The NFU Midlands regional chairman will join farmers in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and other parts of London for the NFU’s mass lobbying on Tuesday 19 November.

The NFU planned for 1,800 registered members to attend Church House in Westminster; Here they will meet with MPs and across Parliament to explain real-life impact changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Commercial Property Relief (BPR).

The lobby is part of the NFU’s efforts to encourage the government to reverse the changes to APR and BPR announced in the Budget, highlighting how these changes will negatively impact family farms, impact farmers’ ability to provide national food security and could lead to increases in food prices. supermarkets.

Ms Bassett, who represents farmers and raisers in the Midlands, will be among those taking part in the mass lobbying event and said: “As farmers we will be presenting our own personal stories to our MPs.

“We will help them understand the real-life impact of these decisions and why they need to be reversed.

“The government has grossly miscalculated the impact of changes to APR and BPR on our farms; This can be devastating.

“Since the budget we have heard from farmers who are really struggling about the future and are afraid of losing their jobs.

“The announced changes are a huge blow to farming families in the region and beyond, and the vast majority of those who will bear the brunt of this family farm tax are not wealthy people with large cash reserves stashed away.

“These are families who have worked for generations to build farm businesses to provide food for the nation and care for the environment, often on very narrow profit margins.

“Our farms are struggling with a multitude of challenges and many are struggling with the lowest margins imaginable, with the costs of raising animals and growing crops skyrocketing, and their businesses are being impacted by increasingly extreme weather conditions.

“Simply put, farmers have nothing left to give.”

The government has announced that it will reform APR and BPR from April 2026. This means farm businesses must pay 20 per cent tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1 million.

The NFU rejects the government’s claims that around three quarters of farming businesses in England will not be affected by changes to APR, highlighting contradictions between different government departments.

The Treasury claims that 73 per cent of APR claims are under £1 million and therefore will not be affected. But Defra’s own figures show 66 per cent of farms are worth more than the new £1 million threshold.

The Treasury’s figures are based on last year’s APR claims and do not take into account farms claiming BPR for various aspects of their business.

These also include a significant number of small businesses; 27 per cent of Treasury figures are for assets under £250,000 and a further 23 per cent for assets under £500,000.

The NFU argues that a small number of viable farms are worth less than £1 million and that the Treasury is working on incorrect figures.

Ms Bassett added: “Many family farms have been feeding the country for generations and when the younger generation wants to take over that family farm they will have to sell just to pay the tax bill, which will damage both the rural economy and the economic structure and farmers will no longer have to protect the countryside.” It eliminates the positive environmental work they do.

“This is not a tax on the rich. Just because a farm has valuable assets doesn’t mean the farmers are rich; The average farmer’s return on invested capital is less than 1 percent.

“Mass lobbying will be an opportunity for farmers in our counties and across the country to stand up, make their voices heard, and stop the implementation of this devastating family farm tax.”