Australian Government farm business lender, RIC (Regional Investment Corporation) will host a free online webinar on Wednesday 29 May at 12 noon AEST to help farm businesses learn more about the AgriStarter Loan, which is helping eligible farmers nationally to start up, set up and grow or support with succession arrangements.
RIC Chief Executive Officer, John Howard, said the RIC-hosted webinar series provides an opportunity for farmers, financial advisers, business planners and rural counsellors to get more information about eligibility criteria, loan uses and the requirements before applying.
“The RIC AgriStarter Loan is part of our national low-interest loan offering that is helping to directly support individual farm businesses financially and strengthen the Australian agricultural industry,” Mr Howard said.
“Our loans offer financial ‘breathing space’ for eligible farmers with a minimum of three years’ on-farm experience to help purchase property, land or the business, refinance or restructure existing agribusiness debt to improve cash flow or implement succession plans to fast-track their business growth and productivity.
“More than 125 people from across the country have already registered to find out more from our specialist Agri Lending Manager and one of our AgriStarter Loan customers will share their experiences to assist others.”
Central West NSW farmer, Lachlan Patterson, is pleased to be available to help other farmers learn more about RIC loans. Lachlan will share how a RIC AgriStarter Loan has helped make the succession journey easier for him and his wife, Jacqueline.
The AgriStarter Loan helped the young farmers to invest in their own sheep and cattle farm in preparation for taking on his parents’ White Suffolk and Poll Dorset stud near Canowindra in Central West NSW.
With RIC’s affordable interest rates, set for six-month periods, along with the 10-year term, they were able to free up cash flow to invest in building up their animal production capacity and make infrastructure improvements to promote sustainability, and to carry on their family’s long running history in agriculture.
“I wanted to continue breeding good sheep and improving genetic gain,” Lachlan said.
“The RIC loan helped make that more affordable and achievable. We know that we’ve got a longer-term loan period that we can actually plan for in our budgets.
“I think the RIC loan is great for younger farmers, especially ones that need to invest in infrastructure works.”
The AgriStarter Loan is available to all eligible applicants across Australia and offers up to $2 million in borrowings, with affordable interest rates, no application or ongoing account keeping fees and ability to repay early before the end of the 10-year loan term.
To register for the free online webinar to find out more about the AgriStarter Loan, visit www.ric.gov.au/events. The webinar will be held on Wednesday 29 May 2024 from 12:00 – 1:00pm AEST and a recording will be emailed to registered participants after the event.
For more on RIC AgriStarter Loan, visit www.ric.gov.au/agristarter or call RIC on 1800 875 675.
Read the full Patterson customer story on our website.
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Media Contact: E media@ric.gov.au | M 0435 168 885
About RIC
RIC (Regional Investment Corporation) is an Australian Government farm business lender providing low-interest loans for farmers and farm-related small businesses in financial need to strengthen Australian agriculture. RIC loans can be used for management, recovery and future proofing following severe business disruption due to drought, natural disasters, biosecurity issues or other significant market events. RIC loans can help establish farm businesses for first generation farmers or succession planning for next generation farmers. RIC’s vision is to build thriving regional communities. Since 1 July 2018, RIC has settled 3,081 loans valued at more than $3.31 billion as at 30 April 2024.