Question 1

Can payments be timed around harvest?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Arable agreements are commonly profiled so the bulk of the payment falls after harvest, with light or nil payments through the spring when money is going out rather than coming in.

Annual, biannual and stepped profiles are all available on the right asset. The total payable is fixed at the outset, so the profile changes the timing rather than the cost.

Question 2

How long a term can I get on a combine or a used tractor?

Accepted Answer

New combines and high-horsepower tractors are usually funded over three to seven years, matched to how long you intend to keep the machine before the next change. On used kit, funders look at the machine's age at the end of the agreement rather than the start — most work to roughly ten to twelve years old at the finish, which shortens the term available on an older tractor.

Question 3

Can grain storage and drying plant be funded?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Grain stores, driers, conveying and handling plant, weighbridges and ventilation are all fundable, usually over longer terms than mobile machinery because they stay put and hold their use. Where the works involve a building as well as the plant, we often split the proposal so the fixed structure and the equipment each sit under the structure that suits them.

Question 4

Does BPS and subsidy change affect what I can borrow?

Accepted Answer

Funders are alive to the delinking and phase-out of direct payments and look more closely at trading income than they did five years ago. It rarely stops a deal. It does mean cropping, contracting income and any diversification are worth setting out clearly, and we present them as part of the proposal rather than waiting to be asked.

Question 5

I have never used a finance broker before. Is it more hassle?

Accepted Answer

Less, in our experience. You complete one application and one conversation with us. We then approach the funders on your behalf, rather than you filling in separate forms for your bank, the dealer's finance arm and anyone else you might have approached. We handle the paperwork, the funder's questions and the chase-up, and we come back to you with the options set out plainly. You keep the decision; we do the legwork. It also protects your credit file. Rather than several lenders searching you in a short space of time, we place the proposal with the funders most likely to say yes to that particular asset and business.

Question 6

What types of assets can be funded?

Accepted Answer

Broadly, anything identifiable, durable and used for business purposes. In practice that means: tractors; combines and harvesters; balers, mowers and forage equipment; telehandlers and loaders; ATVs, side-by-sides and utility vehicles; grain handling, storage and drying plant; livestock housing, feeding and handling equipment; milking parlours and robotic milking systems; irrigation and water management; groundscare machinery including greens mowers, fairway units, sprayers and top dressers; construction plant such as excavators, dumpers and rollers; commercial vehicles, vans and trailers; solar arrays, battery storage and other renewables; and IT, software and telematics. If an asset is unusual we will say so early. Specialist or bespoke equipment can usually be funded, though the funder panel narrows and the structure may differ.

Agriculture Arable finance

Finance for every category of agriculture arable equipment

Agriculture Arable equipment we fund every week

Categories we regularly fund

Agriculture Arable finance: common questions

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