Dairy Recovery Concessional Loans

What we do

Rural Financial Counselling Services are:

Free, independent and confidential
Staffed by qualified and experienced Rural Financial Counsellors (RFCs) who understand farming and business – our RFCs are required to have a Diploma of Financial Counselling as minimum qualification, and have years of experience in assisting farming businesses
For primary producers of livestock, milk, honey, fruit, crops, wool, meat, vegetables, eggs, fish, plants, trees and logs
For small businesses who mainly support primary production such as: fencing, shearing sheep, controlling weeds or agricultural pests, managing stock, planting crops etc.
Able to assist farm or small agribusinesses experiencing or at risk of financial hardship
Able to come to your place of business or you can come and see us.

Assistance when

Rural Financial Counselling Services can assist businesses affected by:

Drought/water issues
Low commodity prices
Natural disasters
Structural adjustment
Industry downturns
Low equity/tight cash flow
Difficulties with lenders or access to finance
Unpaid creditors/debtors
Market disruptions
Changes in personal circumstances
Farm accidents or illness
Share farming/succession agreements/ contracts.

How can we help you

Rural Financial Counselling Services can help you:

Understand your financial position and the viability of your enterprise
Identify options to improve your financial position
Develop a plan to implement your chosen options, and implement that plan
Provide information, referrals, and support to access, government or industry grants and programs
Assist you to deal (whether through meetings or otherwise) with lending institutions in relation to:
- Applications and contracts with those institutions; and
- Processes relating to farm debt mediation
Assist you to identify the need for advice from professional service providers, and provide support with preparation for meetings with professional service providers.

News

NE Regional Soil Health Conference

NECMA conference

North East Regional Soil Health Conference - 14 May 2021 at Beechworth is for ALL land managers, agriculture industry groups and soil health service providers in North East Victoria.
Read more ...

Farm Finance getting prepared 2021 Webinar

Farm Finance

The team at the Young Farmer Business Network have put together a series of sessions designed to build skills in financial planning and business resilience for your farm business.
Read more ...

Details: Published: 30 August 2016; Last Updated: 28 January 2017

blog dairy1

Dairy farmers in north east Victoria and the Goulburn Valley should not be put off investigating Dairy Recovery Concessional Loans despite recent media reports saying that Rural Financial Counsellors were advising farmers against doing so.

Co-ordinator for the Rural Financial Counselling Service Victoria North East, Chris Howard said in a media release on 21st August 2016 that Rural Financial Counsellors (counsellors) are helping dairy farmers apply for the loans every day and will continue to do so.

He said to date five application have been completed with counsellor support and submitted to Rural Finance and 27 are in progress and this number continues to grow. “We are really concerned what it might mean to farmers if they think Rural Financial Counsellors wouldn’t support them to work through the application for this loan scheme. We want to counter this to say they should definitely get in touch and we can help them with their application,” Mr Howard said.

“We find that as we support farmers through the application form we end up with a better understanding of their business and financial position which is fundamental to identifying options for their business and other support that may be available such as Farm Household Allowance,” he said.

Once farmers and their rural financial counsellor have gained a solid understanding of the business’ financial position, they can discuss and work through key areas such as business and succession planning, cashflow management, communication strategies with major creditors and/or Farm House Allowance application.

Mr Howard said the service’s team of counsellors see firsthand every day the impact last year’s milk price drop and this year’s milk price has on farmers and their families. “We know how tough the situations are that many farmers find themselves in and it’s our role to provide support, so we were shocked to see the article.”

Any dairy farmer seeking support can contact the Rural Financial Counselling Service on 1300 834 775 to make an appointment.

The service is free and confidential and can assist with developing action plans, assessing business viability, negotiation with financial institutions and lenders and business and succession planning.