Young Essex farmer says future is ‘frustrating’

A young farmer said he was protesting against changes to inheritance tax because it made the future look “scary and frustrating”.

Father-daughter duo James and Grace Parrish, from Brentwood in Essex, will be among the farmers. protest in front of parliament on Tuesday.

“It will definitely affect me,” Ms Parrish, 23, said about three weeks after the plan to charge inheritance tax on some farms was first announced in the Budget.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer previously said: The “vast majority” of farmers will not be affected, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the changes were necessary to improve public services.

From April 2026, previously exempt inherited agricultural assets valued at over £1 million will be subject to tax at 20%, half the normal rate.

BBC Verification approximately 500 farms are estimated will be affected every year.

Miss Parrish continued: “It was pretty scary and nerve-wracking to hear it all come to light. “I planned my life around farming, I’ve been working at it and working at it my whole life. “All of a sudden everything changes.

“When my grandparents died, I was so nervous that I would suddenly have a lot of additional stress from not only dealing with their deaths, but also from trying to find money to pay for it all.”

Mr Parrish, 52, added that he felt the government’s approach was “disconnected”.

Jenny Hollington, 67, said she was most concerned about farmers in rural areas not being able to diversify to make a profit.

“People who live further away and live off livestock… they don’t stand a chance. Even Suffolk and Norfolk don’t have diversity and it’s not a million miles away and it’s going to hit them really hard.”

He also said he was concerned that changes to the National Minimum Wage and employers’ National Insurance contributions could prevent him from employing young people in the paintball business on his farm in Abridge.

“We pride ourselves on employing so many people and helping so many young people,” he continued.

“Some of them had problems, and by getting some guidance and working with us, we got them into a very good situation and turned them into very good people.”

Minister of Agriculture Daniel Zeichner he told the BBC Owner couples and farms should be able to claim further reductions in their bills, and there will be nothing to pay if land is transferred more than seven years before a person dies.

He blamed this move on the way the last government managed the economy, but said that the budget for agriculture and food production was increased in the budget and this was a positive message for the sector.