Farmers attending this year's Agfest Field Days in Carrick, Tasmania, are encouraged to connect with the Australian Government specialist lender, RIC (Regional Investment Corporation) to explore how low-interest loans can support eligible farm businesses facing tough financial times from drought, natural disasters, biosecurity risk or as a first time farmer and succession planning.
RIC Chief Executive Officer, John Howard, said with many producers facing challenging conditions, it's an important time to have practical conversations about financial support and consider your options as early as possible.
"From prolonged dry conditions to bushfire and biosecurity events, many farm businesses are under pressure, and having the right financial tools in place can make a real difference," Mr Howard said.
"Our RIC Agri Lending team will be on the ground ready to talk with producers about their individual circumstances and help them learn more about eligibility criteria for RIC loans so they can understand if a RIC loan is right for them to be able to apply with confidence. Afterall, RIC loans are designed to help ease cash flow pressures in tough times and support forward planning. It's well worth stopping by for a conversation."
RIC customers and Tasmanian dairy farmers, Chris and Suzanne Cowley have been farming at Circular Head in Tasmania's northwest since 1997 and at their property at Mengha since 2004.
Dry conditions in northern Tasmania in 2017-19 reduced pasture growth and raised the cost of grain by 25 per cent. Poor milk prices added extra challenges and the Cowleys realised they needed additional water security to grow pasture to sustain their dairy herd.
Thanks to RIC's concessional interest rate and interest-only repayments in the first five years of the 10-year loan term, they were able to increase cash flow and invest in a new bore and pivots to increase their irrigation capacity from 58 hectares to 90 hectares.
"The RIC loan gave us the breathing space to turn the dial to a more positive cash flow, we could pay the bills every month, I mean I hadn't been able to do that prior to getting the RIC loan, it was always a battle," Mrs Cowley said.
Her top tip when applying for a RIC loan application was having financial information on hand and simply, to simply "do it".
"Have a go, to futureproof your business and look at opportunities for big projects that make your business sustainable," she said.
