Rural Insurance has teamed up with specialist agricultural business lender, UK Agricultural Finance (UKAF), to provide farmers and landowners with access to flexible and secured finance solutions.

In what is believed to be the first alliance between an insurance firm and lender in the farming sector, UKAF will be Rural Insurance’s financier of choice, offering its 18,000 farming clients a perfect opportunity to discuss investment plans and access the necessary funds.

“We know there is an appetite for growth as we see more and more agricultural insurance risks expanding and diversifying into new areas,” says David Cahoon, managing director of Rural Insurance. “No matter how large or small, farmers and landowners are actively seeking new ways to develop their businesses. We recognise that it’s essential for farmers to secure finance in order to maximise on these opportunities, which is why we’re delighted to be working with UK Agricultural Finance.”

Agricultural finance requires specialist knowledge and a lender able to offer traditional face-to-face underwriting. Both Rural Insurance and UKAF understand rural property and rural businesses, the challenges they face, and how to find solutions to business lending where a ‘one size fits all’ approach doesn’t work.

“UK Agricultural Finance provides much-needed business finance to rural communities across the country and is able to provide secured loans for many different opportunities,” says Robert Suss, co-CEO of UK Agricultural Finance. “This could be helping farmers to diversify, acquire more land, build renewable energy projects, restructure or buy more livestock. In addition, we can help families with generational transfer and provide tenant farmers with capital to purchase their farm.”

UKAF’s loans run from three months to seven years, secured against agricultural land and property. This means farmers can obtain capital to grow and innovate their businesses, to ensure they remain competitive and profitable in an ever-changing agricultural sector, says Mr Suss.

“We are excited to be working with Rural Insurance and look forward to helping provide farmers with the funding they need to diversify, sustain, grow and improve their businesses.”