Farm Equipment Finance for Australian Farms

Seasonal repayment structures (skip-month, harvest-end lump, quarterly-to-match-receival) are standard for broadacre and hay and lucerne growers. Specialist lenders understand seasonal farm income and can structure repayments around harvest and receival timing.

You own the equipment from the day finance settles, while your lender holds a mortgage over it as security until the loan is repaid. It's a common structure for GST-registered farming businesses, since you can typically claim the GST back on the purchase price straight away and depreciation runs through your own business. Best for GST-registered growers wanting full ownership from day one, with terms from 1 to 7 years. Confirm your own tax position with your accountant.

With hire purchase, the lender owns the equipment for the life of the agreement and you make fixed repayments to use it, with ownership transferring to you once the final payment clears. It suits growers who want the certainty of a fixed repayment structure. Terms are flexible. Confirm your own tax position with your accountant.

Under a finance lease, your lender retains legal title to the equipment for the term of the lease while you use it on the farm, making regular lease payments that are typically fully tax deductible. At the end of the term you can make an offer to buy the equipment, refinance the residual, or hand it back. Best for growers preferring a lease structure, with flexible terms. Confirm your own tax position with your accountant.

An operating lease means you pay to use the equipment for an agreed term, and your lender carries the risk of its residual value, not you. It suits operations that like to keep their equipment current, since bundled servicing is often included and you simply hand it back and roll into newer equipment when the term ends. Terms typically run 3 to 5 years.

With an unsecured business loan, funds are assessed against your business's trading position rather than security over the equipment itself, so you can move quickly on a private sale or older machine a traditional lender might decline. Best for fast settlement or older machinery, with a shorter, flexible term.

Low-doc farm equipment finance is asset finance assessed on a reduced document set, typically BAS, bank statements and the grower contract, rather than full financials and tax returns. Best suited to established growers with an active ABN.

Tax treatment depends on the structure you choose and current ATO rules. The small business instant asset write-off threshold and eligibility rules are set by the ATO and change over time, so check the current rules for your business. Larger farm equipment purchases generally fall under standard depreciation. Confirm your own tax position with your accountant.

Pre-approval typically comes back inside a business day. Settlement happens once you have signed contracts and any final lender conditions are met. Ag-specialist lenders read your grower contracts and harvest income directly, so they can often move faster than major banks on farm equipment deals.

Used farm equipment, including ex-fleet, dealer demo and private sale, is all financeable. Major banks have age cut-offs; specialist lenders look at machine condition, hours and service history. If you are still looking for the machine itself, our partner Midstate Machinery Brokers list used farm machinery for sale out of Forbes, NSW, and you can enquire on a machine and its finance in one step.

Multi-machine deals, such as a tractor, header and sprayer for a full broadacre setup, or a tractor and multiple hay implements for a hay contractor, are common. The lender panel includes options that fund packages under a master facility against the grower contract portfolio.

Refinance is common when an existing deal was settled at high rates, has an unfavourable structure, or is consolidating multiple machines into one master facility.

The best structure depends on whether you want to own the tractor from day one, which points to a chattel mortgage, or keep repayments lower with flexible end-of-term options, which points to a finance lease or operating lease. Equifund matches you to a specialist lender from a wide panel based on your ABN history and the machine you are financing.