UK Column News The Farmers Who Won’t Give Up | UK Column Interviews
Jan 29, 2026
Geoff Pomeroy, a Devon farmer fighting to protect family farms and food security; Ben Veer, a Devon activist farmer who led protests against punitive policy. They recount police U-turns on tractor access and talk inheritance tax, shrinking family farms, rising rural suicide rates, and the push toward corporate, synthetic and technocratic farming. They urge local resilience and continued resistance.
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Farm Businesses Are Financially Fragile
- DEFRA shows the farm business survey had a negative return on capital for 2023–24, meaning many farms make no profit.
- Farmers survive by borrowing heavily and using land revaluations to secure more debt, leaving them financially fragile.
Incentives Push Farmers Away From Food
- The Sustainable Farming Incentive is optional but structured so farms realistically need scheme income to survive.
- State incentives and market structure push farmers toward diversification away from core food production.
Monoculture Removed Farming Resilience
- Monoculture and large-scale specialization removed rotational resilience and joy from farming.
- Mixed, smaller family farms used to buffer market swings; their decline increases systemic risk.