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Approximately 700 loans were issued by Bank of Ireland under their Fodder Support Fund between September and December last year.
The fund was set up specifically to help farmers cope with finance issues relating to tough weather conditions in 2018.
“Borrowers can spread the cost of exceptional feed, fertiliser and other 2018 weather related costs over repayment terms up to three years,” Banks of Ireland said.
The news comes on the foot of confirmation of higher than average feed bills at the end of 2018.
Feed merchants and co-ops have confirmed that the amount of farm credit they are carry is up to 30% higher than 2017.
Future Growth Loan Scheme
The bank also confirmed that they were expecting to participate in the Future Growth Loan Scheme, which will provide low-cost loans to farmers.
In an exclusive interview, Minister for Business Heather Humphreys confirmed that she expected that the loan scheme would become available to farmers in March this year.
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed had previously said that he expected the loan scheme would be available in the back-end of 2018, and the delay in unrolling the scheme has been criticised by a number of industry bodies and parties.
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