Farmers have been left feeling ‘abandoned' by the Government, with the Chancellor choosing to ignore repeated calls from the industry and its own Labour backbenchers to overturn the family farm tax.
The farming industry had previously warned the Prime Minister and his Government the changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief brought in by the previous Chancellor Rachel Reeves had ‘broken confidence' and was ‘stifling investment' which underpins food security.
Following the introduction of the tax in April, inherited farming assets worth more than £2.5m faced 20% inheritance tax - with the allowance being able to be transferred between spouses and civil partners.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the Budget was an opportunity for the government to act on the warm words it made over the summer, but it has ‘failed to act' and has left ‘farmers feeling abandoned.'
"Today the phrase ‘food security is national security' feels nothing but a hollow promise."
The CLA president Gavin Lane added: "There are too many policies that stifle growth and entrepreneurship in the countryside, and there is still an ignorance of the unique difficulty of running a rural business."
The Chancellor promised the Budget would be for the ‘working people of Britain' and would give ‘breathing space' for businesses, but farmers and growers feel this has not extended to them.
The Chancellor announced a cut to fertiliser tariffs, which would come into effect next month - a move which the Defra Secretary Dame Angela Eagle described as a ‘straightforward way' to back British agriculture which would 'ease' the pressure on farmers.
The Chancellor also confirmed the extension of the fuel duty cut to July 2027 - a move which has been welcomed, but many argued must be seen against a much wider backdrop of increasing employment costs and taxation.
Mr Healey also announced a rise in the national minimum wage and national living wage by 3.9%, with fears already raised that this could leave food manufacturers with no other choice but to raise food prices.
When it comes to business rates, the Chancellor also committed to cutting business rates to zero for 70,000 businesses by raising the threshold to those who have to pay it from premises with a rateable value of £12,000 to £18,000.
But Guy Coggrave, chief executive at chartered surveyors, GSC Grays said overall the Budget did little to remove the longer term pressures facing farming families and estates.
With no movement on changes to the APR and BRP, Mr Coggrave said succession and inheritance tax planning remain firmly on the agenda.
The NFU president Tom Bradshaw added while the extension to the red diesel relief is positive, it would offer 'minimal relief' to the 'cashflow crisis' facing farming businesses, especially with today's fuel prices 65% higher than a year ago.
"This feels like tinkering while Rome is burning."
He said action should have been taken to extend the Annual Investment Allowance to include infrastructure such as on-farm reservoirs or new poultry housing and action should have been taken to reverse the investment-stifling family farm tax.
Mr Bradshaw said ignoring these actions meant that the 'bottlenecks' holding back domestic food production and the overall confidence of the sector had not been addressed.
The Countryside Alliance said this Budget was an opportunity for the Chancellor to reset its relationship with the countryside, but they said he showed 'little interest in seizing that chance'.
In a statement the Countryside Alliance said: "Before becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham pledged to revisit the hated Family Farm Tax. He has failed to do so. This tax continues to tarnish the government's rural record. It is preventing farmers from making important decisions about their livelihoods, hampering the government's own mission of creating good growth in every postcode."
The Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn said: "This has been a farm-blind Budget."
He said it was 'deeply frustrating' that the Government has done nothing to implement the practical changes the TFA proposed to support secure tenancies, productive investment and resilient farm businesses.
He said: "The lack of movement on sensible Inheritance Tax changes is particularly regrettable. We asked for protection where the death of a joint agricultural tenant leaves the surviving tenant with a tax liability but no saleable capital asset. The survivor needs to keep farming and not face a bill that business cannot fund.
"On Stamp Duty Land Tax, the Government has agreed that people paying rent on residential tenancies should not be liable for SDLT on that rent. The same principle should apply to farm tenants paying rent."
Mr Dunn warned continuing to levy SDLT on agricultural tenancies penalised longer agreements at a time when we should be encouraging them.
Back to Westminster, and the former Liberal Democrat leader and Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron warned that 'vague references' to departmental savings, would 'surely mean cuts to Defra, adding 'will farmers bear the brunt?'
Elsewhere, half an hour before the Budget, the Prime Minister took the opportunity in PMQs, to defend his plan for a better Brexit deal.
He said: "A deal that backs British farmers, British food producers and that removes red tape from our businesses."
Mr Burnham also confirmed the application system for the £15m funding pot for on-farm reservoir development would be available for farmers to apply for 'very shortly'.
