E154 Tom Bradshaw: Who Is Killing British Farming?

Britain’s food system looks calm on the surface. Underneath, it’s under strain.Tom Bradshaw, President of the NFU, sits down with Rich Stockdale for a raw, wide-ranging conversation about what it really takes to feed 70 million people — and why UK farming is being pushed to the edge. From balancing family life with national leadership, to fighting for farmers inside Westminster, Tom pulls back the curtain on the political, economic, and emotional realities of modern agriculture.This isn’t nostalgia for farming’s past. It’s a hard look at its future.They dig into why UK farmers are exposed to global markets without the protections enjoyed elsewhere, how trade deals and regulation are quietly reshaping what we grow, and why food security should be treated with the same seriousness as defence and energy. Tom challenges the idea that cheap food is a success story — and explains the real cost it’s storing up for the country.The conversation moves beyond policy into purpose: what farmers stand for, why public trust matters, and how resilience — economic, environmental, and human — is the only way forward.And just days before Christmas, that pressure finally broke through. Following sustained NFU campaigning, industry-wide backing, and direct engagement with the Prime Minister, the government confirmed a major shift on inheritance tax. The threshold will now rise to £2.5 million — or up to £5 million when spousal transfers are included — meaning most family farms will be able to pass to the next generation intact. It’s not perfect, and the fight isn’t over, but for many farmers it’s a decisive step back from the brink.As Tom puts it: farming stood together when it mattered — and it will keep pushing until the system finally works for those who produce our food.