In the current farming climate, farmers and growers across the world are facing an onslaught of rising costs and regulations, which have been compounded by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict, and worker shortages and shipping and market disruptions brought on by the covid-19 pandemic, as well as the pressures of meeting government-led environmental targets. Many farming regions here have also been impacted by dry conditions or floods.
But what options are available to farmers and growers who may be looking for a boost as they navigate these challenging times?
Farmers Weekly contributor Cameron Bagrie recently highlighted the necessity for agricultural businesses to have access to credit, asking “where are the champions for the business sector or the farming community when it comes to access to credit?”
Here’s a list of popular finance providers’ lending options available to farmers looking to grow their business in these uncertain times.
Rabobank has a range of options to give farmers greater control over their finances, with their all-in-one loan, which offers a range of benefits such as timing interest payments to suit your peak income periods. Other options include equipment finance and tailored finance solutions made to help you with importing and exporting.
Heartland Bank’s loans are packaged to suit every farmer’s needs. Options include livestock finance, which offers 100% stock purchase finance available and no repayments until the stock is sold. The loan also works on a revolving system, meaning once repaid, you can use the facility to purchase more stock. Their sheep and beef direct loan caters to those in the market to buy or refinance a sheep or beef farm; a similar loan is also available for dairy, as well as a farm transition loan, which helps you borrow against the equity in your property to complete farm improvements and maximise value before you move on.
Westpac offers a range of finance options for agribusiness needs, including buying or developing a farm, buying livestock or investing in new equipment and covering cash shortfalls. Longer-term finance also comes with fixed, fixed-forward or floating interest rates.
ANZ‘s portfolio also offers a variety of options based on your business’ needs, including tailor-made options such as their specialised agri finance loan, for when you have financing needs that calls for a more bespoke solution. Or their agri flexible facility, which aims to close the funding gaps between long-term borrowing and day-to-day cash flow. While their environment loan offers finance solutions that may help you achieve your sustainability goals.
BNZ’s agribusiness and rural specialists are available to help farmers meet their business needs through customised average rate loans, asset finance and overdrafts. Their sustainability-linked loans are also the first incentive-based loans available for New Zealand farmers and growers.
ASB offers a variety of financial tools to support cashflow, whether you’re new to the industry or experienced. This can be achieved through rural term loans or asset finance. They also offer rural sustainability loans to farmers and growers to help meet environmental goals.
Other finance options include Farmlands, which has a range of finance packages to meet business demands, with their farm flexi and farm fixed plans. The Ministry for Primary Industries also has a variety of funding packages to encourage innovation and support agriculture and horticulture producers and their communities.
