Farmer Writes: inheritance tax drives farmers to the streets

Grass has stopped growing and the last of the young stock housed. The bulling heifers for the autumn calving group have been estrumated.

After much debate across the kitchen table on whether we should estrumate and AI or turn in the bull, the compromise was reached, estrumate and AI and then send in Brinkworth Pride.

The silage is producing more milk than it is supposed to according to analysis, and as we head towards Christmas, we are wondering how to show our appreciation of the very loyal staff. Should it be a bonus, a Christmas lunch or a big pat on the back.

All the lectures I have attended recently on how to retain staff always return to the same theme, empowerment, more responsibility and increased skill level, so I am considering a financial voucher to be redeemed at one of the many courses our vets run which are not cheap – calving, foot trimming or calf rearing and then making them head of that department.

Rural conscience

Ours, like many farming households across Britain, were made abruptly aware by the smiling Chancellor, to unwittingly destroy the roots and heart of British agriculture.

At least in Ireland, for the last 30 years up until now, you have had a government with a rural conscience and an understanding of the fragile structure of agriculture.

We suddenly realised what we should have done, what we hadn’t done and what we thought we had done to pass our farms down to the next generation.

The injustice of the inheritance tax measures has put many feet on the streets.

At the march in London, the figure of 13,000 was the figure the organisers expected and gave the police, so this was the figure used by the government, but Olly Harrison, one of the organisers, calculated the area the march took up, at three people per square yard (although it could have been five), and he calculated a figure of 40,000.

It was impressive that the farmer-donated food bank yielded nearly 7t of food for London charities, truly phenomenal.

Impassioned interview

I didn’t attend the march in London, but my daughter and son-in-law did and she managed to be interviewed by ITV, Sky, Farage and LBC. Each time she gave a very good impassioned interview of herself and her strong views and was not phased by a very aggressive interview on LBC. She is definitely her mother’s daughter.

Over here, Jeremy Clarkson supported the farmers and has been magnificent and there is a suggestion that he should be prime minister.

As he said himself, he would not want the job, but wasn’t it time he was considered for a seat in the House of Lords? He would bring a dimension of 'it can be done' - rather than a lame comment of 'it should be done'.

He is a man who will not tolerate stupidity, which might put him at odds with many of the present incumbents, but he is not afraid to speak his mind.

It is readily agreed by the farming community over here that he has done more than any other to give the urban community an understanding of the struggles we farmers have to endure to put food on their plates, sometimes at a financial loss.