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Viewpoint

Farmers, their representatives, advisors, and even their customers have all told Chancellor Rachel Reeves in no uncertain terms that her reforms of Inheritance Tax (IHT) are unfair, misguided and counterproductive. Now, even the government鈥檚 own MPs are telling it to think again.

With admirable understatement, the latest report from Parliament鈥檚 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) states: 鈥淪takeholder concerns about the Budget鈥檚 taxation proposals have made it difficult for the government to articulate and deliver its wider vision (for farming).鈥�

In reality, as indicated by the many farmer protests across the country, there has been a total breakdown of trust in the government and Defra; trust that is sorely needed at such a pivotal moment for the UK鈥檚 food and farming industry, not to mention energy security and the environment.

And the report鈥檚 damning conclusions are far from a hatchet job by the opposition. EFRA is dominated by Labour MPs, which hopefully means the government will take its conclusions more seriously.

It also needs to be made clear that the reforms to IHT don鈥檛 just affect farmers. They apply potentially to any family-owned business worth over £1 million. Given that family businesses employ around 14 million people, they are vital to the country鈥檚 prosperity.

If the government won鈥檛 listen to a committee of its own MPs, then farmers, landowners, and their lobby groups like the NFU and CLA need to work even more closely with small business representatives from other industries to highlight how damaging the IHT reforms will be to the country鈥檚 economy.

Commodity markets

Wheat forecast bearish

The USDA鈥檚 latest (WASDE) paint a fairly bearish picture for the global wheat market over the 2025/2026 season. Production is set to hit a record of almost 809 million tonnes, with the EU contributing an extra 14 million tonnes. Although the forecast global consumption of 808 million tonnes closely matches this, year-end stocks are likely to be a healthy 266 million tonnes.

Wool hits high

Wool prices have hit a seven-year high off the back of strong global demand, reports British Wool. The organisation said the average auction price of £1/kg was 18p/kg higher than last season. However, with shearing costs up to £1.75 per sheep, most producers are still losing money on wool, reports Farmers Weekly.

The headlines

MPs slam family farm tax

The House of Commons鈥� Labour-dominated Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) has called for a delay in Chancellor Rachel Reeves鈥� controversial changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT).

The demand is included in a highly critical report from EFRA, which was published last Friday and analyses the progress made towards .

Although the report accepts the need to reform the Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) regimes to prevent 鈥渨ealthy investors鈥� from buying farmland to avoid paying IHT, it says the changes were announced without proper consultation or impact or affordability assessments.

This means the changes could have negative unintended consequences on family farms, tenants, food security and farms in the devolved administrations, concludes the committee.

It says that the government should delay announcing its final APR and BPR reforms until October 2026, which would give it time to properly assess the alternatives put forward by the industry and develop a better tax policy. The changes could then be introduced in April 2027.

The report also criticises Defra for the way it abruptly closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Capital Grants schemes. It says this follows a pattern within Defra of poor communication and late decision-making. 鈥淟essons must be learned from this failure of communication,鈥� it urges.

EU trade deal struck

that was announced by Keir Starmer yesterday (19 May) could be good news for food producers and shoppers.

As part of the deal, which the government says marks the start of a 鈥渞eset鈥� of the UK鈥檚 relationship with Europe, both parties have agreed to work towards common sanitary and phytosanitary standards.

Sir Keir claimed this would lead to a significant relaxation of the red tape that is currently restricting the cross-channel movement of food and agricultural products, which could potentially cut food prices.

However, there could be unwelcome pressure on the UK to reverse its decision to allow the use of gene-edited crops, which are still banned in the EU.

News in brief

UK peat mapped

Natural England has just launched new details of all England鈥檚 peat and peaty soils, 80% of which it claims are degraded. The environmental quango says Map will be a key resource for government, conservation organisations, and anybody else working on the large-scale restoration of peatlands or the ecosystem services they provide.

New northern nature reserve

Meanwhile, the location of the country鈥檚 newest National Nature Reserve has also just been confirmed. The 1,272-hectare, which covers the landscapes that inspired the novels of the Bronte sisters, is the first of its kind in West Yorkshire and will link eight nature sites within the Bradford and South Pennines area, two of which are internationally important upland habitats.

Carbon credit bonanza

The current demand projections for carbon credits in the UK could help create 135,000 high-skilled jobs within the next decade, generating £1 billion in tax revenues by 2035, according to , a carbon-credit rating agency. Over half the jobs would probably be in nature-based carbon projects, including ecologists, farmers, foresters, and rangers, the report says.

Welsh carbon budget ire

Welsh farmers, however, have reacted angrily to the UK , which calls on them to cut beef and sheep numbers by 19% by 2033 and plant more trees. NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: 鈥淭he report does not acknowledge the multi-faceted benefits of livestock farming to Wales鈥� environment and biodiversity, nor does it truly reflect the detrimental impacts such destocking would have on tens of thousands of jobs on farm and the many more in the £9 billion Welsh food and drink sector, our rural communities, culture, landscape and the Welsh language, or the offshoring of production.鈥�

Avian flu rules relaxed

Poultry owners can now start to bring their flocks outside following the lifting of (AIPZ) housing measures last week. Birds must still be housed if they are in a protection zone or a captive bird (monitoring) controlled zone. All keepers must continue to follow strict biosecurity measures, warns Defra.

F&M controls eased

Following an outbreak earlier in the year, the UK government has officially recognised . The restrictions applied to imports of affected commodities from the containment zone in Germany have now been lifted. However, travellers are still not permitted to bring meat and dairy products into the UK, although farmers allege that the restrictions are not being policed at the border.

Bluetongue zone extended

Although the UK is now in a low-risk period of vector transmission, when the midges that transmit bluetongue to livestock are active but unlikely to be infectious, for the disease was extended last week to include Lancashire and the remainder of North Yorkshire, following the identification of historic cases in cattle.

Cocoa climate collapse

Dire warnings about the impact of climate change are not new, but the latest prediction will be of serious concern for chocolate lovers. According to , cocoa yields in West Africa, where most of the world鈥檚 cocoa is grown by smallholders, could collapse by 2030 if no action is taken. Wetter weather and over-intensification have led to a surge in the number of disease-affected crops. Climate change also presents a severe threat to , claims a new report from Christian Aid.

US farmers trump Trump

Meanwhile, the US Agriculture Department has been forced to restore information about when President Trump took office, following legal action from farmers, according to the New York Times. The deleted data included pages on federal funding and loans, forest conservation, rural clean energy projects and detailed maps showing how climate change might affect national forests and grasslands.

博鱼体育集团 Frank - Out and about

Landlord/tenant podcast

Alastair Paul, who heads up our Eastern Rural Consultancy team, has long championed the benefits of improving the often-strained relationship between rural landlords and their tenants. It鈥檚 no surprise, therefore, that leading law firm Foot Anstey invited him onto its popular podcast series to discuss the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice. .

Devon County Show

John Williams of our South-west Rural Consultancy team shared his views on the farming sector at the CLA鈥檚 annual political breakfast at the Devon County Show. Defra Minister Steve Reed was scheduled to be grilled by guests, but withdrew and was replaced by Shadow Minister Lord Roborough. John reports considerable uncertainty among those attending, particularly regarding Inheritance Tax. 鈥淎 lot of people still haven鈥檛 got their heads around what the changes mean for them.鈥�

Sign up for Rural Report

The Spring/Summer 2025 edition of The Rural Report, 博鱼体育集团 Frank鈥檚 flagship publication for rural businesses, which looks in more detail at many of the issues discussed in The Rural Update, is due to be published soon. To receive your copy, which includes the latest news, research and insights from 博鱼体育集团 Frank鈥檚 rural property experts, as well as thought-provoking contributions from some of Britain鈥檚 most iconic estates, .

Property of the week

Great estate

One of southern England鈥檚 most desirable sporting and agricultural estates, home to the famed South African F1 driver Jody Scheckter, has just come to the market. Set in 1,835 acres of rolling countryside, including 1,279 acres of organic farmland, The , near Overton, Hampshire, has a distinguished history dating back to the 1500s. A sensitively restored Grade II-listed Palladian mansion lies at the heart of the estate, which also comes with 17 estate houses and two farmsteads that offer diversified income opportunities. In terms of country pursuits, there is a driven shoot and 1.5 miles of rare double-bank fishing on an upper stretch of the River Test. The estate is available in three lots. The guide price is £58 million. Please get in touch with Will Matthews for more information.

Discover more of the farms and estates on the market with 博鱼体育集团 Frank

Property markets

Development land Q1 2025 鈥� Market falls

The value of greenfield development land fell by 2% in the first quarter of the year. Urban brownfield sites, however, lost 5% of their value over the same period, according to the . 鈥淰iability pressures and delivery risks continued to weigh on sentiment, with housebuilders citing persistent cost inflation and planning uncertainty,鈥� points out researcher Oliver 博鱼体育集团, who compiled the index. 鈥淯rban brownfield and prime central London sites saw more downward pressure, driven by a widening viability gap, increased uncertainty linked to fire safety regulations, and reduced activity in the institutional and affordable housing markets,鈥� he adds.

Farmland Q1 2025 鈥� Values resilient

The farmland market in England and Wales is holding steady in the face of mounting sector pressures. Despite wider challenges across the agricultural sector and ongoing policy uncertainty, values have remained largely stable, underlining the market鈥檚 resilience.
The 博鱼体育集团 Frank Farmland Index, which tracks the average price of bare agricultural land across England and Wales, showed a marginal drop of 1% in the first quarter of 2025 to £9,072/acre. This follows a similar small decline in the final three months of 2024, bringing the annual fall to just 1.9%.

Country houses Q1 2025 鈥� Mixed picture

The average price of desirable homes in the countryside slipped by just 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, according to the 博鱼体育集团 Frank Prime County House Index. Over the past 12 months, values have fallen by 1.6%. Expectations of an extra base-rate cut by the Bank of England this year could help steady markets, says Tom Bill, 博鱼体育集团 Frank鈥檚 Head of UK Residential Research.

Development land Q4 2024 鈥� Housing delivery down

Only 2% of the 50 housebuilders recently surveyed by 博鱼体育集团 Frank believe that the sector will deliver the 300,000 new homes that the government is targeting for 2025. The gloomy prognosis is contained in the latest instalment of our Residential Development Land Index report, compiled by researcher , which reveals that the price of green and brownfield development land remained flat in the final quarter of the year, despite Labour鈥檚 ambitious housebuilding targets and planning reforms. .