Farmer action on IHT continues at Norfolk racecourse

Fakenham Racecourse welcomed around 60 tractors at the Sky Bet Raceday on Sunday 19 January, in a show of solidarity with the farming community.

The Norfolk racecourse offered free entry to anyone arriving in a tractor in a direct response to the government’s planned inheritance tax (IHT) changes for farms.

See also: Fakenham Racecourse backs farmers with ‘tractor parade’

Making the journey were tractors from Norfolk and Suffolk, with some coming from as far as Essex.

As Norfolk’s only National Hunt racecourse, Fakenham is a central hub for the region’s farming community, known for its rich agricultural heritage.

The event aimed to unite the farming community, wider agricultural businesses and supporters to show unity and resilience.

“Racing and the farming community need to work together,” David Hunter, chief executive of Fakenham Racecourse, told Farmers Weekly.

“Many farmers have diversified, because they had to and now they support racing either through training facilities, looking after retired horses and breeding race horses. Farmers are linked to racing in all manner of ways.

“If this tax comes through, it’s going to impact all of us in so many aspects. We’re so intertwined, and racing and farming are very important to Norfolk.

“This was a way for us to show our solidarity to the farming community. A day for farmers to enjoy and for us all to show government our unity.

“I hope other racecourses across the country who are also embedded in farming can do the same.”

NFU Norfolk chair Tim Papworth, who attended the day, said: “I spoke to farmers from Cambridgeshire and Essex who made the journey over and there was a good amount of younger people supporting us as well.

“There was a fantastic show of solidarity for our farmers, which was great to see.

“If the planned changes to inheritance tax do go ahead and farms are sold off, it will impact national food security, the rural economy and the environment.”