A Pembrokeshire farm has put on a stark visual display to illustrate the damaging ripple effect of inheritance tax changes that could impact thousands of livelihoods away from the farmyard.

The Cornock family, who run a mixed dairy farm near Fishguard, held a gathering of 57 local businesses on their farmyard on September 3 to emphasise how the UK Government’s incoming changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR)1 would affect rural firms and the wider economy.

Those represented at the event included businesses of all shapes and sizes, from vets, machinery dealerships and milk processors to foot trimmers, electricians and fencing companies.

The impact on people and families outside the farm gate was brought into even sharper focus when a survey of those present revealed the 57 businesses present employed almost 11,000 people between them.

Around half of these companies said they were ‘totally reliant’ on income from local farms for the viability of their business.

At last month’s Pembrokeshire County Show the Cornock family laid bare the emotional and financial toll of the so called ‘Family Farm Tax’.

Janet Cornock, who was widowed when her late husband Gwilym died in 2018, said the thought of the inheritance tax changes on her family caused her to ‘lie awake at night with my heart pounding’.

Speaking at the event held on her Cefnydre farm, Mrs Cornock said the turnout of local businesses was a demonstration of what the policy change would mean for rural Wales.

She said: “Unless the UK Government makes much-needed amendments to its planned changes on inheritance tax, the future of our family farm, like so many others in Wales and across the rest of the UK, will be in jeopardy.

“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.

“While we know the impact on farmers will be severe, the effect this change will have on those companies we do business with is going to be significant, too.

“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 added: “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.”

For more information about NFU Cymru’s Stop the Family Farm Tax campaign, please visit the NFU Cymru website