As a farmer, you will see fluctuations in boom years where corn is selling for $8 an ear or milk is fetching about $5 a gallon. During these years of prosperity many farms will invest in new equipment and machinery.
Unfortunately, these added assets may have created some debt payments you might be struggling to pay during the years where your income margins are tighter.
Keep reading to learn how to pay off your debt with some smart thinking and hard farmer work.
1] Sell Unnecessary Assets
It’s time to take inventory on the assets your farm owns and refer to your balance sheet to see how much of it your farm actually uses. If you have any scrap metal, augers, trucks, or other equipment you aren’t using routinely then you can sell these items and turn it into cash towards paying off some debt.
If some of your equipment needs some repair work before you can sell at a high profit, the winter months are the perfect time for some maintenance. This will help give your workers enough work to still get paid and will help you turn some of your debt around at the same time.
2] Give Yourself More Time
If you have a 10-year loan the payments will cost you more monthly than if you were to extend it out to a 20-year payment plan. Of course, over time you will pay more for interest but this might be an option to help get you through the tougher times and give you a chance to create more income.
Discuss your loan terms with your bank and determine if this is a viable option. You could also consider refinancing your loan through another lender to get the loan terms you prefer.
If you have too many loans that you are struggling to keep up with you should find a debt consolidation solution that will work for you.
Consolidating your debts from many loans into one is a great way to manage the debt but make sure that your new payment is less than the total you were paying before otherwise, you aren’t saving any money overall.
3] Rent Out Equipment
When struggling to make debt payments it’s time to think of ways to produce different income streams to help make your payments. If you have machinery that you aren’t using often but do need from time to time then you should consider renting your equipment to other farmers.
For instance, if you own a combine then you know you only need this machine a few months out of the year, and then it sits and waits for its next season.
You could rent it out to another farm that doesn’t have the finances to buy their own or had to liquidate the one they had. This will help your neighbors while also bringing in steady cash flow.
Learn More About How Hard Farmer Work Can Pay Off Your Debt!
These are some of the many ways you can save your farm from worrisome debt payments. With a little ingenuity and hard farmer work you can turn it around and start seeing financial improvement soon.
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