A Welsh farm became the stage for a dramatic protest earlier this week, as dozens of rural businesses gathered to warn that inheritance tax reforms could devastate farming families.
The Cornock family, who run a mixed dairy farm near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, hosted 57 local businesses at their Cefnydre farm on Wednesday 3 September.
The gathering aimed to underline the potential impact of forthcoming UK government changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) on farms and the wider rural economy.
Those attending represented a diverse range of enterprises – from vets, machinery dealers and milk processors to electricians, foot trimmers and fencing contractors.
A survey carried out at the event revealed that the 57 firms employed nearly 11,000 people between them. Strikingly, around half of those said they were “totally reliant” on income from local farms to remain viable.
The protest comes in response to the government’s proposals to overhaul APR and BPR, which would see a flat 20% inheritance tax levied from April 2026 on farmland and farm assets previously exempt.
The Cornocks had already drawn attention to the issue at last month’s Pembrokeshire County Show, where they highlighted what they described as the emotional and financial burden of the so-called “family farm tax”.
Janet Cornock, widowed when her husband Gwilym died in 2018, spoke candidly of the personal strain. She said the prospect of the reforms caused her to “lie awake at night with my heart pounding”.
Addressing attendees at Wednesday’s gathering, Mrs Cornock said the turnout of local businesses demonstrated the scale of the threat facing rural Wales.
She warned that without urgent changes to the government’s proposals, family farms across Wales and beyond faced an uncertain future.
“We simply do not have the cashflow to pay this substantial and unexpected tax bill when all of the value of our business is tied up in the farm and its assets.”
She acknowledged that the direct consequences for farmers would be devastating but stressed the wider implications for rural communities.
“The knock-on is going to have a ripple effect on many of the people who work at those companies, the local economy and the wider prosperity of rural Wales.
"It simply cannot be right that a policy of this nature can destroy a farming legacy while also indirectly causing untold damage to rural businesses.”
NFU Cymru Pembrokeshire County Adviser, Aled Davies, praised the family’s efforts in convening the businesses and drawing national attention to the issue.
He said: “We are extremely grateful to Janet and the rest of the Cornock family for bringing these rural businesses together.
"The sight of our wider industry gathered in this fashion at the farm was quite the spectacle and something that really had to be seen to be believed.
"By capturing this event with a drone camera we hope to show the wider picture and send a clear message to policymakers of exactly what’s at stake.”
