From April, the threshold for individual inheritance tax relief will rise to 2.5 million pounds (C$4.62 million) from 1 million pounds, significantly reducing the number of farms and agricultural business owners facing higher tax bills, the government said.

“We have listened closely to farmers across the country and we are making changes today to protect more ordinary family farms,” Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said in a statement.

“It’s only right that larger estates contribute more, while we back the farms and trading businesses that are the backbone of Britain’s rural communities,” she said.

Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers Union, said the original proposals represented a “pernicious and cruel tax” that his organization had fought for 14 months.

“I am thankful common sense has prevailed and government has listened,” Bradshaw said. “From the start the government said it was trying to protect the family farm and the change announced today brings this much closer to reality for many.”

Tractor protests in London

The move represents the latest policy reversal by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government. In July, it backed down on plans to cut welfare spending, and in June it scaled back a proposal to reduce subsidies on energy bills for the elderly.

Under the revised rules, 100 per cent relief will apply up to the new 2.5 million pounds threshold, with 50 per cent relief on assets above the new level. Spouses or civil partners will be able to pass on up to 5 million pounds’ worth of farm assets between them, the statement said.

The government estimated that around 85 per cent of estates claiming agricultural property relief in the 2026/27 year, including those that also claim for business property relief, will pay no more inheritance tax as a result of the changes.

The original announcement in 2024, which ended an exemption from inheritance tax for agricultural families from next year, triggered protests in London by tractor-driving farmers that have continued regularly.

The government had said the measure was intended to raise revenue to help pay for strained public services. Farmers warned it would destroy family farms and cut food production.

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“Canada and the U.K. aim to reduce duplication, lessen the burden on industry and facilitate access to important products,” said Canada’s chief veterinary officer Mary Jane Ireland, and the United Kingdom’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate deputy chief executive officer, Gavin Hall, in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Canada and the U.K. will co-operate to streamline the pre-market assessment and approval process for veterinary medicines and vaccines.

This will include sharing scientific expertise and information, discussion common priorities and loking at joint reviews of veterinary products.

In June, Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also committed to partnering on several issues related to economic grow, including trade, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and biomanufacturing.

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The deal, announced by Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the U.K. aerospace sector, but the issue of steel and aluminum remains unresolved.

Other critical industries, such as pharmaceuticals, were not mentioned.

Trump said the relationship with Britain was “fantastic,” as he waved, and then briefly dropped, a document that he said he had just signed.

“We signed it and it’s done,” he said, incorrectly calling it a trade agreement with the European Union, before making clear the deal was with Britain.

Starmer called it “a very good day for both of our countries, a real sign of strength”

What’s included

The U.S. intends to impose a quota on steel and aluminum imports from the United Kingdom that would be exempt from 25 per cent tariffs, but it is conditioned upon Britain’s demonstrating security on steel supply chains and production facilities, according to an executive order released by the White House.

The quota level will be set by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the White House said.

Britain had avoided tariffs of up to 50 per cent on steel and aluminum that the U.S. imposed on other countries earlier this month, but it could have faced elevated tariffs starting July 9 unless a deal to implement the tariff reduction was reached.

The two leaders reaffirmed a plan to give British carmakers an annual quota of 100,000 cars that can be sent to the United States at a 10 per cent tariff rate, less than the 25 per cent rates other countries face.

The plan will go in effect seven days after it is published in the Federal Register, the White House said.

The agreement also eliminates tariffs on the UK aerospace industry, including parts and planes, according to the executive order.

Delayed implementation

Britain was the first country to agree on a deal for lower tariffs from Trump, with the U.S. reducing tariffs on imports of UK cars, aluminum and steel, and Britain agreeing to lower tariffs on U.S. beef and ethanol.

But implementation of the deal has been delayed while details were being hammered out and some issues remain outstanding.

Britain called the deal a huge win for its aerospace and auto sectors, noting the UK was the only country to have secured such a deal with Washington.

“Bringing trade deals into force can take several months, yet we are delivering on the first set of agreements in a matter of weeks. And we won’t stop there,” UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.

Reynolds said the two sides agreed to reciprocal access to 13,000 metric tons of beef, while making clear that U.S. imports would need to meet tough UK food safety standards.

He said both countries remain focused on securing “significantly preferential outcomes” for the UK pharmaceutical sector, and work would continue to protect industry from any further tariffs imposed as part of Section 232 investigations underway by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Asked if the deal protects the United Kingdom from future tariff threats, Trump responded: “The UK is very well protected. You know why? Because I like them. That’s their ultimate protection.”

— Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Suzanne Plunkett and Andrea Shalal

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The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service issued the report from its attaché in London. In writing the report for the Global Agricultural Information Network, the attaché projected the forthcoming U.K. wheat crop to reach 12.80 million tonnes. That would be an improvement of almost 17 per cent over the 2024/25 harvest, but still short of the 13.98 million tonnes gleaned in 2023/24.

The London desk cited lower yields, less planted area, reduced demand and profitability concerns for the drop in wheat in 2024/25.

The attaché estimated harvest area to increase to 1.63 million hectares from 1.53 million in 2024/25, but lower than the 1.72 million combined two years earlier.

The London desk also wrote U.K. wheat imports are to drop 26 per cent at 3.05 million tonnes in the approaching crop year. The U.K. will export about 560,000 tonnes, up from 440,000 last year.

Total consumption was projected to come in at 15.35 million tonnes compared to 14.40 million last year. However at 3.44 million tonnes, ending stocks are expected to change little from the 3.50 million in 2024/25.

The U.K. is to rank 15th in 2025/26 among wheat producing countries, according to the USDA.

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Some farmers, angry over the new Labour government’s budget measure to make them liable for inheritance tax, have threatened to disrupt food supplies, raising concerns about availability in supermarkets.

“Retailers are closely monitoring the impact of the potential interventions, including strikes, but are adept at dealing with disruption and are working hard to ensure customers aren’t impacted,” Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said in a statement.

The BRC represents the country’s biggest retailers, including the major supermarket groups.

Tesco, Britain’s biggest grocer with a near 28 per cent market share, referred enquiries on the matter to the BRC.

The National Farmers Union has said it does not support the idea of withholding produce in protest at the inheritance tax measure but some farmers have threatened disruption.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated on Saturday there would be no change to the inheritance tax policy, telling the Welsh Labour Conference in Llandudno, north Wales, he would defend the government’s budget decisions “all day long”.

Having protested in Wales on Saturday, farmers plan a major protest in London on Tuesday.

On Sunday, transport minister Louise Haigh told Sky News she was not worried about the prospect of food shortages.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been asked for comment.

— Reporting by James Davey

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While the attaché pegged planted and harvest area for 2023-24 at 410,000 hectares — up from last year’s 364,000 — yields were forecast to drop from almost 3.74 tonnes per hectare to nearly 3.37.

Along with the projected output in rapeseed, the attaché estimated the U.K.’s imports of the oilseed at 750,000 tonnes. Altogether, the country’s total supply was projected to be short of 2.22 million tonnes, 1.6 per cent more than in 2022-23. Of that supply, the attaché placed the crush at two million tonnes, plus 80,000 in feed use. Ending stocks were projected to be 86,000 tonnes, the same amount coming into 2023-24.

The attaché estimate the U.K.’s rapeseed meal production at 1.14 million tonnes. Along with beginning stocks of 75,000 tonnes and imports of 200,000 tonnes, total supply of the meal was set at 1.42 million. Of that, 1.25 million tonnes is expected to be used domestically, which would be on par with the previous two marketing years. Meal ending stocks were set at 90,000 tonnes, 15,000 more than in 2022-23.

As for rapeseed oil, the attaché estimated the U.K. to produce 800,000 tonnes. With beginning stocks of 75,000 tonnes and imports of 90,000 tonnes, the total supply was forecast at 965,000. Of that, 780,000 tonnes is to be used domestically, with a carryover of 85,000, up 10,000 from 2022-23.

The attaché noted input costs in the U.K. increased due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but fertilizer and fuel prices have come down during 2023. The London desk stressed any major developments in the war could result in changes in the attaché’s assumptions.

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Rebanks is from the Lake District of the U.K., an area popular with tourists because of the rolling mountains inset with sapphire-blue lakes. The Rebanks family has been farming here for at least 600 years. Today they farm 700 to 800 acres, in the valleys between the mountains, raising sheep and cattle.

“We’re very fiercely traditional, proud farming families that did things the way they’ve been done for a very, very long time. And that was who we were. That’s what I grew up being,” Rebanks says, speaking at the Western Canada Conference on Soil Health and Grazing in Edmonton in December.

“We’ve realized, maybe we’re not managing the land as well as we should be.”

Novel sparks rethink

In 2015, Rebanks published his first book, The Shepherd’s Life. This novel outlines the farming practices traditionally done in the Lake District, as well as Rebanks’s own life and upbringing. However, at the core of the novel is a consistent message — pride for the traditional way things have always been done in the Lake District.

The response he received from farmers in his area and across the world for the book was huge, with the book becoming a New York Times bestseller, neighbours coming up to Rebanks and letting him know they appreciated him telling their story.

“But the more I read, the more I learned, the more I saw things, the more farms I went to, I went, ‘Oh, I just wrote a book telling everybody how great our traditions were,’” Rebanks says. “We need to do some other new stuff as well.”

Rebanks wasn’t done farming, and the way he would farm and his pride in traditions would change with time.

After reading books about farming and watching YouTube videos from regenerative producers such as Greg Judy, who is well known for his videos helping teach people how to improve the soil on their land, Rebanks realized things were done far differently where he was.

“That sort of question marks a mountain in my mind — hang on a minute, this is not what we do. Does that apply here?” he says.

One of the things Rebanks has incorporated into their operation is rotational grazing, using approximately 21-day rotations.

Another thing Rebanks did, which he initially expressed skepticism for, was trampling. Livestock trample 70 to 80 per cent of the grass so that it covers the soil — and so that, when it decomposes, all of the biomass and nutrients will go back into the soil. Once he saw the payoff, he never went back.

“The regrowth a month later, the health of that field is better than anything I’ve ever seen before,” he says. “I went into the house to my wife, and I said, ‘Oh my God, everything I have been taught and everything I think I know, might be wrong.’”

After he extended rest periods on his pastures and increased cover on the soil, Rebanks noticed all sorts of wildlife returning to the area, including birds and insects.

Pastoral song

After reading more about soil management and different farming practices, Rebanks embraced the idea that there could be a different, and better, way to do things.

“I was proud of what we were and where we came from. And I still have that — I just have a slightly more complicated understanding of it.”

His second book, published in 2021, is Pastoral Song, a book that examines how the old ways of farming were detrimental to the soil and the land, and how regenerative practices could bring it back to its former glory.

And though this is a topic Rebanks has grown passionate about since he took over the family farm, he knew it would also be controversial in a place where people hold tightly to traditions. He was worried about how skeptical people might be about it.

“I live in this really beautiful national park. It’s not a wilderness national park like in North America. It’s farmed, dry stone walls, all that stuff. British people love what that is. So if I suddenly decided I want to farm it different, and it might look different, that’s an awkward conversation,” Rebanks says.

“I care about that stuff, too. I don’t fundamentally want to change the beautiful character of that landscape. I just want to graze better and I want to think about biodiversity.”

Despite all of this, Rebanks says the novel isn’t negative — instead, it has a positive tone on the future of the industry.

“It’s an optimistic book. It’s really about what a family farm can be. And what all these people here, these hundreds of ranchers can do, is they go home, they can change, they can learn.”

Ag in the world

Now, Rebanks travels the world telling his story.

Though his operation and story take place in the U.K., Rebanks says the lessons he’s learned while researching how to improve his farm and grazing habits can be beneficial to any producer, anywhere.

“What we really need to work out is how to mend land practically. If we don’t know exactly how the bacteria and the microbes are doing that, that’s not the end of the world,” he says.

“Are we making it better? Are we mending watersheds? Are we looking after the woodland around our farms properly?”

Even though the farming systems in the U.K. and Canada are very different, Rebanks says there are things to learn from either. Often, the issues in one place are very similar to the issues in another, which means producers from all over the world can learn from each other, no matter where they’re based.

“We’re just brothers and sisters,” Rebanks says. “That is the same everywhere. Biology is the same everywhere, our soil’s the same everywhere. Cows are pretty much the same everywhere. We just need to learn from each other.”

The Farmer’s Wife

Rebanks isn’t the only one writing books in his family. His wife, Helen Rebanks, has a book titled The Farmer’s Wife, slated for publication in August of 2023.

This is a different type of story, though — one that sheds light on the role a homemaker plays in the operation. Faber, the publisher of the book, calls it “an honest and intimate mediation on the power of domestic life.”

James Rebanks is the first to praise his wife for all she does, and to highlight the importance of women in the future of agriculture — in whatever roles they choose.

“We’re going into this complicated world where we need a lot of different perspectives. We need a lot of different kinds of farmers trying a lot of different things because out of that mix will come the future.”

He wants to give his daughters the tools and opportunities to pursue agriculture or carry on the family farm after him.

The future 

Currently, Rebanks is writing another book and plans to continue writing books that highlight his passion for the industry.

His goal isn’t to educate farmers on how to be more regenerative. Instead, he wants to spread the message of the importance of farming in our world, and how farmers from across the globe are connected.

“I fundamentally believe in farmers and ranchers and their ability to make the world better,” he says.

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Federal Trade Minster Mary Ng on Thursday announced the conclusion of negotiations, making the U.K. the first accession applicant to reach that stage and “mark(ing) an important chapter in the development of the CPTPP.”

Ministers and trade reps from CPTPP nations met virtually Friday (Japan time) and declared “substantial conclusion” of talks with the U.K., which have been formally underway since 2021.

The CPTPP’s accession working group said in a statement Friday that the U.K. “has provided commercially meaningful market access offers of the highest standard on goods, services, investment, financial services, government procurement, state-owned enterprises and temporary entry for business persons.”

“As the first country to show support for the U.K.’s accession to CPTPP, we are pleased to see a longstanding friend and ally join one of the world’s most progressive trade agreements,” Ng said in her statement.

U.K. accession to the CPTPP, she said, “would build on our longstanding economic and people-to-people ties and shared values on open and rules-based trade (and) would provide further trade and investment opportunities for both countries, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The U.K. has sought new formal trade pacts elsewhere since its “Brexit” from the European Union in 2020. Talks on a new bilateral Canada-U.K. trade deal have been formally underway since March last year.

Meanwhile, a Canada-U.K. Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA), which came into force in April 2021, upholds bilateral trade terms similar to those of the 2017 Canada-E.U. free trade pact (CETA).

But the U.K. has also sought entry since 2020 to the CPTPP pact, which Canada was fifth to ratify in 2018 and now also includes Japan, Australia, Mexico, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. The pact officially came into force for Malaysia just last Nov. 29.

The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), a group of Canadian organizations representing export-dependent ag commodity sectors, has long said it “would be supportive of (U.K.) accession subject to them meeting the high standards of the (CPTPP) agreement.”

But CAFTA, in a 2021 submission for federal consultations on the matter, warned its member groups “cannot support an outcome where U.K. beef continues to have unlimited access to the Canadian market while Canadian beef is subject to a TRQ (tariff rate quota).”

Also, while the U.K. “continues to apply (E.U.) regulatory policies” on sanitary and phytosanitary barriers and a ban on livestock growth promotion technology, none of the 10 other CPTPP members have such restrictions “as they adhere to international guidelines on these products.”

Similarly, CAFTA said at the time, the Canadian pork industry would seek for the U.K. be “forced to abide by the same guidelines agreed upon by the current signatories of CPTPP.”

The Canadian Cattle Association, a CAFTA member, declared itself Friday to be “disappointed” with a market access agreement that will form the basis for the U.K. to join CPTPP “without achieving viable access for Canadian beef to the U.K.”

Specifically, the CCA said in a statement Friday, “we are aware that other members of the CPTPP have achieved unlimited beef access in their bilateral agreements with the U.K. We have been informed that similar access for Canada is ‘off the table’.”

Also, the CCA said, there’s “no current progress being made to address the main obstacle to the U.K. market – the full acceptance of Canada’s meat hygiene system, which is widely recognized as one of the finest in the world.”

The CCA said it “will draw a hard line that this barrier must be addressed in Canada’s bilateral agreement with the U.K.”

CCA president Nathan Phinney also warned Friday the U.K. entry to CPTPP “further disadvantages Canadian beef producers and is fundamentally unjust,” and if a ratification bill comes to Parliament without addressing U.K. barriers to Canadian beef, “CCA will approach all Parliamentarians to defeat that bill.”

Under the Canada-U.K. TCA, the CCA said Friday, British beef can enter Canada at a zero per cent tariff in “unlimited” quantities, while Canadian beef has a zero per cent tariff but only up to a TRQ of 2,708 tonnes fresh and 1,161 tonnes frozen per year.

Under those terms, the U.K. exported 2,733 tonnes of beef to Canada in 2021 and 4,414 tonnes in 2022, while Canada exported 657 tonnes of beef to the U.K. in 2021 and “zero in 2022,” the association said.

CCA said it believes a deal with the U.K. that leaves such barriers in place “does not meet the standard of the CPTPP and the U.K.’s bid to join should be rejected until they can do better to meet the progressive trade principles of the CPTPP.”

Enforcement

Among other organizations weighing in this week on U.K. entry to the CPTPP, Dairy Farmers of Canada acknowledged Friday the deal will provide U.K. dairy exporters with TRQ access to the Canadian market.

However, according to Global Affairs Canada, all CPTPP member countries share one fixed amount of TRQ into Canada for dairy, and the department has said it will “continue to honour the government’s commitment to not provide additional market access in our supply-managed sectors in any future trade negotiation.”

DFC said Friday it “expect(s) the Canadian government will be vigilant to ensure that the dairy products coming into Canada adhere to our domestic standards for food safety and production, and that any volumes allowed into Canada are enforced according to the terms of the agreement.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Britain has opposed expanding the target of tariff-free items, particularly among agricultural products, to near 100 per cent as set by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and instead agreed to lift tariffs for only 90 per cent of imported products, Jiji said without citing sources.

The CPTPP countries had agreed in February that Britain could proceed with its bid to join the group, formed by Japan, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Chile and Malaysia.

Britain is set to resubmit its tariff conditions following the request, which would make an agreement among the members to Britain’s entry to the pact by year-end unlikely, Jiji reported.

— Reporting for Reuters by Kantaro Komiya.

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Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters he welcomed the start of Britain’s joining process after hosting an online meeting of ministers from the 11 countries that make up the trans-Pacific trade pact.

“I think there’s a big meaning to this from a strategic viewpoint of strengthening economic relations between Japan and the United Kingdom,” Nishimura said.

The United Kingdom’s admission into CPTPP would bring the nominal gross domestic product of the zone covered by the pact almost on par with that of the European Union, he added.

“The commencement of an accession process with the United Kingdom and the potential expansion of the CPTPP will send a strong signal to our trading partners around the world,” the 11 member countries said in a statement.

Britain made a formal request to join the trade deal in February as it sought to open new avenues for post-Brexit trade and influence.

The CPTPP removes 95 per cent of tariffs between its members: Japan, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Chile and Malaysia. Unlike the EU, it does not aim to create a single market or a customs union, and it does not seek wider political integration.

The United Kingdom and Japan signed off on a trade agreement in October last year, marking its first major post-Brexit deal on trade.

— Reporting for Reuters by Daniel Leussink.

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