Catherine Bennett (Hucker)

4th generation Somerset farmer's daughter and wife. 🐄🐑🐖(Retired) runner and cyclist. Gin drinker. 00s pop lover. Veterinary practice receptionist. 🐶

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@DaleVince What should I do?! I live in a farmhouse with no mains gas and no central heating. We burn wood on the solid fuel rayburn for cooking, hot water and two radiators and have a woodburner in the lounge.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@KieraDiss My husband has waited 8 weeks for his Ask My GP online request to be triaged and dealt with. The only reason he has a GP phone next week (not face to face) is because he chased this morning. Disgusting.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@mustibeau Despite receiving a reminder letter in the post I can’t get a smear as the diary isn’t open and this month is covid vaccinations. Preventative healthcare has gone to pot!

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@clairebubblepop As the saying goes you can’t educate pork! The £3m threshold has a very specific set of criteria which most farming families will not meet. The government would know this if they actually spoke to family farmers. I’m sick of people thinking they know my farm better than I do.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@clairebubblepop Farmers work for less than minimum wage and are poor and struggling 🤦🏼‍♀️
In 2023-2024 a grazing livestock farm like mine had an income of 17,300. You’re welcome to check our bank account statements or speak to our accountant…

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@nadacat217 @WiganAndrew Or £4.95 to grow a whole chicken. The reason we worry about IHT is because of the ridiculously low food prices we receive and the expectation to pay tens and hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax. Consumers want low prices and APR is the trade off.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@nadacat217 @WiganAndrew The farming community donated 6.6 tonnes of fresh food which equates to 15,000 meals for Londoners facing poverty. We are also well versed at selling our produce below the cost of production… you really think it costs 85p to produce 1 pint of milk or 19p to grow Christmas veg.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@JonnyH19852 @cat_frampton They also don’t get paid like everyone else do they. In 2023/24 the average income for a grazing livestock farm like mine was £17,300. Below minimum wage. None of the professions you mention would work for that but farmers have done for decades. That was the trade off for APR.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@GildedLily13 @sharrond62 @carryonkeith In 2023-2024 an average grazing livestock farm like mine made an income about £17,300 down from £25,400 in 2022-2023. The average return on capital for farms is only about 0.5%. It would be impossible to pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds in IHT over 10 years.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@SteveReedMP Can you define ‘small family farm’ please. 70 acres and farmhouse valued over £1m. You are not protecting me.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@DeeWardRottal @RachelReevesMP I end up owing the wool marketing board money. 😂 A rare breed that needs shearing twice a year. £3 each plus set up. They cost me money, not make me any. 😂

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@EdgecombeV @bencm305 We swapped houses with my mil last year and moved to the farmhouse. Physically it was the right time but financially not so much. She’s now poorer living off a state pension when for years she’s had the farm income. The farm simply cannot sustain two households. Tough decisions.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@NoFarmsNoFoods @JeremyClarkson This is exactly the situation my husband and I are in. 70 acres (£10k/acre) and a farmhouse will tip us over the £1m threshold. We are a small family farm but will be affected by this.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@edbarkerAIC @bobbingalong101 This is exactly the situation my husband and I are in. 70 acres (£10k/acre) and a farmhouse (modest 3 bedroom/1 bathroom) will tip us over the £1m threshold. We are a small family farm but will be affected by this.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@mattalderton3 @Rosewood_Farm @Right_2Roam We’re struggling with this too. PRoW criss cross our farm so it’s impossible to not graze these fields with cows and calves. Even when we do some members of the public end up on private land with them. Not only that but juggling acreage for silage, hay and grazing.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@Rosewood_Farm @Right_2Roam We’re in exactly this position. After our dog was attacked by a dog (on a lead) but not on the footpath I emailed the council to discuss signage. He’s on annual leave for 2 weeks. 🙄PRoW criss cross our farm so impossible to fence despite wanting to.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@1GarethWynJones @1GarethWynJones We had two cows shot three weeks ago yesterday. One heavily pregnant and due at the end of April. I couldn’t be there with her at the end to see her life and her calf’s as I am half way through my second pregnancy and it was too heartbreaking.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@NorthSomersetC @NSomLibraries The cost of council tax has increased £10 a month and green waste collection by £10 a year. Not sure how £309k on a library can be justified.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@MartinSLewis @itvMLshow Bereavement Support was a lifeline to my mum in the months after my dad died 5 years ago.

[Catherine Bennett (Hucker) @CatBennett19]

@FarmersWeekly 🐮