Dominic Elsworth

@farmfriendlincs Where would they stand 15-25 years into their careers?

Blinkered thinking. An apprentice can achieve the same, possibly quicker without incurring University debt!

@herdyshepherd1 Future directorships and advisory roles. Small businesses/farmers cannot offer this. A full fat US trade agreement is on the way.

I can only think of three explanations: Corporates out lobby everyone else Corporates buy influence and seats The politicians and civil servants are so ideologically corporate they do this without the two above reasons What other reasons are there for this?

Why the DEFRA food committee almost entirely exclude British farmers but include ultra processed food manufacturers and a sugar producer? Several are not even British companies! Sofina and McCain are Canadian, Greencore and Kerry are Irish, and Bidcorp is South African.

@herdyshepherd1 You need to add opening the UK to US agricultural exports to the list. It will be so easy for this government to explain away.

Can anyone explain to me why any of us should engage with government on the land use framework? They want to tax us higher Take away all production support Not pay for environmental restoration Take the side of corporates Compulsory purchase land cheap And favour other land uses

@herdyshepherd1 The reaction to lower income won't necessarily be intensification. Historically it has been extensification - letting arable land "go to grass" and land abandonment. All we know now is that farm incomes have been slashed for a second time in a few months with no notice.

For the avoidance of doubt… That means farmers will probably do all the stuff they believe they have to do to be globally competitive Bigger fields/less hedges and trees Bigger machines More chemicals More monocultures Bigger numbers of livestock More intensive systems

Half the land in England now falls outside any kind of scheme that rewards for biodiversity or climate change mitigation and will likely now be squeezed more intensively ALL farmers were promised a transition from production subsidies to a greener alternative

@AW_ARobinson Our local MP (North Northumberland) has been quite easy to get meetings with. He's hasn't strayed from the party line.....yet. We need to explain the devastating effect of BPR changes to all family businesses. The policy will asset strip Britain's rural economy.

Just emailed our local labour MP to request a meeting to try and explain how totally wrong and misguided the family farm tax is . I will cross my fingers but not hold my breath . !! #gottokeeptrying #farmingaccountant

@FarmingUK Should the countries we export to require UK farmers tp produce to their standards?

@howemill @duncanmor @PastureForLife Everyone's motivations are different.

“The old chestnut is that farming is a way of life, I treat my farm as a business, so it serves me as a business” - @duncanmor spitting truths on a @PastureForLife lunch and learn webinar 👏👏👏

@StuartMaggs There is not a queue of businesses with diversified shareholdings waiting to take the place of family owned businesses. In many cases family businesses are operating at levels of profitability that would not be attractive to a FTSE company.

The hugely important work being done on how many people might be affected by the #FamilyFarmTax will feed back into Treasury estimates of how much this will raise, and the Impact Assessment when it is done. But there is an important underlying thread going a little under the radar. Within the influential CenTax report referenced by the Treasury, and a little buried in the background of the report from the IFS, is a statement that on death "inheritance tax should apply equally to all types of assets". Their argument for that appears to be that businesses with diversified shareholdings perform better financially than family-owned ones. To my mind that ignores the significant benefits that flow from creating an economic environment that supports and nurture generational businesses, encouraging employment, growth, and investment potential without the need to divert significant value away from investment to fund once-in-a-generation tax charges. For 40 years it has been accepted that businesses can be passed down to the next generation to continue without suffering inheritance taxes. The current proposals do not in my view go far enough to protect them. On balance, I think it is better to preserve these businesses than risk breaking them up with tax charges. The risk of tax avoidance could be addressed by a much higher threshold and hold-over of the capital gains tax, for example, so if they are sold after a death, tax is still captured. The question is: "In the long term, will this make or lose money for the Treasury overall?" I'm interested in people's thoughts.

@FredVLarsen @AdvancingEcoAg @johnkempf @DLF_Seeds That is disappointing but all too prevalent.

@DominicElsworth @AdvancingEcoAg @johnkempf @DLF_Seeds Yes I agree. Unfortunately the model is on pressure at the moment because too many farmers are tempted by short term profit from selling to highest private bidder.

In this episode, @johnkempf & Danish agronomist @FredVLarsen discuss relay planting for short seasons, cover crops & nutrient cycling, nitrogen timing & foliar feeding, and companion planting benefits. 🎙️ loom.ly/fEqT9SQ #RegenerativeAg #SoilHealth #NoTill #AgPodcast

@FredVLarsen @AdvancingEcoAg @johnkempf @DLF_Seeds Learning geography in school (in the UK in the 1980's) we were taught that Danish farming had adopted the co-operative model. It has served you well (Lurpak is the most popular butter in the UK). It is in the interests of farmers to move their ownership beyond the farm gate.

@DominicElsworth @AdvancingEcoAg @johnkempf Yes @DLF_Seeds is a great Danish farmer/growers owned co-op.

@charlottebsmith @BBCRadio4 @agricontract @DanNeidle @ProagriLtd @SteveReedMP Well done.

I’ve spent the week on farms and at the farmer lobby and rally talking #InheritanceTax #FamilyFarmTax for a special @BBCRadio4 programme ‘Inheriting the Earth’ 1.30 today

@DanPBrown wouldn't the IHT have to be paid after income tax on the profit?

Did an interview with the Times, the journalist did a great job of distilling 3hrs of farm tour and poring over the figures at the kitchen table into a concise article. I’ll add a little detail in the tweet below. thetimes.com/article/bbc6ce…

@hanslope The govt has changed APR/BPR. Govts (successive) have failed to use competition laws to curtail the monopoly powers of supermarkets. When we consider the prevalence of family businesses in rural Britain, the effect of this IHT policy change is going to be disastrous.

🧵 If a second farmers march is needed, who should be targeted (watch youtu.be/s9J0GpnXNhY?si… before answering - to the end)

🧵@RichardJMurphy does nothing to alleviate the desperate IHT situation that actual farmers are facing in the short term but watch until the end and you decide who the next march should target. I’d be happy to hold your beer (see poll below) 🍺 youtu.be/s9J0GpnXNhY?si…

@AW_ARobinson @FarmersGuardian @SteveReedMP When they think that it is in their political interest to do so. We have to explain to rural Labour MPs what the changes mean for farms and rural businesses. If we don't everyone will look back 20 years and ask what happened.

@FarmersGuardian @SteveReedMP When will they accept it is their figures which are wrong and stop defending them ??!

🗣️ Defra Secretary @SteveReedMP has refused to apologise for changes to #InheritanceTax and instead said, ‘the previous Government should apologise'. 🔴 "We stand behind the decisions, I am happy to defend those decisions." READ MORE 🔗 ow.ly/M3Em50Uc0ur

@ProagriLtd Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. At some point the Chancellor will show some courage.

“Time and again we have been told we’re wrong. Government Ministers refusing to listen.”

@thomasforth The price of British wool will go up when demand for it does. You could buy a 100% British Wool sweater, or a 100% British Wool jacket or suit. Don't wear wool/nylon blends. They're not recyclable and they're not biodegradable.

Wool has been central to Britain's economy for thousands of years. It is enshrined in our constitution. The Lord Speaker of the House of Lords sits on a (tarted up) sack of wool to this day. So this is sad in lots of ways to lots of people. What should we do about it?

@TorstenBell What do you have to say to the employee who doesn’t have a job because the employer’s capital has been surrendered to the State? This IHT change affects all family businesses and is a hammer blow to the rural economy. You ought to be able to see that.

Tax due if parents hand on £3m house: £940k Tax due if parents hand on a £3m farm: £0 A reminder of significant tax advantage to farmers vs everyone else AFTER these changes

@BBCNewsnight Your guest @JakeBerry pointed out that all these businesses benefited from 100% BPR before the budget and have been put in the same perilous position as farmers.

"The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker are going to pay inheritance tax if they pass their businesses on." Jim Murphy says Labour are making sure farmers are not exempt from that and "they'll pay half of that." #Newsnight

@cutlerstom The family business is the dominant business arrangement in rural Britain. How can the rural economy withstand having 20% of its capital removed once each generation?

*CALLING ALL SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS* This isn’t just an issue for farmers - if the changes to BPR are going to end your family business too, please let’s unite over this and act together.