Bank Of Ireland Sees Rise in Agri Assist Loan Fund Applications as Price Volatility Impacts Farmers
- Competitive loan interest rates available from as low as 4.89%
- Bank of Ireland accounts for 55% of all new lending to farmers
- 80% of all BoI Agri-loan applications now made online
Bank of Ireland has recorded a significant rise in applications to its Agri Assist Loan Fund since the beginning of this year. Farmers nationwide continue to access the agri-sector support scheme to help deal with the spiralling costs of farm input materials and a notable decline in farm output prices – particularly on tillage and dairy farms.
Bank of Ireland was the first Irish bank to launch its own Agri Assist product in June 2022, offering competitive loan interest rates from as low as 4.89% (variable) for term lending up to €500,000. With 82,000 farming customers now on its books, and 80% of all Agri-loan applications made online, Bank of Ireland remains the country’s leading lender to the agriculture industry accounting for 55% of all new lending to farmers on an annual basis.
With Bank of Ireland’s support farmers can apply to the Agri Assist Loan Fund to;
- Finance the additional cost of growing grass, silage and tillage crops
- Provide funding to pay merchant or co-op bills for feed or fertilizer
- Enjoy an enhanced online lending journey making it easy to apply for a loan
- Avail of loans up to €100,000 under a discounted rate of 4.89%,
Bank of Ireland’s dedicated Agri support team will continue to work closely with farmers as the situation evolves. Bank of Ireland also offers access to the Dairyflex (4.76% variable interest rate) loan scheme, which is available to milk suppliers of participating co-ops for unsecured borrowings of up to €120,000. These unsecured loans are available for up to 7-year terms, while farmers can also avail of longer secured term loans for land purchases (up to 20 years) and large farm development loans of up to 15 years.
Eoin Lowry, Head of Agri Sector, Bank of Ireland said: “In an era of rising interest rates and volatility in input and output prices, we launched the Agri Assist Loan Fund to provide farmers with additional working capital and to help them access competitively-priced loans to weather the current storms being experienced throughout the agriculture industry. In 2022, inflation cost farmers €1.5bn extra to run their farms and since the beginning of 2023 we have witnessed an increase in the number of applicants to the loan scheme, with farmers facing ever-rising input costs and falling output prices particularly across dairy and tillage farms.
Bank of Ireland stands ready to assist and advise farmers throughout this process, and with our range of flexible loans starting from as low as 4.76% (variable) and user-friendly online lending platform, we can help farmers react to the ever-evolving market forces currently being experienced.”
To review Agri Assist Loan Fund details and to start an application please visit: Agri Assist Loan – Agri loan Bank of Ireland