The National Farmers Union is staging a series of events on Saturday as part of a so-called national day of unity, with farmers bringing food, tractors and livestock to town centres across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.Â
The events follow National Farmers Union representatives handing a petition signed by 270,000 people to 10 Downing Street on Friday.
It urged the government to ditch what they described as the "devastating family farm tax".Â
A tractor protest parade across the UK has highlighted farmer anger over inheritance tax reforms. (AP PHOTO)
Rachel Hallos, a livestock farmer from the South Pennines and the vice president of the union, said she hoped the events will "raise awareness" of the impact of the planned reforms.
"The inheritance tax changes from the budget will ultimately decimate what we've currently got in this country, and we're really worried about it," Â Hallos said. Â
"It's a little bit like a deck of cards - if you pull one of those cards out, the whole thing comes tumbling down."Â
In Northern Ireland, seven protest runs took place across six counties, organised by the Ulster Farmers Union, including two in County Down.Â
Lines of tractors arrived at the site of the former Maze Prison bearing posters which read "save our family farms".
Union chief executive Wesley Aston said the new rules the government is proposing on inheritance tax will mean huge bills for the next generation of farmers, which will risk the viability of family farms in the future.Â
Farmers from across the UK are gathering at events in town centres to demonstrate visual support for the — National Farmers' Union (@NFUtweets) #StopTheFamilyFarmTax campaign. Keep an eye on these accounts to see what's going on near you👇@NFUCymru @NFUNorth@NFUMidlands @NFUEast @NFUSouth#StopTheFamilyFarmTax pic.twitter.com/GQMCvsMQvAJanuary 25, 2025
A government spokesperson said it had a strong commitment to farmers citing a £5 billion ($A9.9 billion) investment in farming over the next two years - the largest budget for sustainable food production in the country's history.Â
"We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production," the spokesperson said.Â
The spokesperson said estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20 per cent, rather than standard 40 per cent, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free.Â
"This is a fair and balanced approach," the spokesperson said.
