Farmers threaten ‘sewage strike’ over inheritance tax raid
Farmers are threatening to stop spreading sludge on their land in protest at plans to impose inheritance tax on their estates.
They are discussing plans for a co-ordinated “sewage strike” in a move that risks causing chaos for water treatment companies and creating a mountain of waste.
Biosolids – commonly known as sewage sludge – are what remains of human waste after liquids have been removed, and are a highly effective fertiliser. Every year, farmers in the UK take about 3.6 million tonnes of sewage sludge from water treatment plants and spread it on agricultural land.
The arrangement between farmers and water companies is mutually beneficial, saving sewage processors the cost and environmental impact of disposing of it.
On online forums seen by The Telegraph, farmers have discussed refusing to spread sewage sludge, which would force water firms to find alternative dumping grounds.
The threat comes amid a backlash to plans announced by Rachel Reeves last week to place a 20 per cent tax on farmers’ assets worth more than £1 million.
The move has fuelled fears that ordinary farmers will be forced out of business, with warnings it will exacerbate a mental health crisis in the industry and hit Labour in rural areas at next May’s local elections.
Now, in online message forums discussing how to respond to the Budget, farmers are encouraging others to contact their sludge suppliers and notify them of a temporary halt to all deliveries.
In some comments, landowners claimed to have contacted the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Britain’s biggest agricultural farming body, urging it to throw its weight behind the proposed strike.
One Dartmoor farmer wrote: “If you truly want to be seen to put your children’s futures first, then now this week is the time to phone your sludge supplier [and] put a temporary halt on all deliveries.
“If enough of you do this, we have a reasonable chance of changing government policy. If you don’t, we have no hope at all and will only have ourselves to blame. Let’s see who deserves recognition for doing something unselfish for the greater good of all.”
Sludge, which is delivered to farms by truck, has been described as “rocket fuel for crops”, though environmentalists have raised concerns about chemicals found within the material.
In some cases, farmers pay for the fertiliser. Landowners on the forum suggested that if all farmers joined together and refused to accept it, water companies would need to find alternative disposal capacity with suggestions of incineration or dumping it in landfill.
Some even suggested that water firms could be forced to dump the product in waterways, although The Telegraph understands strict rules and regulations over biosolids would not allow this to happen.
Some suggested naming and shaming farmers who continue to accept the sludge. “If farmers of all sizes aren’t prepared to stick together [and] use the one effective costless weapon that we do have then there is no hope for any of us, the names [and] addresses of farmers continuing to take this sludge should be widely reported,” one argued.
Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the environment, food and rural affairs committee, said: “The impression I get from government ministers is that they think that the outrage that is felt by farmers about this issue is confected. The very fact a sewage strike is being considered shows how deep that anger is.”
Some farmers have pointed out that not much sludge is spread on fields at this time of year, meaning the protest would not trigger an immediate environmental crisis.
A spokesman for trade body Water UK said: “The use of biosolids on agricultural land is long established and highly regulated. Strong safeguards are in place and the industry works closely with regulators and Government to ensure these safeguards adapt to emerging challenges.”
Dozens of farmers have warned that the tax change means their businesses will no longer be viable when they die, with their children unable to pay six-figure bills. Tom Bradshaw, NFU president, wrote for The Telegraph that his team had received calls from elderly farmers who now feel they are a “burden” on their families.
Last week, the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) issued a message of support to the agricultural community, saying the Government would “never forget that farmers are the beating heart of this country”.
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A government spokesman said: “The Government’s commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. It’s why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production.
“We understand concerns about changes to agricultural property relief and the Defra Secretary of State and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury met with NFU president, Tom Bradshaw, today.
“Ministers made clear that the vast majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.
“This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers.”
An NFU spokesman declined to comment.