FARMERS from Worcestershire left in 'real distress' are to attend a mass lobby as they call for ‘devastating’ Budget decisions to be reversed.

Farming leader Jane Bassett has said the NFU’s mass lobbying event will be a key moment to emphasise the devastating impact of the Budget and tax changes for family farms.

The NFU Midlands regional chair will join farmers from Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire, Holland (Lincs), LNR (Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland), Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in London for the NFU’s mass lobby on Tuesday, November 19.

The NFU has planned for 1,800 registered members to attend Church House, Westminster, where they will meet with their MPs, as well as across in Parliament, to explain the real-life impact changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) will have.

The lobby is part of the NFU’s efforts to urge the government to reverse changes to APR and BPR, announced in the Budget, highlighting how they will badly hit family farms, impact farmers’ ability deliver national food security and could lead to food price rises in supermarkets.

Jane, who represents farmers across the Midlands in her role and farms livestock, will be among those attending the mass lobbying event, and said: “As farmers, we will bring our own personal stories to our MPs.

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

“The government has massively miscalculated the impact of changes to APR and BPR on our farms – it could be devastating.

“Since the Budget, we have heard from farmers in real distress about the future and who fear they will lose their businesses.

“The changes announced are a huge blow for farming families, those across the region and beyond and the vast majority who will bear the brunt of this family farm tax aren’t wealthy people with huge cash reserves hidden away."

The government announced it will reform APR and BPR from April 2026.

This will mean farm businesses will need to pay a tax rate of 20% of agricultural assets valued over £1 million.

The NFU rejects the government’s claims that around three quarters of farm businesses in England will be unaffected by the changes to APR and highlights the contradictions between different government departments.

 The Treasury claims that 73% of APR claims are below £1 million and so would be unaffected. However, Defra’s own figures show that only 66% of farms are worth more than the new £1 million threshold.

The NFU say the Treasury’s figures are based on last year’s APR claims and do not consider farms that have also claimed BPR for diversified aspects of their businesses.

The NFU says growers must be able to recover a fair return from the market and urging retailer buyers to act responsibly as we move into our fourth year of cost inflation in the sector.  

A Government spokesperson said: “The government’s commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. It’s why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production.

“We understand concerns about changes to Agricultural Property Relief but the majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.

"This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on.”