FARMERS from across Wales will descend on London on Tuesday in protest at the UK Government's inheritance tax plans.

There has been widespread condemnation in the agricultural industry to Chancellor. Rachel Reeves' announcement in the budget that farms worth more than £1 million will face an inheritance tax rate of 20 per cent.

Both NFU Cymru and FUW have said the plan would have ‘disastrous consequences’ on family farms.

A group of farmers travelled to Llandudno on Saturday to protest the Labour conference, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he defended the budget for taking "tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy".

Mr Starmer did not speak with the protestors in north Wales, with prominent campaigner, Gareth Wyn-Jones accusing the PM of ‘running out the back door like a flipping rat’.

Now, farmers from across the United Kindgom will travel to London on Tuesday, to protest reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR).

NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: “For decades APR and BPR have underpinned viable working farming businesses, of all shapes and sizes. NFU Cymru’s fear is that this week’s changes, if they go ahead as planned, will cause lasting damage to Welsh farming, leading to the break-up of family farms – farms that contribute to the nation’s food security, our rural communities, the economy and of course the Welsh language.”

This will be the second mass protest staged by Welsh farmers this year following mass gatherings in Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Cardiff earlier this year over the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme.

FUW is also concerned over what last month’s budget could mean for agricultural funding in Wales.

As part of her Budget, Ms Reeves redefined agricultural funding for the devolved nations using the Barnett formula, rather than maintaining a separate, ring-faced allocation.

Previously, EU funding for UK agriculture was allocated across the UK nations under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) formula, based on rural and farming criteria such as the size, number and nature of farms. This resulted in 9.4% of the total UK agriculture budget coming to Wales when we were members of the EU.

However, the FUW has warned the UK Treasury’s decision to ‘Barnettise’ the block grant for each devolved nation, a calculation based on population rather than farm and rural characteristics, could see Wales’ proportion of total UK agricultural funding fall drastically.

Writing to the Secretary of State for Wales, FUW President, Ian Rickman, has sought urgent clarity from the UK Government on the funding reform - citing a worse case scenario ‘Barnettisation’ of agricultural funding that could see Wales’ proportion of total UK agricultural funding fall from 9.4% to around 5% - equal to a cut of around 40% in funding.

The FUW has argued that despite an additional £1.7 billion being made available to Wales as a result of the Budget, this additional funding has been linked to investment into schools, housing, health and social care, and transport. If agricultural funding has been effectively 'Barnettaised', there could be serious implications.