Banks offer special loans for agricultural development
Meanwhile, the Bank of Ireland held an agricultural seminar recently in Macroom at which their business and agricultural manager, Sean Farrell outlined their facilities for farmers. He said BoI has a special fund of €200m, which can be increased if required, for the development and expansion of farming and that they were very optimistic about the future of agriculture.
He said there will be challenges ahead, particularly price volatility. The key criteria for borrowing is capacity to repay. Allowance must also be made for unexpected costs.
Farmers making loan applications must submit a proper farm plan together with records indicating technical ability and performance — such as can be got from their profit monitor, or other records. Bank of Ireland say that they are presently approving 85% to 90% of loan applications.
Before borrowing for expansion, farmers should make sure that they are getting the best performance from what they have. As it stands, the top 25% of performers in every farm enterprise are several times more profitable than the lower 25%. Teagasc surveys indicate that the output from grass could be increased by 25% to 50% on most farms. The advice is to maximise income from existing stock, land and facilities, before expanding.
