FARMERS can secure unsecured farm loans of up to €75,000 under a new initiative launched by Macroom Credit Union.
The ‘Cultivate’ initiative is designed to empower farmers through competitive and flexible loans.
Cultivate was established in 2016 by a number of credit unions in Galway and is now available in 23 counties nationwide.
Of the country’s 135,000 farmers, some 60% have availed of it, with over €100m issued in Cultivate loans to date.
What’s on offer is an unsecured loan of up to €75,000, over a term of up to 10 years, with a rate of 6.55%, with no requirement to be an existing credit union member.
Average loans taken up are between €28,000 and €30,000.
The launch in the Castle Hotel Macroom was attended by agri stakeholders from throughout West Cork, including representatives of the IFA, ICSA and Teagasc.
Among the financial concerns facing the sector identified by attendees were volatile input and output prices, as well as a loss of income threatened by changes to the nitrates derogation.
However, the flexibility surrounding Cultivate loans was stressed should borrowers encounter difficulties. The swift securing of finance was listed as other major benefits, while there’s no penalty for clearing the loan early.
Former IFA president and non-executive chair of Cultivate Joe Healy attended the launch and pointed to the fact that ‘very often the more things change, the more things stay the same’.
‘When I was Macra president back in the ‘90s, one of the big things that came up was access to finance, and 25 years later as IFA president, it was still the big thing,’ he said.
But the objective of Cultivate is to provide a standardised financial product for farmers, he said.
Cultivate, he said, had recently launched another package offering secure loans up to €300,000 aimed at land purchase, which in time could hopefully be something for Macroom Credit to also look at.
