I have often written and spoken about succession and the need for everyone to have a plan for what happens to your farm business after you are gone.

It is well documented that I have three sons who all want to have a future on the family farm. While I am blessed to have three sons, it is by no means a straightforward transition.

How do you turn a family farm (that is just ticking along) into a farm business that is capable of supporting three families? This is the question that I have been asking myself for years.

I have worked hard and put in long hours to try and make this a reality. There have been times when we as a family have gone without and things have been a real struggle. But over the last few years, it seemed as if we were getting somewhere.

We have grown the farm into the bones of a three-family farm. There is still work to be done and debt to be cleared, but we feel as if we have made real progress.

Taxes

Along the way we have paid our fair share of taxes (and at times, I think we have paid more than we could afford). We felt that we were well down the road to having a succession plan in place that would leave my three sons in a better position than I have been.

To now listen to the chancellor Rachel Reeves suddenly change the rules around inheritance has really knocked me back. These proposed changes have come completely out of the blue and there seems to have been very little thought or foresight given to the potential impact on ordinary working people.

We have not made any knee-jerk reactions and we certainly hope that the government will see sense and make some necessary changes. It is good to see all the political parties in Northern Ireland speaking with one voice in their condemnation of this attack on our industry. The sad thing is: it appears that the Labour government does not care about farmers and that it cares even less about NI.

I think our only hope is to appeal to the general public and remind them of the quality food we produce. Perhaps then the weight of public opinion can make the Labour government see sense.

Expense

On a personal level, we have bought land and started a calf-rearing enterprise over the last number of years, all at a high personal expense (both monetary and in hard work). But with these proposed changes to inheritance tax, it has the potential to leave my sons with some exceedingly tough decisions to make.

Will they take on more debt to try and keep the farm at its current size? Will they sell some land to pay the inheritance tax? Will there be enough left to maintain three livings? Will it be necessary to get employment outside of the farm? All are exceedingly tough questions and ones that I was hoping would not have to be asked.

I know that there are businesspeople who were buying up land to try and avoid inheritance tax and this is an issue Reeves was trying to tackle. It is a problem and one we would like to see sorted as it leaves land more expensive for genuine farmers.

I am also sure that the wealthy businesspeople who are buying up the land will find another loophole and will get out of the inheritance tax. It will only be the genuine honest farmers who are trying to pass on a business to the next generation who will come to the wall. Someone once said to me that I must be very wealthy when you look at what I inherited. The truth is I inherited nothing, only the use of a piece of land for me to toil all the days of my life.