Business funding for farming and agriculture

Few businesses wait as long for their income as farms do. Seed, fertiliser, chemicals, fuel and labour go in months before a crop is harvested or stock is sold, and the size of the payday depends on weather and markets nobody controls.

How cash moves through farmers

Cropping farms spend heavily at sowing and through the growing season, then receive most of their income after harvest. Livestock operations have different cycles, but the pattern is similar: long stretches of spending, then concentrated income. Machinery purchases, repairs and fuel are significant and often unpredictable. Drought, flood and frost can change a season overnight.

Where farmers get squeezed

• Sowing inputs and fuel paid months before harvest.
• Machinery breakdowns in the middle of a critical window.
• Upgrading tractors, headers or irrigation.
• Recovery after drought, flood or fire.
• Price swings in grain, livestock and inputs.

Quick sense check? Tell us the amount and the purpose. A person will call with an honest read, and your credit file stays exactly as it is.

Which funding suits farmers?

Funding	Why it suits farmers
Equipment finance	Tractors, harvesters, sprayers and irrigation
Line of credit	Seasonal inputs, repaid at harvest
Property-secured loan	Larger needs with interest paid up front or capitalised
Working capital loan	A one-off input or repair need

What an assessor will want to see

• Income history across several seasons, not just the last one.
• Existing farm finance and machinery loans.
• Property ownership and title structure.
• Exposure to a single commodity.

Most unsecured lending in this sector falls between $5k and $500k. Owners with residential or commercial property can access $20k to $5m on a property-secured basis, with no valuation and flexible repayment structures.

Making your application easy to say yes to

A strong application from farmers tells a simple story with numbers that back it up: here is what the business earns, here is the gap, here is what the money will do and here is how it comes back. If anything in your history needs explaining, such as a default, a tax debt or a recent change of structure, put it in the enquiry rather than waiting for it to be found.

How it might look (illustrative)

A wheat and sheep farmer needs $180,000 for sowing inputs and a tractor rebuild before a season, with income expected after harvest late in the year. A second mortgage over the family’s town house, with interest capitalised until harvest, funds the inputs without monthly repayments. The tractor rebuild is covered by equipment finance spread over several seasons.

Fixes that cost nothing

Plan inputs and machinery spending against a realistic season, not a record one. Keep good records for lenders and insurers, and check government drought and disaster support when seasons go wrong.

The short version

• Inputs are paid months before harvest or sale income
• Machinery is a major, recurring investment
• Weather and prices make income uneven
• Property security can provide flexible, larger funding

How the process runs

One enquiry, one team, one clear answer. That is the whole approach. We read what you send, call you, ask for the documents that matter and lay out the options in plain English with the total cost attached. Your details are not shopped around, and your credit file is only checked if you choose to accept an offer. If the answer is no, you will hear it quickly and with a reason, so you can plan your next move.

When borrowing helps, and when it does not

Not every cash problem is a funding problem. Sometimes the better fix is a conversation with a supplier, a payment plan with the ATO, chasing an overdue invoice or adjusting prices. Funding earns its place when it solves a timing gap or unlocks an opportunity worth more than its cost. We will tell you honestly which situation you are in.

Before you send the enquiry

Have these within reach and the process moves quickly, because each one answers a question the assessor would otherwise have to come back and ask:

• ABN, business structure and how long you have traded.
• Recent business bank statements, ideally shared online.
• What the money is for and how it will be repaid.
• Any tax debt, default or arrears you should mention up front.
• Contact details for anyone else who would need to sign.

Help us match you first time

Every question on the form is there for a reason: it changes which funding fits. Describe the business as it stands today rather than the version you expect in six months. Mention any default, tax debt or recent decline in the notes. We look at those situations all the time, and knowing early lets us head straight for options that can actually work.

Your next step

Have a figure in mind? Put it in the enquiry. There is no credit check for asking, you will not be passed around a panel of lenders and you will speak to someone who has read your answers. Take a moment to get those answers right. Accurate details about revenue, time trading and credit mean we can match you properly first time, without the back and forth.