'You have to be really intelligent to be a farmer'

"I reckon my schoolfriends think I'm mad. They probably thought I would give up - but I haven't."

Bridgette Baker is a 24-year-old, fifth-generation farmer who farms alongside her dad and grandad in the gently sloping fields of south Somerset.

It's a beef and arable farm, with a few lambs and pigs for their meat business selling to local customers.

With some farmers angry with the government over inheritance tax rules and changes to farm payments, why would a young person want to stay in the industry these days?

"At school, we weren't encouraged to go into farming. It's such a shame," said Bridgette.

"Everyone thought: 'Oh, you're clever enough to do something else.'

"People don't think farmers are clever, but it's the most complicated job. You have got to be really intelligent to be a farmer."

Bridgette said the agriculture industry has so many opportunities that it should be more of an option for people in school.

"When I was 15 I started calf-rearing with my grandad and just really enjoyed it.

"I kept at it from then onwards, waking up early to prove I was keen enough," she said.

Now, she starts the day by feeding the livestock, including her rare breed pigs.

"I really enjoy this breed. They've got such a nice temperament," she said.

Bridgette and her mum make and sell their own sausages from the farm.

"Obviously I'll be biased, but I really enjoy the sausages and bacon too," she added.

Having studied agriculture, Bridgette graduated from university a couple of years ago and returned to her family farm, where she hopes to stay long term.

She said: "There's always loads of challenges thrown at you, but I'm hoping once I've got a nice system in place on the farm, I'll have some spare time to do agricultural journalism or another job on the side.

"You always need a plan b with farming, which is a bit disappointing, as the farm's not very profitable, so we've always been ambitious in trying to do two jobs at once as a family."

As Bridgette farms alongside her dad and grandad, I was keen to find out what she thinks of the government's planned changes to inheritance tax on farms.

"When the government announced the inheritance tax it was quite a shock for the rural community," she said.

From April 2026, there will be a charge of 20% inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1m for the first time, although the threshold for some farmers to pay would be £3m.

The government expects the changes to affect the wealthiest 500 estates each year.

Ministers have maintained it will make things "fairer" and protect "small family farms".

Bridgette said it means family farms, like hers, are now needing to save up to pay the tax "for whenever one generation needs to pass the farm onto the next".

But, she said, that means they cannot invest in the farm's future "because we need to plan for this payout".

She said she was concerned family farms could have to be sold off, which would have an impact on the wider rural economy.

She said: "We use tyre companies, machinery sales, vets, mechanics, feed companies - it affects a lot of the economy locally."

Bridgette also thought food prices could go up for consumers if there was less competition from family farms against imported meat and crops.

Earlier this month, the government announced it was closing an environmental funding stream to new applicants, which had been designed to replace EU farm subsidies, post-Brexit.

The government said the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) had been a success, with 37,000 funding agreements agreed.

Bridgette's farm receives SFI for environmental management including conserving hedgerows and trees.

The government said all the scheme's budget had been allocated and no more new applications could be accepted.

Bridgette said this announcement "shut the door in the face" of farmers who were preparing to apply.

"They've done all the paperwork to calculate the land that will go into it and all the other bits that are involved," she said.

"So now, this growing year on the farm, if anything goes wrong and they don't make a profit, they don't have that SFI payment to keep them going."

Bridgette told me she feels the government has made "very big decisions, very quickly, without much consultation".

While the beef and arable enterprises are her farm's main income, Bridgette's passion is her rare breed pigs and three-year-old Dotty is clearly a favourite.

Pregnant with her third litter, she's due to give birth again in May.

Bridgette said: "She's been a really good mum and she's taught me how to breed pigs - some pigs they'll look after you. She's dealt with all my mistakes.

"In farming, there's so much to learn. You won't learn unless you've got the experience."

A government spokesperson said its commitment to farmers "remains steadfast".

They said: "We have committed £5bn to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come."

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