Farmers get eco bank support to hit ‘net zero’

A leading farming lender is teaming up with the Soil Association to pilot a new service to help British farmers accelerate its transition to ‘net zero’ farming.

The service, to be called Soil Association Exchange, will identify financial and environmental advantages for farmers’ land and will offer a 1% discount on lending up to £50,000 on initiatives that will make farms more sustainable.

Lloyds Bank will fund the service for up to 1000 of its largest agriculture customers. To help deliver this, the bank has increased its agricultural team from 57 to 65 people.

The bank state that, together with AMC and Bank of Scotland, they have provided around £1.6bn in financial support for the agriculture sector over the last two years through loans, credit facilities and other financing.

Lee Reeves, UK head of agriculture at Lloyds Bank, said: “We want to help farms tackle the root causes, accelerating their steps to meet Net Zero ambitions and to become more economically and environmentally sustainable in the medium and long term.

“We’re proud to continue our support for the sector. The introduction of the Exchange, a new, practical sustainability service, will help farmers unlock the benefits that becoming more environmentally sustainable can bring.”

Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers Union, said: “Farmers are crying out for specialist expertise to baseline and prioritise their progress to net zero. I hope the Exchange service and the specialist finance for green initiatives will go a long way to help businesses unlock how being more sustainable can bring multiple benefits, and I’m excited to see how this develops.”

Roger Ashby, of Ashby Farms, said: “After my meeting with the Soil Association representatives, I now have a clearer understanding of carbon capture and the role it plays in climate change. The Soil Association has done a comprehensive study across the farm to ascertain carbon levels. From this, we will be able to see not only what we need to do, but also what potential there is for new income sources.”

FARMERS TO get help from Lloyds bank to be sustainable