Comment – Clarkson and crowd control

You would have to have been under a very large stone this week to have missed the NFU representations and the Farmers Rally in London on Tuesday.

Whilst the mainstream press has made hay at Mr Clarksons expense, despite his honesty around the tax relief of owning land, the BBC’s (other news providers are available) rendering of this debate into a simple ‘you lot have lots of money and its  dealt with at reduced rate of tax in comparison to anyone else, why should farmers be different’ debate somehow misses the point.

We all know how much capital is required in land, crops, animals and machinery to be even able to keep up with stock replacements, depreciation on kit and an often very modest wage. So the anger and frustration on the streets/in the fields,  is not a simple binary discussion, its a gut wrenching, ‘we are working very hard for next to nothing and you clearly don’t value food or farming’ cry from the heart of farming. With many questioning why they are bothering. I think we all know deep down, why we are bothering to farm, and its not just the money, its the community we are part of, the way we work and the feeling of true purpose. We need a farmer three times a day.

I have spent a little while sharing other perspectives on this, so here goes with a few which are worth the airspace:

James Rebanks, Author and fellow Cumbrian upland farmer gives a very thoughtful take here: https://unherd.com/2024/11/a-farmers-revolt-is-coming/

Likewise Jo Franklin’s  opinion piece in the Farmers Weekly did much to take out some heat and apply some reason to a very polarised debate: https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/opinion-budget-just-puts-us-on-a-par-with-other-industries

There is also an interesting piece on YouTube from a Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University discussing how the APR changes will benefit farmers, its worth persevering through his first few slightly inflammatory comments regarding complaining farmers, see what you think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9J0GpnXNhY

In the immediate fallout of the budget according to one of my contacts ‘orders and inquiries dropped off a cliff‘. But by the middle of this week there was the sniff of some deals to be done across his territory.

Time will tell.

Have a good week.

Andy