Farm Investment Loan

Recover from severe business impact and prepare for future financial disruptions.

Purpose

Strengthen your farm business. Take steps to access markets interstate or outside Australia.
Prepare for, manage through or recover from severe business disruptions.

Use this loan to:

Fund risk management

Prepare for natural disasters, biosecurity risks, market closures or other disruptions such as diversifying markets or farm production.
Enhance productivity

Invest in new infrastructure, machinery or productivity enhancements to support growth.
Refinance debt

Refinance existing debt at our low interest rate to improve cash flow.
Pay for expenses

Pay for operating and/or capital expenses to build your business.

Loan terms

$2m

Maximum amount

4.52%

Variable rate*

10

Year term

5

Years interest only

No fee

Extra repayments

No fee

Application

$0

Early settlement

Redraw

Not available

Percentage of total debt

At least 50% of your total debt must stay with a commercial lender.

Frequency of repayments

Tailored to the cash flow of the farm business.

Repayment structure

First 5 years interest only, then principal and interest for remainder of the 10 year term.

After 10 years, you can refinance any remaining balance with a commercial lender.

Full terms and conditions are available in the loan guidelines.

*Interest rate valid from August 2023 to January 2024.

Eligibility

You

are an Australian citizen or permanent resident
contribute or plan to contribute at least 75% of your labour to the farm business(under normal circumstances)
earn or plan to earn at least 50% of your income from the farm business (under normal circumstances)
own or lease land and use it for farming purposes (includes agistment)

Your business

solely or mainly sell products into supply chains that are interstate or outside Australia, or plan to in the future
is in financial need of a loan
has the capacity to repay the loan
is financially viable in the long term
has existing commercial debt
is an eligible industry such as agriculture, horticulture, pastoral, beekeeping (apiculture), or aquaculture industry
undertakes all primary production aspects of the business wholly within Australia
is registered for tax purposes in Australia with an ABN and is registered for GST
operates as a sole trader, trust, partnership or private company
is not under external administration or bankruptcy

You must

provide security for the loan
secure the support of your commercial lender for the proposed loan
repay the loan

You cannot use this loan for

purchase of private and domestic assets
payment of private and domestic expenses
purchase of and/or investment in non-farm assets and payment of non-farm expenses
paying out dividends
reimbursement for depreciation of assets tax or other statutory payments
your own labour costs
anything that you have already received government funding for (except to refinance debt from previous concessional loans)
any other non-eligible use listed in the loan guidelines

Experienced a severe business impact?

To be eligible for a Farm Investment Loan you must demonstrate that your farm business is in financial need of a loan.

RIC will consider four key factors, while taking into account the individual circumstances of each farm business:

Cause of impact outside the control of the farm business.
Significant impacts could include natural disasters, forced destocking, disease outbreaks, pest or weed incursions.
Significant financial impact.
Duration of the impact.
You must demonstrate the impact has been (or will be over) a 2 year period.
Cumulative impacts.

For more information see section 4.2 of the Farm Investment Loan Guidelines.

Before you apply

You need to check

you can meet the loan eligibility criteria
you understand the terms of the loan
you have read the detail in the loan guidelines
you have informed your commercial lender you plan to apply for a RIC loan

You need to have

Australian Business Number (ABN)
financial history
identity documents
proof of your eligibility
your business cash flow budget

Ask us a question

We are here to help.

Contact us if you have any questions.

Apply

There are two ways to apply for a Farm Investment Loan.

We encourage you to apply online.

You may need to contact your trusted financial advisor to help you complete your application.

Follow the Farm Investment Loan Document Checklist to ensure you submit a complete application.
The online form has mandatory fields and documents. You must supply this information to progress to the next stage of the form.
You must submit all required information so we can start assessing your application and provide an outcome as quickly as possible.
Once you begin you will have 30 days to submit your online loan application. You will receive a reminder at 10, 20 and 30 days.

Apply now Resume application

Follow the Farm Investment Loan Document Checklist on page 1 of the PDF application form.
We can’t start assessing your application until we get all the information we ask for, including attachments.
Submit your application to info@ric.gov.au or send to:

Regional Investment Corporation, PO Box 653, Orange, NSW, 2800.

Farm Investment Loan application form

Complete this form on your computer or print and fill it in by hand.

Right click on the link above and select 'save target as' or 'save link as' to download the form.
Open the form using Acrobat Reader. Download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
Save the application form regularly as you are filling it in.
The form will not work when opened in a web browser or other software, e.g. Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, Preview.

Resources

Guidelines

We will assess your application against the criteria in the loan.

Read the detail on who can apply for a loan and what happens after you apply.

Farm Investment Loan Guidelines [1.25 MB]

Application form

Complete this form on your computer or print and fill it in by hand.

Right click on the link and select 'save target as' or 'save link as' to download the form.
Open the form using Acrobat Reader. Download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
Save the application form regularly as you are filling it in.
The form will not work when opened in a web browser or other software, e.g. Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, Preview.

Farm Investment Loan Application Form

Cash flow budget

You must include your business cash flow budget with your application.

We will use this to help assess your financial position, and your ability to repay the loan.

If you do not have your own budget spreadsheet, you can use our template.

Note: This template may not meet government accessibility requirements. Contact us for help.

Cash flow budget template

Statutory declaration

You may need to make a statutory declaration to support your application.

Commonwealth statutory declaration

Guarantor asset and liability statement

You may be required to provide a guarantor's asset and liability statement with your application.

Guarantor asset and liability statement

Guidelines

We will assess your application against the criteria in the loan.

Read the detail on who can apply for a loan and what happens after you apply.

Farm Investment Loan Guidelines [1.25 MB]

Application form

Complete this form on your computer or print and fill it in by hand.

Right click on the link and select 'save target as' or 'save link as' to download the form.
Open the form using Acrobat Reader. Download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
Save the application form regularly as you are filling it in.
The form will not work when opened in a web browser or other software, e.g. Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, Preview.

Farm Investment Loan Application Form