Shropshire Farming Talk: Broken promises - is this the end of farming as we know it?
It’s hard to imagine how things could get worse for British farmers, but 2025 has delivered yet another hammer blow. The government has pulled the rug from under an already struggling industry, gutting the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) with no clear alternative in sight, while inheritance tax (IHT) reforms threaten to shatter family farms built over generations. And if that wasn’t enough, sweeping planning reforms could see swathes of agricultural land lost to development.
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Let’s be clear: this is a full-scale assault on farming. Politicians love to talk about food security and environmental protection, but their actions tell a different story. Without SFI,
farmers face financial ruin trying to meet sustainability targets. The IHT changes mean many farms will no longer pass from one generation to the next without crippling tax bills. And with planning restrictions loosened, farmland will be swallowed up by developers looking to cash in—turning the countryside into a concrete jungle.
This isn’t just about farmers—it’s about every single person who relies on homegrown food. If government policies continue on this path, Britain will be left with an empty promise of food security while importing what we could have produced ourselves.
Farmers don’t need warm words from politicians; they need policies that let them survive.
Will Westminster wake up before it’s too late? Right now, it’s looking like an industry on borrowed time.
Keith Fowles, owner of KLF Insurance Brokers
