stock and machinery and the farm machinery necessary to carry out farming.

“When I walk into a field, yes it has a value, but I need that to grow the crops. I don’t want to sell it. That’s what this Government has got wrong. They are making people think farmers are sat on cash. We’re not.”

Richard is the third generation to farm at Manor Farm in Kelfield where his grandfather moved 90 years ago this year. It was a 200-acre tenanted mixed farm. It is not without its challenges, including increased flooding due to climate change.

“We grow potatoes, sugar beet, bread wheat, malting barley, oilseed rape and beans. Flooding has had a major impact. We have land next to the River Ouse.

“The wet weather of 2023 had a significant impact on last year’s harvest. We had 25 per cent of our potato crop left in the ground which was a big financial hit. Poor establishment on winter crops saw us ending up with a lot of generally lower yielding spring crops. We also lost well-established winter crops due to flooding.

“Since 2000 we’ve been flooded 14 times with six of those in two years, losing crops and affecting yields. In the previous century there were only five floods.

“Our land is made up of two main soil types. We have alluvial silt warp land besides the river, which is now primarily spring cropped, and typical Vale of York sandy loam. It is good root crop growing land which is why we have sugar beet and potatoes.

Richard and Liam’s cropping includes 150 acres of winter wheat growing Skyfall and Crusoe varieties this year.

“Our yield is generally around 3.5 to 4 tonnes for milling wheats. We still had 25 per cent of it to drill until a few weeks ago. It will be lower yielding by drilling late, that’s why we go for quality bread wheat. We grow 120 acres of winter barley Craft and spring malting barley Laureate, just under 100 acres of potatoes, 65 acres of sugar beet that we lifted in December, 25 acres of beans and 40 acres of oilseed rape.

When Richard talks of the risks in farming he is talking about the impact of the weather, insect attacks on crops and flooding, increasing costs and the prices paid.

“We didn’t make any money growing potatoes last year. We had very poor yields of sugar beet last month, something, we don’t know what, ate the seedlings in spring. Our 2023 sown oilseed rape crop was decimated by flea beetle and we ended up with a quarter of the yield we should have done.

“The rest of our land is in stewardship. We’ve gone into the new SFI scheme, but we are trying to remain a productive farm, producing food and managing the environment. We have added holiday accommodation and a wedding venue in recent times to add to our income. The hope is that at some point people will value food once again, particularly this Government which clearly does not at present.

Richard and Liam could easily feel negative following the Chancellor’s announcement, but Richard remains unstintingly positive.

“When I went on the tractor rally around York I can honestly say I’ve never seen so much support from the public. It was spine-tingling, the clapping, people talking to us. Liam and I went to London for the rally in November. On the Tube, with our placard, people started talking. It was heartwarming.

“This has galvanised farmers in a way none of us has seen before. We are a varied bunch, what we produce, where we produce it. We have differing opinions and views but this has brought everyone together.

“The Chancellor is a Yorkshire MP. She has made fundamental mistakes in her decision making and knows it. This has ceased to be about whether this cruel tax is right, because even left-leaning economists recognise it is flawed. I still believe the right decision will prevail.

“It’s now about this new Labour Government saving their bacon. But we are the real bacon which needs saving.