New FCC Energy Loan makes it easier to be green

By EduTransfer Design Associates and Haywire Creative

March 09, 2010

Kermit the Frog said “It’s not that easy being green,” but that lament is now less relevant with the announcement of Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) new Energy Loan announced on February 22, 2010. 

“There are sources of energy all around Canadian farmyards and we are helping producers invest in the technologies needed to tap those opportunities,” said the Federal Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz in a press release.  “This initiative is good for the environment and it is good for the bottom line on farms across Canada.”

According to FCC, the Energy Loan is designed to assist producers and agribusiness owners who want to make the move towards producing their own renewable energy.  The demand for the loan could be high. More than 60 % of individuals surveyed by FCC in a recent Vision Panel survey say, “they are considering environmental stewardship and the use of environmentally friendly management practices to reduce their environmental footprint and provide financial value for their business.  The results suggest that environmental impacts are gradually becoming a factor of day-to-day business for many producers and agribusinesses.”

The survey was completed in November 2009 by 1,172 producers and agribusiness operators across Canada.  The findings included:

• Producers from Manitoba (68 %) are significantly more likely to report that they are considering new ways to find financial value by reducing their environmental impact than producers from British Columbia (44 %) and Quebec (51 %). 
• Respondents most often cite practicing environmental stewardship (67 %) and the use of environmentally friendly management practices (62 %) as the options they are considering to reduce their environmental impact and provide financial value for their operations.
• Over half of the respondents (53 %) report that they are considering the conservation of resources as a means to reduce their environmental impact and provide financial value.
• More than one-third (37 %) of the respondents report that they are considering the use of alternative energy sources to reduce their environmental impact and provide financial value.
• One third of respondents (34 %) report that they are considering the reduction or reuse of byproducts of waste or materials as a means to reduce their environmental impact and provide financial value.

The Energy Loan became available on March 1, 2010, and will help producers and agribusiness operators purchase and install on-farm energy sources such as:

• biogas,
• geo-thermal,
• wind, or
• solar power.?

The Energy Loan offers:

• Special interest rate on the first $500,000;
• No loan processing fees on the first $500,000;
• Monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual payments available;
• Fixed or variable rates;
• Security of real or personal property.