Way open to shearer to start farming

Press, 1 May 1981, Page 18

Way open to shearer to start farming

Loans of up to $60,000 at low interest rates are available for shearers who want to buy a small property to work during their off-season. According to the director of lending at the Rural Bank, Mr Ray Chappell, a shearer — one who gets most of his income from shearing — is regarded by the bank as a farm worker and can apply for a loan under the Farm Workers’ Purchase Loan Scheme. The Rural Bank does not put a limit on the size or type of property to be bought. It need not be an economic unit in its own right but it should produce sufficient income, together with off-farm earnings, to enable the applicant to meet loan charges after maintaining the property and providing living expenses. Mr Chappell says the main aim with such loans is to

protect the farm workers savings against inflation and to give him a property which could be used as a stepping stone to eventually buying a fully economic property. Under the farm workers’scheme, the Rural Bank will normally lend up to twothirds of the market value of both land and stock. Loans are normally not more than $60,000 where the property has a house and $45,000 where it does not, but in cases of particular merit these figures may be exceeded. Loans are granted for terms up to 25 years on a table basis, and the interest rate is 9 per cent, with a concession to 71/2 per cent for the first three years. The same terms and interest rates also apply to development loans for intensification of land use on small

holdings, which could be of interest to shearers who already own some land but wish to develop it. Permanent and productive improvements to the land such as drainage, clearing ) fencing, grassing, planting*) water supply and irrigation qualify for the loans. The) 4 applicant must also show he has the experience necessary i to carry out and maintain’ these improvements. The manager of the Wool Board’s grower services divi- 1 sion, Mr Sandy Cassie, says I? he is in favour of any schema ' which allows a shearer to. J settle in one area. “Once a shearer stops being itinerant and has a permanent stake in a district he becomes a much more valuable member of the industry.” Enabling people to settle in small rural communities can also help maintain services and facilities that would otherwise be declining. !