SOME farmers are already working at the equivalent of less than the national minimum wage, a prominent industry figure has said.

Adam Day, managing director of the Penrith-based Farmer Network told The Cumberland News that adding a new farm tax to already strained finances could be a step too far for many.

And he warned that Cumbria's agricultural industry could no longer afford to absorb unfair costs in their mission to help feed the nation.

"For too long farmers have kept their head down and got on with the job of producing food, managing the environment, supporting the local economy whilst often acting as the bedrock of rural communities. All of this at not much more than minimum wage for many.

Now the time has come for farmers to emphatically explain that if government wants all these societal benefits to remain, it can no longer be done on the cheap.

Farmers will be reminding their buying public on a much more regular basis that you need a farmer at least three times a day and probably more.

Julia Aglionby, Professor of Practice at University of Cumbria, Ambleside, while joining the protestors at Whitehall, said the mood music this week from Defra Ministers and Angela Rayner was not encouraging. There is no evidence, said Julia, that the message was cutting through. No ewe-turn on the cards.

"The unexpected APR and BPR changes have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. How people feel, and are encouraged to feel is important but it is also important farmers don’t panic. Farmers are though very reasonably right to feel undervalued and unsupported by government whether it is slashing of delinked payments, poor practices by supermarkets, unfair international trade deals and the wholly unacceptably slow roll out of ELM for the uplands and commons.

"I’d like to see much more airtime devoted by farming lobbying organisations on the failure of government to ensure farmers receive a fair reward for their work. A fair reward to produce quality food in sufficient quantities. A fair reward for delivering responsibly for nature, for access, for climate. Farming in the UK currently receives £3 billion per year but the costs to the public health of our broken food system are nearly 100x this. So change is definitely needed across the food system.

"I hope government listen and support farmers produce the food we all need and breathe life back into our rural communities, our landscapes and our environment."

The Tenant Farmers Association said it understood and agreed with the premise that it was unfair that wealthy individuals were able to enter the land market, having made capital gains in other parts of the economy, to hide their wealth from tax. However, the TFA has also been very clear that in choosing to focus on Inheritance Tax, the Chancellor has pulled the wrong lever.

Cumbrian farmer and National TFA chair, Robert Martin, said they were anticipating many situations where private landlords will be seeking to bring back into hand land currently let under short-term FBT agreements. This will provide them with options for wealth management or to raise the funds necessary to pay any expected tax bill."

The Cumberland News is standing shoulder to shoulder with Cumbria's farmers as we call on the Government to rethink its crippling farm tax plan but we need your help! Find out more about our campaign here.