Latest news with #LizWebster
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
The Berkshire farm where it is always a perfect summer's day
With climate change making life increasingly difficult for some farmers, and rising political tensions around the world often disrupting the food supply chain, a Berkshire company is looking at how we can become more Innovation Agritech Group is growing crops indoors 365 days a to grow in the British climate, basil, coriander and lettuce leaves are being nurtured on a series of 16ft by 16ft (5m by 5m) vertical this is not, but, at IAG's indoor farm in Bracknell, the agricultural technology company is looking at providing herbs and foods in the UK all year round. Farmers fear what a prolonged dry spell will mean for harvests later this year. Last year, England suffered its second worst on not looking after her 300 cattle on her farm near Swindon, Wiltshire, Liz Webster heads up the Save British Farming campaign group. She said the changing climate is a huge challenge to her policies in recent years have prioritised the environment over food production, she said, adding: "We have exposed ourselves to a huge deluge of imports, which is destroying our home production and that's plainly ludicrous." Experts such as the University of Reading's Prof Richard Tiffin have said while the UK does import huge quantities of fruit and vegetables, it is more self-sufficient than most, at least when it comes to the basics. The director of science said it was a different story when it comes to soft fruits and more exotic vegetables."We're about 75% self-sufficient when it comes to things we can produce domestically. In fruit, we're probably around 15% self-sufficient," he said."However, the last thing you want is to be 100% self-sufficient. Not only is it extremely difficult to achieve but that also means you're at the behest of the weather in your own country." He said we could take a leaf from the Netherlands' book. The Dutch are masters of growing the most fragile of fruits and herbs indoors, in tightly controlled environments, he said."They're a relatively small land country and it's undoubtedly the case the government has invested heavily in some of these indoor production facilities and we're probably behind that," said Prof Tiffin."They're a role model we should be following." In Bracknell, IAG is taking the weather and climate change out of the equation, creating an indoor farm where every day is a perfect summer's dayThe lighting system mimics the rise and fall of the sun, with the light each plant gets tweaked to suit the species' individual preference. IAG's commercial director Dean Barron said plants in most indoor farms sit in water trays using a system called hydroponicsBut IAG is planting individual seedlings in coir plugs, where minimal water is said: "We use a system called aeroponics because we believe that getting oxygen to the roots is a lot better than having it stood in water."The system uses 95% less water than standard agriculture and 30-35% less than hydroponic processes, said Mr Barron. Growing everything this way means they are also immune from outside events like the war in Ukraine or the flash floods which hit parts of Spain last autumn, destroying thousands of hectares of fruit and vegetables."We can grow in here 365 days a year. Border closures don't then come into play so we won't have to rely on imports that way either, whether that be by sea, air or whatever.," Mr Barron said. Indoor farming is just one of the solutions being looked at to make our food sector more there is one big problem - power like IAG's hoover up large amounts of is suggesting we should be aiming to produce everything indoors but Prof Tiffin said we could do much worse than follow the lead of the country better known for tulips, windmills and clogs.
New European
15-02-2025
- Politics
- New European
Farage ruined farming - so why do some farmers want him at their protests?
He is the man who told farmers they would be better off out of the EU, and then backed the terrible trade deals with New Zealand and Australia that undercut them. And now, just as he poses for photos among the tractors, he is also lending his support to a trade deal with the US that would undermine the economics of the British agricultural industry and our food standards too. It would also make British food exports to the EU even more difficult. But never mind all that – the former public schoolboy, City wideboy, international metal trader and lobbyist for gold bullion sale has bought himself a Barbour jacket, a cashmere scarf and a flat cap and is ready to appear on camera to talk about how it's all Keir Starmer's fault. Not all farmers are happy about this. Some think Farage is a phoney; others realise that he is such a divisive figure that he is distracting from their campaign to prevent the introduction of a 20% inheritance tax on farms worth £1 million or more. I want to put my cards on the table about this story. I can see no economic or rational reason why farms should be exempt from inheritance tax at all. In fact, since the price of farmland is, to a large extent, determined by its attractiveness as a tax dodge for millionaires, taxing it will close an unjustifiable tax break, cut down on wealthy tax avoiders with no real interest in farming and bring down the price of land and therefore the cost of food. But worried farmers don't see it that way If you want to campaign against IHT on farmland or anything else for that matter, a coordinated and united front is the first obvious thing to have. Yet the farmers are split between the NFU, the Countryside Alliance, the pro-EU Save British Farming, and Farmers to Action, among others. Farage is welcome at rallies held by Farmers to Action but not Save British Farming, whose head Liz Webster has no time at all for the absentee MP for Clacton and who tells me: 'The problem with Reform is that they want to hijack farming as part of their political agenda.' That agenda includes stabbing British farmers in the back. Any Trump trade deal would involve access to the UK for American food, with its much lower standards, chlorine-washed chicken, hormone beef, huge subsidies and massive scale of production. British farming would be destroyed, and Nigel would be to blame. Liz Webster thinks if most farmers thought about it, they wouldn't have Farage anywhere near their campaign. She says: 'I remind people he wants to put America first and there is no way British farming would survive a deal with America, then South America would be knocking on the door. 'Just because Nigel is trying to make hay out of farming, some farmers go 'oh look, there's someone famous'. If most farmers thought about it they would find they are not in agreement with him, he is just a celebrity.' So divisive is the Reform leader that he was not invited to last week's massive tractor rally at Westminster, and in the past several farmers have threatened to frogmarch him away from any protests they were part of. Instead, he had to get his media attention by attending another, earlier rally in Mill Hill, on the very edge of London (organised by Farmers to Action). There, Farage called on his audience to protest peacefully – not that anyone seems to be suggesting that they had thought of doing anything else. He also called for a radical solution to the issue by abolishing inheritance tax for everyone. Although where the government might find the £8 billion a year it raises in tax was not mentioned – even cutting all farm subsidies to zero would only save £3 billion a year. But the furore about Farage hides a bigger problem for the farming industry. The divisions within it that his presence has exposed make it easier for governments of any colour to divide and rule. The NFU, derided by many farmers as 'more of a think tank than a lobby group' seems more willing to negotiate and possibly compromise on IHT. It claims that Keir Starmer 'must pause and consult as a matter of urgency' about the introduction of inheritance tax, which is not exactly 'die in the last ditch' rhetoric. This realism might have something to do with the fact that only last year Farmers Weekly published an article on who owns what land in the UK, which rather gives the game away. This found that fully one third of all land was still owned by the aristocracy – and that is almost certainly a massive underestimate as only land that is sold has to be declared to the Land Registry. Aristocratic estates which have not changed hands in centuries probably make up most of the 17% of land that is not registered. After the landed gentry come the large corporations, which own 18% of our land. Many of which have invested in land for tax-saving purposes. They are followed by tycoons like James Dyson, who own 17% of the land often for similar reasons. It all helps to explain why one third of all farmers are tenants – they don't own the farms, they pay rent on them. Rent they often pay to very large corporations, the ultra-wealthy and the aristocracy who not only get the rent but avoid billions in inheritance tax too. Even so, Amanda Watson, a livestock farmer from Yorkshire who is a former NFU ambassador and now sits on its national livestock board, warns: 'If you start to tax estates heavily then tenants will be in a difficult position, [large landowners] won't want long-term tenants because they cannot sell the land with a sitting tenancy… it is the tenants who will suffer.' I understand the fear, but it is rather difficult to believe that you can't find a way to tax multi-millionaires while protecting family farms. Meanwhile, like many other farmers Amanda has little time for Nigel Farage. She was in London for that Westminster demonstration last week and says of Reform's leader: 'He is a bit wacky, a bit out there, he says things that benefit himself a lot.' Having the publicity-seeking faux farmer Farage turn up to your rallies to urge the very industry he has done more than almost anyone else to betray to go down fighting is not helpful. Not if you are hoping to persuade the government to cut a deal, perhaps by getting the chancellor to raise the threshold on IHT, so that only those with several million pounds worth of farmland start paying it. 'I have listened, and I will protect family farms but not the tax breaks for corporations, tycoons and landed aristocracy,' might be enough for the NFU and the government, if not for Nigel. A man who is always keen to get someone else to fight to the death in the last ditch, while he pops down the pub.
The Independent
10-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Labour warned UK is facing ‘humanitarian crisis' in farming as thousands march on London
Rachel Reeves has been warned she faces a 'humanitarian crisis' in farming if she continues to stand firm on plans to change inheritance tax rules - as thousands march on London for a fresh protest in Westminster on Monday. The tractor rally, organised by Save British Farming, comes as MPs debate an e-petition with almost 150,000 signatures calling to keep the current tax exemptions for working farms. Under the chancellor's plan, a 20 per cent inheritance tax rate will be introduced on farms worth more than £1m - a move farming leaders claim will lead to the closure of many family farms as they urge the government to rethink the policy. Fears have also been raised over the suicide risk for farmers wanting to avoid the new rules, which come in April 2026. Liz Webster, founder of Save British Farming, told The Independent: 'We are really scared that we are going to see a humanitarian farmers now know if they die before April next year there will not be a bill for their farm which is unaffordable, the farm would have to be sold or part of it. 'Many of them will think 'I don't want to leave my family burdened with an unaffordable debt, they [my family] will lose their home, their livelihood. 'There are thousands of farmers within this category. That is why we are so animated because you look, in Covid, everyone stayed at home to protect the elderly, and now we have got this in front of us, it's inhumane what they [Labour government] have done.' Ms Webster said the change in inheritance tax rules compounded growing pressures faced by farmers such as increased costs, uncertainty over a trade deal with America and a rise in national insurance for employees. She said she would welcome negotiations with Labour ministers, and warned if Ms Reeves did not rethink her plan she would be 'directly blamed' for any farmer suicides, adding the chancellor's post and the party's position in government were under threat over the policy. Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr MP Steve Witherden became the first Labour MP to voice concerns over the plan. He said the changes risked 'a deeply detrimental effect on working farms'. But other newly-elected Labour MPs sitting on rural constituencies have so far stayed in line, although many have promised to take farmers' fears to The Treasury. Farmers told The Independent their concerns over the changes to inheritance tax rules shortly after its announcement last year. Many said they were already struggling to grapple with the government's new post-Brexit subsidies, which have started to replace direct payments, as well as rising costs in the sector and extreme weather. Frome Livestock Market's managing director Bradley Towel said: 'Whatever people think about inheritance tax, ultimately, the direction of travel is away from protecting family farms, which are now, frankly, being run by the older generation. There's a lot of concern about the future.' Wiltshire farmer Caroline Cunningham said: 'They [politicians] just think of farmers as being rich, which just isn't always the case. Farmer John Strachan added: 'Already many family farms have been sold – this will only see more disappear as the younger generation can't afford to pay the tax with more land used for things like solar farms.' Another farmer called Dominic, who did not want to share his full name, said: 'It would appear to be a tax intended to restrict wealthy landowners, but in reality it will end up hitting family farms. 'It has completely missed the target. Perhaps they don't care, they think we are all Tory voters who will never vote for them anyway.' Away from the market's cafe, in Herefordshire, farmer Sam Stables runs a charity with a 24/7 mental health helpline for farmers in the county. The 37-year-old tried to take his own life 14 years ago. 'We haven't seen people hit the panic button yet following the Budget,' he said. 'But I fear if things don't change we will see greater demand.' Last month a government spokesperson said: 'Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean 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. 'This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year.' If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@ or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to to find a helpline near you.
