Oxbury launches low-interest facility for transition on-farm

Oxbury Bank has launched a funding facility which incentivises farm businesses to switch to more sustainable farming practices.

The specialist agricultural bank is offering an interest rate 1 percentage point above the base rate with annual facility fees starting at 0.5%.

It is available to both tenants and landowners within the farming sector with flexible repayment terms, depending on business cashflow needs.

See also: Cost a major barrier to cutting farm GHG emissions

Lending of between £25,000 and £500,000 will be available for eligible businesses, with offers of up to £500/ha.

Oxbury will partner with Downforce Technologies to measure carbon footprints at the start of the lending process and then track emissions reductions on-farm.

The facility was unveiled by Oxbury co-founder and managing director Nick Evans at the Leaf conference on Thursday 6 February.

He said the whole industry, including government, banks and the supply chain, needed to work together for farmers to remain profitable while also reducing emissions and improving soil health.

Mr Evans told Farmers Weekly the facility would incentivise and reward farmers for transitioning.

“The facility we are going to be offering is an ultra-competitive six-year facility to allow transition, with rates that start at 1% over base.

“We are not about telling farmers what to do – every farmer is going to do something different on their farm to enable transition. We are not about mandating how they spend the facility, that’s up to them.”