MACED Business Development

agricultural diversification lending program

(printable pdf version, 104 Kb)

MACED believes that building Kentucky’s rural economies requires investment in small farm communities and that family farming is a vital part of a healthy local rural economy. Kentucky is a unique state with over 90,000 family farms, many heavily dependent upon the income from tobacco, a declining crop. To counter this trend, MACED is committed to helping build a strong local economy of farmers, growers, processors, restaurateurs, retailers, distributors and brokers throughout Appalachian Kentucky with its Agricultural Diversification Lending Program.

This program seeks to do the following.

• Develop new markets and strengthen existing markets for farm and food producers in Appalachian Kentucky;

• Improve access to capital for those seeking operating funds for diversification or value-adding projects with low-interest loans;

• Provide low-interest direct loans to farmers to leverage existing program grant and loan dollars; and

• Provide financial management and planning assistance for on-farm diversification projects.

Loans start as low as $1,000 up to a maximum of $300,000 per borrower at competitive interest rates for terms of up to 10 years. Funds from MACED’s Agricultural Diversification Lending Program may be used for the following.

• Working capital for new or existing farm diversification projects.

• Lines of credit for financing receivables for existing food related retail or wholesale businesses.

• New equipment purchases for diversification or value-adding projects.

• On-farm renewable energy projects.

• Matching funds for the Agricultural Development Fund Grant program.

• Agricultural tourism projects.

Contact MACED Loan Fund Manager Greg Doyle at 859-986-2373 or gdoyle@maced.org for more information.