The UN has designated 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, and access to finance is one of the barriers it sets out to tackle.
For years, whenever Louise Rennie needed a tractor on her beef farm at the foot of the Slievereagh mountains in Co. Limerick, she borrowed her father’s.
She runs a herd of Angus cattle around a job off-farm and a house with three daughters, so making the best use of time is a priority for Louise. The constant back and forth for a tractor meant jobs waited until the tractor was free rather than until they needed doing.
Buying her own had been on her mind for a while. She contacted her local credit union, Mitchelstown Credit Union, and applied for a Cultivate loan.
“My local credit union officer guided me through it, really. It was just an application form that needed to be filled out. I dropped in some paperwork, and we had an answer really within the next day.”
The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Part of that is recognising and celebrating the valuable contribution of women in agriculture. Women have farmed in Ireland for generations but have not always received the recognition they deserved.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) names the barriers this initiative is trying to address, such as land tenure, finance, technology, training and access to services.
Cultivate is proud to support female farmers by helping ensure they have access to finance when planning and investing in the future of their farm.
For many farm investments, there can be a gap between when the money needs to be spent and when grant funding is received. Grant aid is generally paid only after approved and eligible works have been completed, and the relevant claim has been submitted.
A Cultivate loan can help bridge this gap by supporting the upfront cost of an approved investment, with the grant payment then used to reduce the outstanding balance once the farmer receives it.
The same principle can apply to other farm investments. Whether it is purchasing stock, a new tractor, reseeding or drainage work, having the right finance in place can help farmers manage cash flow while continuing to invest in their farm.
Cultivate provides unsecured loans of up to €100,000, which means no security is taken and no charge is placed on land or property. Terms run to ten years, and repayments can be set up around when income actually comes into the farm rather than in twelve equal instalments. That suits a finishing enterprise, where money comes in a few times a year rather than every month.
For larger capital projects, a number of participating credit unions offer secured lending of up to €300,000 over terms of up to 30 years, covering sheds, land purchase and funding inheritance tax on transfer.
The decision is made locally, which is why farmers often comment on how quickly it happens. Cultivate is on your doorstep, and that shows in how the loan works in practice.
For Louise, that kind of local support carries a longer-term hope too: that her three daughters grow up seeing farming as a path they could choose.
“Having access to the Cultivate loan has definitely given me more confidence in planning for the future and investing in my farm. As a woman in agriculture, it’s a huge confidence boost to know we can go to our local credit union, apply for a loan, and be supported, and that the flexibility is there to help us plan for the future we want.”
Cultivate is farmer-friendly finance through your local credit union. It has operated through credit unions since 2017 and is available through participating credit unions nationwide. The people you deal with know farming in your own area. You do not need to be an existing credit union member. Sign up at your local participating credit union, and you can apply straight away.
To find your nearest participating credit union, visit www.cultivate-CU.ie or FREEPHONE 1800 839 999.
Loans are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. If you do not meet the repayments on your loan, your account will go into arrears. This may affect your credit rating, which may limit your ability to access credit in the future. The cost of your repayments may increase. Credit unions in Ireland are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.