AS an NFU officeholder representing Cornish farmers we are at the centre of the local response to the Budget and have heard from those in real distress about the future of their family farms.

Farmers and the wider industry have said the changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief are devastating and at our annual county meeting changes were described as “ill-conceived”.

Your NFU Cornwall team has fully engaged with all MPs and Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) faced more than 200 of us at the event.

We are very vulnerable to capital taxes as we are a low margin industry but necessarily hold high value machinery, livestock and other assets.

This means that, although we can pay tax based on profit, we don’t have the reserves to cover anything not bringing further income in.

We already pay significantly and further burdens will see assets sold that allow us to produce food, making many farms less viable and break up many more.

We have to plan long-term, and “once it’s gone, it’s gone” in the words of the Prime Minister when he addressed NFU Conference.

As we all know, most of us are “all in”, we don’t have other income, we invest all savings into maintaining a business with the thought it will pass to the next generation.

Breaking up the farm to pay this ‘farm tax’ would make us all less efficient, less productive and very definitely less willing to invest in future growth – if we have a business left.

The very real consequences will be felt by all and on the environmental work we do too, stalling progress.

I think it is imperative the policy is reviewed and reversed.

We feel local MPs have accepted Treasury is working off the wrong figures and if government won’t listen to us, surely they will have to heed the warning of rural MPs dealing with the fallout.

The NFU continues to put farmers’ grave concerns front and centre to all political parties and it is essential Parliament understand the impact on our industry and food security.