Hectare launches instant grain payments system for farmers

Crop-trading platform Hectare has launched a new agricultural finance product that enables arable farmers to be paid within three days for up to 80% of a contract’s value.

The agri-tech firm, which is used by more than 150,000 businesses, has launched its Advance Pay product to improve cashflow for farmers supplying on contracts.

It is designed to reduce the burden of admin and paperwork and provide payments at a “fair market interest rate”.

See also: Crop-trading platform Graindex relaunches as Hectare Trading

The firm believes that Advance Pay could provide a solution to the heavy costs and administration that are associated with traditional grain supply chains.

It suggested that by making 50-80% of the cash available upfront, farm businesses should be able to make more informed trading decisions based off the grain market, rather than selling for cashflow purposes.

A final settlement payment is then made in line with the buyer’s standard repayment terms.

Vanessa Lenssen, chief product and growth officer at Hectare, said: “Hectare was created by farmers, for farmers. We wanted to solve the complex puzzle of last mile trade finance for our farming community.

“We faced sceptics, but we felt that just maybe we could do something special and today, we’re proud to break new ground and support our customers in building sustainable financial success for their farming businesses every day.”

Since being founded in 2015, initially as Graindex before rebranding as Hectare, the platform has facilitated sales of more than US$1bn (£800m) in commodities.