Farm Life - seasons greetings

by Roger Hill

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year and hank you for your kind comments regarding this column. Also, I do appreciate your support in helping to raise more than £8,000 for my chosen charity Cots for Tots, by purchasing my Tupper the Tractor children’s adventure illustrated books.

It has been both a positive and negative few weeks. We are proud that our son Tim, who runs our vineyard, has won silver for his sparkling wine and bronze for the still white at the Devon Food & Drink Awards. Considering it is the first season to actually have wine in the bottle, it is just reward for his hard work over the last five years (photo opposite).

His worry is that with proposed changes to Inheritance Tax, many small family farms will struggle to be able to hand down to the younger generation.

I have been a long standing supporter of the Young Farmer’s Movement. There are so many skilled and enthusiastic young people out there who fear the rug could be pulled from beneath their feet. We need the next generation to ensure food safety and sustainability in this country especially considering the threat from world instability.

‘Til next time, Roger #TuppertheTractor (tupperthetractor.com and quoitatcrossvineyard.com)

Our son Tim’s awards for his wines

Calls to reverse ‘farm tax’

It’s claimed that up to 398 North Devon farms could be impacted by the so-called ‘family farm tax’, following the government’s decision to slash inheritance tax relief.

North Devon MP Ian Roome called on the government to reverse its policy, warning it could spell the end of many family farms which have been at the heart of communities for generations.