Side by side

Choose Farm Credit Canada agribusiness and food lending when

• Your business sells into agriculture or food, the focus FCC describes for its lending
• You want one lender for stock, equipment and expansion; FCC lists all three for agribusiness and food
• The stock is perishable, which lenders secured by inventory generally avoid
• The purchase is planned, with time to work through a full loan application

Choose Inventory Financing when

• A supplier, a volume discount or the season sets the date for the buy
• Most of your customers are outside agriculture and food
• You would rather finance the stock on its own than tie up a long-term loan
• Your current lender is not counting the inventory toward your limit

When both make sense

The split is clean when it is deliberate: Farm Credit Canada for the long-term needs, such as equipment, premises and expansion, and an inventory facility for the stock, which turns over in months rather than years. Each lender should know exactly which assets secure its facility.

The one thing that cannot happen is the same stock pledged to two lenders. If an existing lender holds a charge over all of the business's assets, a carve-out or a priority agreement for the inventory has to be agreed in writing before the second facility funds.

About Farm Credit Canada

Farm Credit Canada describes itself as the leading lender in Canadian agriculture and food. It is a federal Crown corporation that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and it reinvests its profits in the sector. It reports more than 104,000 customers, served by more than 2,600 employees in 99 offices, mostly in rural Canada, with its head office in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Its lending is not limited to farms. FCC says it also finances the businesses that keep agriculture and food working: crop input suppliers and retailers, equipment manufacturers and dealers, feed processors, wholesale, storage and distribution, and grain handling, plus food businesses from meat processors and commercial bakeries to wineries, distilleries and distributors. For both groups, equipment and inventory is one of the needs it lists.

Farmers buying their own crop inputs have a separate product, FCC Input Financing, offered through local retailers. FCC says it gives 12 months to buy fuel, fertilizer and crop protection and up to 18 months to pay, and that purchases made after September 1 are not due until March 15 of the following year.

Where an FCC loan may not be the right fit

FCC does not publish its credit criteria, so none of these describe how it decides a file. They are the situations in which a stock purchase is better matched to a facility secured by the stock itself.

The stock buy has a date set by a supplier, a volume discount or the season, and the money has to be in place before it.

Most of the business's customers are outside agriculture and food, which puts it outside the lending focus FCC describes.

The owner would rather finance stock that turns over in months on its own than tie it to a long-term loan.

Growth means each buying cycle is larger than the last, and the limit needs to grow with the stock rather than wait for the next loan.

Where these facts come from

Every statement about Farm Credit Canada on this page comes from Farm Credit Canada's own website, checked on 19 October 2026, and the pages are listed below. Where Farm Credit Canada publishes no figure, the table says so rather than estimating one. Nothing here is a quote from Farm Credit Canada; for current terms, ask Farm Credit Canada directly.

• FCC corporate profile
• FCC agribusiness financing
• FCC food and beverage financing
• FCC Input Financing
• FCC Capital, on senior secured lending as FCC's core offering

Frequently asked questions

I farm. Should crop inputs go on FCC Input Financing or inventory financing?

For a farm's own crop inputs, FCC Input Financing is built for the job. FCC says it is offered through local retailers, gives 12 months to buy fuel, fertilizer and crop protection and up to 18 months to pay, and lets purchases made after September 1 wait until March 15 of the following year. Voxen inventory financing is for businesses that buy stock to resell, such as distributors, wholesalers and retailers, not for inputs a farm uses itself.

Can FCC and another lender both finance my business?

FCC says its agribusiness team can tailor loans that help a business collaborate with other lenders. The practical point is security: if one lender holds a charge over all of the business's assets, the inventory has to be carved out in writing, or a priority agreement signed, before a second lender can take it as security.

Should I ask my existing lender first?

Yes, if it can finance the stock on your supplier's timeline. A loan or line from a lender that already knows the business usually costs less than a facility secured by stock alone. Ask two questions before you apply: will the lender count the inventory toward the limit, and will this purchase use up room you need for payroll and operating costs? If the answer to the second is yes, financing the stock separately keeps the operating money available.

Related

• Chartered bank term loan vs Business Line of Credit — A chartered bank term loan is cheaper and should be your first call if the business is bankable — two or more years of history, clean financials and strong credit.
• Invoice Factoring vs Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) — If the business invoices other businesses, factoring is almost always the cheaper answer — it advances money the business has already earned, priced from 1.5% per 30 days, and creates no debt.
• Term Loan vs Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) — A term loan is the cheaper instrument and the right one whenever the file can carry it — fixed payments, a defined end date, and pricing quoted as an annual rate.
• Equipment Financing vs Term Loan — If the money is going into a specific piece of equipment, finance the equipment.
• Inventory Financing vs Business Line of Credit — A line of credit is underwritten on the business as a whole and can be spent on anything; inventory financing is underwritten on the stock and is used to buy stock.
• Inventory Financing vs Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) — Both instruments put stock on the shelf without a bank loan, and the choice usually comes down to what the file supports.
• Equipment Financing vs Business Line of Credit — Buy the machine on equipment financing and keep the line of credit for working capital.
• Chartered bank term loan vs Invoice Factoring — If your file is bankable — strong credit, two-plus years of history, clean financials — the bank loan is the cheaper instrument and you should pursue it first.
• Chartered bank term loan vs Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) — These sit at opposite ends of the same spectrum.
• RBC Royal Bank business operating line vs Business Line of Credit — If RBC will approve the operating line inside your timeline, take it — the rate on a bank line is lower than anything a non-bank lender can price.
• TD Canada Trust business line of credit vs Business Line of Credit — For a business with filed statements and clean guarantor credit, a TD business line of credit is cheaper than any non-bank alternative and should be the first application.
• Scotiabank receivables-secured operating facility vs Invoice Factoring — A Scotiabank receivables facility is the cheaper way to finance invoices and the right call if your receivables fit a bank margin formula: many customers, none dominant, all under ninety days, all easy to credit-check.
• BMO Bank of Montreal equipment term loan vs Equipment Financing — If BMO will write the equipment term loan and the delivery date allows, take the bank rate — nothing else prices lower on a long-lived asset.
• CIBC business term loan vs Term Loan — A CIBC business term loan is the cheapest way to fund a defined, one-time capital need, and a bankable file should apply there first.
• National Bank of Canada receivables-secured operating facility vs Invoice Factoring — For a Quebec business with a diversified receivables book, a National Bank operating facility is cheaper than factoring and easier to run in French from end to end.
• Desjardins equipment financing through a caisse vs Equipment Financing — If you are an established Desjardins member and the caisse will finance the machine, that is the cheapest capital available and the relationship is worth protecting.
• Vancity business line of credit vs Business Line of Credit — For a British Columbia business whose work fits Vancity's mandate, a credit union line of credit is cheaper than a non-bank facility and worth the application.
• ATB Financial equipment term loan vs Equipment Financing — For an Alberta business buying new equipment, ATB is a genuinely well-matched lender and should get the first quote — provincial focus means the underwriting understands your cycle.
• Meridian Credit Union commercial owner-occupied mortgage (COOL) vs Bridge Loan — If Meridian's COOL mortgage can be in place by your closing date, take it: a permanent mortgage amortized over as long as 25 years costs far less than short-term money.

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