In 48 years of agricultural journalism, I can’t remember when there was such an outpouring of farmers’ opposition than to the proposed changes to inheritance tax for the agriculture sector.

Monday evening’s tax protest meeting at the Eikon Centre, Lisburn was attended by more than 6,000 farmers and family members and this high turnout was unprecedented.

On Monday evening, the thousands of farmers in Northern Ireland left their workplaces, some just finishing their evening milking and feeding of animals to travel to the venue and join in solidarity with each other to show their opposition to the changes which could see the normal practice of succession of family farms come to an end if land has to be sold to pay off the tax.

And what sort of message does this new government policy send to the generation of younger farmers, who are keen to support their parents on the family farm and succeed them in the future?

Many of these young farmers, with degrees and qualifications, are the lifeblood of farming’s future, using their skills to take farm businesses to the next level of production of food, embracing the changes ahead such as meeting climate change targets, animal welfare standards and food safety.

The UK government’s budget had already dented the farm sector along with many other businesses by increasing employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NIC), reducing the threshold at which employers begin paying NICs and also increasing minimum wage rates.

It was heartening to see several generations of farm families side by side at Monday night’s protest rally, visibly concerned about their futures and their children’s futures.

And I think the fact that so many people turned up at the rally comforted everyone there - assured that they were making their points collectively.

For the Ulster Farmers’ Union, who organised this meeting, this was a major triumph giving their Presidential team a strong mandate going to London on Tuesday morning where they handed in a petition of 15,000 names to the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn before joining their fellow NFU colleagues for the national rally.

The UK Government’s assertion that the wealthy can afford to pay their taxes somehow does not stack up in farming circles.

Today’s farmers could quite rightly just sell up, pay the tax they are due and pocket the remaining and get another job.

But it has to be remembered that the majority of farmers while asset rich are also cash poor.

Their farm holdings may be worth millions if they were ever to be auctioned off, but farmers strive to make a living off those holdings in their lifetimes and pass the baton on to their heirs, the land in effect a platform to produce food and provide an income for those working on the farms, as well as supporting all the agricultural support businesses dependent on it.

It must be remembered that farm businesses support rural communities whether that is the local shops, machinery dealers, agricultural merchants and yes, even the supermarkets. Without farmers, they too will suffer.

The Government also advocates that farmers will only get paid subsidies in the future for farming for public goods, thereby rewarding farmers to deliver environmental outcomes.

They can only do this if their hands are not tied behind their backs.