December 10, 2020 11:23 am
Beef farmers accounted for 69% of Credit Union Cultivate farm loan applications in 2020, according to new analysis.
Cultivate, the Credit Union farm loan initiative, has reviewed loan application data comparing the seven months from March 1 to September 30, 2020, with the same period in 2019.
With the disruption and uncertainty of Covid-19, loans remained “broadly stable”.
Dairy farmers have more debt in comparison to beef farmers, with the most common debt level for beef farmers at
€50,000, while dairy farmers are managing over double that, at
€123,000.
Beef farmers accounted for 69% of Cultivate loan applications in the period (as shown in the table below), an increase of 2% versus the same period last year, while dairy farmers applied for 18% of the loans, down 4% year-on-year.