UFU Deputy President William Irvine on his County Armagh farm. Picture: Cliff Donaldson
Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) is set to host a tractor rally this weekend in Ballymena as part of a UK wide day of action on Saturday 25 January in protest against the Inheritance Tax changes to Agricultural and Business Property Relief.
The Ballymena event is one of seven which have been planned across the province. Elsewhere in Northern Ireland UFU tractor rallies are planned to take place in Armagh, Derry / Londonderry, Banbridge, Saintfield, Enniskillen, and Omagh.
The UFU say this activity is part of a wider plan to highlight the detrimental damage that the family farm tax will have in the lead up to the UK government’s spring statement in March 2025.
The UK farming unions are demanding formal changes to the tax plans, calling on the UK government to “halt its deeply flawed family farm tax proposals”, claiming the new rules will “damage and threaten family farms and, in turn, undermine UK food production”.
Locally, registration for the Ballymena Tractor Rally will open from 12:30pm at the local Livestock Market on Woodside Road, on Saturday 25 January.
The rally will get underway at 2:00pm, starting from Ballymena Livestock Market, and will take the following route:
Ballymena Livestock Market - Woodside Road - Caherty Road - Rathkeel Road - Broughshane Main Street - Raceview Road - Broughshane Road - Broughshane Street - Church Street - Mill Street - Wellington Street - Ballymoney Street - Thomas Street - Doury Road - Grove Road - Carnburn Road - Carniny Road - Woodtown Road - Cullybackey Road Woodtown Road - Sand Road - Fenaghy Road - Corbally Road - Cardonaghy Road - Cullybackey Link Road - Galgorm Road - Sourhill Road - Toome Road - Wakehurst Road - Larne Road - Larne Road Link - St Patrick's Link - Broughshane Road - Raceview Road - Woodside Road - finishing at Ballymena Livestock Market.
Further route information for other rallies at bottom.
Commenting ahead of this week’s events, UFU president William Irvine said:
“We’re stepping up our efforts once again to overturn the family farm tax, with events happening across the UK on 25 January. I urge our UFU members to participate in their local rally and be part of this collective effort.
“Almost half of NI family farms could be affected by APR and BPR and we must make it crystal clear to the Labour government that we are not backing down on this issue. These rallies are simply the next step, with more action to follow in the lead up to the spring statement.
“Government need to take a long hard look at what they are on the brink of doing and fully grasp the consequences of what the changes to APR and BPR will do, not only to UK farming, but to UK society. Having access to high-quality nutritious food is critical to our wellbeing, and yet, the Labour government continues to play with fire.
“NI produces enough food to feed over ten million people, six million of whom are in Britain and we export local produce to the Republic of Ireland and beyond. The family farm tax as it stands will destroy our agri-food industry, everything we have built up over decades.
“The UFU alongside the other UK farming unions, are committed to doing whatever it takes until government does what is right for farm families and rural communities. No one is forgetting about the family farm tax, not on the mouth of Christmas and not in the New Year. This only stops when changes are made that uphold our proud farming legacy and the family farm structure that defines us.“
