The motion, brought by Conservative councillor and tenant farmer Mark Mather, called on the council’s leader to write to ministers expressing “dismay” at the changes and branding the move a “family farm tax”.
The issue was debated at County Hall in Morpeth on Wednesday (January 15), just hours after hundreds of farmers protested the changes in the town.
From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20 per cent.
While the Government insist that “most estates” will not be affected by the changes, campaigners have warned the policy could devastate family farms.
READ MORE: Labour MPs defend rule change on inheritance tax for farmers
The motion stated: “As a county with the largest percentage of tenanted farms as well as a large amount of family-owned farms, the current situation affects not just those directly involved in the day-to-day running of their farms but a wide range of supplying businesses, jobs, and rural communities right across Northumberland.
“The recent 2024 Autumn Budget change to Inheritance Tax relief announced by the Labour Government will introduce a Family Farm Tax and will have a serious detrimental impact on Family Farms and farmers’ ability to pass on their farms to the next generation of farmers.
“The NFU state up to half of all working farms, possibly more, could be impacted by the new rules, not the 25 per cent claimed by the government.”
Speaking at the meeting, Tory councillor Colin Hardy said: “I’m supporting this motion as someone who was born and raised in rural Northumberland. I know how important farming is to the local community and to the economy of Northumberland.
“Farmers work 365 days a year in all conditions to produce all the food that we eat, all for a small return on their investment. Financial pressures on farming is one of the main reasons that there are more suicides in farming than in any other industry.
“What will happen if we tax farmers out of farming? Big corporations will move in and buy up the land and create land monopolies.
“We have to come together as a council and support our farmers.”
However, Labour and the Green Party refused to back the motion and chose to abstain.
Labour’s deputy leader Cllr Liz Dunn said: “I agree that this motion has some positives, but I cannot support it entirely and therefore I will abstain. Every single person in this room will support farmers. We know farmers work very hard in difficult circumstances.
“We also know they have not been treated well by previous Governments. The systems around farming have been broken for decades.
“The previous Government offered 14 years of financial mismanagement with 12,000 farms and agricultural businesses forced to close over that period. The Conservatives sold farms out in trade deals and refused to close the tax loopholes for their wealthy friends, including one that allowed millionaires to avoid tax by buying farmland.
“The result has been that hard-working farmers are priced out of buying and to work. Our working farmers need to be rewarded for their efforts, not working against rigged markets.”
Green Party councillor Martin Swinbank added: “The super rich have exploited the inheritance tax to avoid tax. This has caused heavily inflated land values.
“It is very challenging for family farms to turn a profit. Despite the challenges, most farmers love what they do and want to hand down a viable farm to their children.
“The principle of the policy is sound, but the £1 million threshold needs to be raised. This motion seems to keep open a tax loophole for the super wealthy, and so we cannot support the motion.”
Summing up the debate, proposer Mark Mather said: “This will affect every person in Northumberland. It will make land be sold, rural areas will have no thriving communities.
“We must stop the family farm tax.”
Councillors voted to back the motion by 39 votes to zero, with 15 abstentions.