You can apply for this loan if you solely or mainly sell products into supply chains that are interstate or outside Australia, or plan to in the future.
You
- are an Australian citizen or permanent resident
- contribute at least 75% of your labour to the farm business (under normal circumstances)
- 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
- 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 in the agriculture, horticulture, pastoral, 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
RIC loans must support primary production
The production of primary produce includes grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products, milk, sugar cane, wine grapes, natural fibres and edible fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants.
From 1 July 2022 RIC’s definition of farm business will be updated to broaden eligibility. Loans will be available to horse breeders, turf farmers, tea tree, lavender, nursery and floriculture growers (where they weren’t already eligible supplying for primary production such as shelter belts), and other activities on a case-by-case basis.
Read about the upcoming changes to eligible industries here.
Click here for information about specific industries and their eligibility
Purpose
Strengthen your farm business. Take steps to access markets interstate or outside Australia. Prepare for, manage through or recover from drought.
Use this loan to
- refinance your debt
- enhance your productivity
- pay for operating expenses or capital
- fund drought-related activities
You cannot use this loan for
- non-farm assets and expenses
- paying out dividends or equity to owners
- 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 a previous concessional loan)
- any other non-eligible use listed in the loan guidelines
Quick facts
| Amount | Up to $2 million | Term | 10 years |
| Early settlement | No fee | Interest rate | 2.31% variable rate |
| Apply | Anytime | Application fee | No fee |
| Extra repayments | No fee | Redraw | Not available |
More terms
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.
Before you apply
You may need to contact your trusted financial advisor or a Rural Financial Counsellor to help you fill out your application.
Find a Rural Financial Counsellor near you
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 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
- Call us on 1800 875 675
- Email us through our online contact form
Apply
There are 2 ways to apply for a Farm Investment Loan:
- Using our online application form
- Using our PDF application form
Using our online form
- Before you start, talk to your commercial lender. Let them know you plan to apply for a RIC loan.
Please note:
- Follow the Farm Investment Loan Document Checklist to ensure you submit a complete application. Financial information for FY2022 will be considered in scope until 31/12/2022.
- 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 assessment of your application and provide an outcome as quickly as possible.
- Once you begin your online loan application you will have 30 days to submit it. You will receive a reminder at 10, 20 and 30 days.
- If you have any questions we encourage you to talk to our loan assessment team. You can call them on 1800 875 675.
Click here to apply for a Farm Investment Loan online
We encourage you to submit your loan application online.
Using our PDF application form
- Check the information you will need to provide. Please note financial information for FY2022 will be considered in scope until 31/12/2022.
- Talk to your commercial lender. Let them know you plan to apply for a RIC loan.
- If you have any questions we encourage you to talk to our loan assessment team. You can call them on 1800 875 675.
Farm Investment Loan application form
If using the PDF application form, submit your application to us at loans@service.RIC.gov.au or send to:
Regional Investment Corporation, PO Box 796, Bendigo, VIC 3552.
You can complete this form on a computer (Fillable PDF) or you can print it and fill it in by hand. You are not able to save the form when opened in a browser.
To use the Fillable PDF application form you must download it to your desktop first. Right click on the link above and select 'save target as' or 'save link as' and download the form to your desktop.
Open the form on your desktop using Acrobat Reader. Make sure you save the application form regularly as you are filling it in. The fillable PDF form will not function correctly when it is opened in a web browser or other software, for example Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Preview.
You can download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
Help and support
Help
We will assess your application against the criteria in the loan guidelines.
We may need to contact you by phone or email to discuss your application. We will write to you to confirm the outcome of your application.
Learn more about the RIC loan process.
Support
The Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) can help with your application.
Find a Rural Financial Counsellor near you
Visit our help page for a list of support services.
Variation Request
Request a variation to your loan agreement by submitting updated information.
A Variation Request is needed where circumstances trigger a change in the underlying security for your loan e.g. sale or purchase of land, change of loan amounts with your primary lender.
Decision Review Request
If you disagree with our decision on your loan application, you can request a review of that decision.
You must submit the Decision Review Request in writing to us within 30 business days of receipt of the decision notification.
Resources
Application form
Complete the application form and send it with supporting documents to loans@service.RIC.gov.au.
Download: Right click on the form and save on your local device as an Adobe Acrobat Document before you begin filling out the 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.
Download:
This template may not meet government accessibility requirements. Contact us for help.