TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Finance of America Holdings LLC (“Finance of America”), a diversified national lender dedicated to providing best in class financial solutions to its customers, today announced that they have acquired a stake in and entered into a strategic partnership with FarmOp Capital (“FarmOp”), a specialty finance company providing working capital loans to farm operators. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The shift to larger non-owner operated farms has created a lending void in agriculture. This is due to the increased working capital needs of the operator but with a lighter balance sheet. FarmOp uses innovative lending, structured finance and technology-driven services to provide working capital loans to farmers who rent more land than they own.
“We are extremely excited to expand into this large and rapidly growing market by offering innovative products to a new customer base,” said Patricia Cook, President of UFG Holdings, Finance of America’s parent company. “FarmOp’s unique model dovetails perfectly with our strategic goal of being a driving force in each of the industries we serve by offering the deepest set of solutions and a superior customer experience.”
“This partnership provides the opportunity to accelerate our realignment of working capital lending with the current realities and future opportunities in farming,” said Bill York, CEO of FarmOp. “With Finance of America’s reputation and track record of innovation in lending, our strategic partnership will have immediate positive benefits for our farmer customers and the broader ag lending landscape.”
“Our soon to be released, new product features should allow our customers to materially improve their economics from the upcoming planting season and we are highly energized by that,” added Keir Renick, FarmOp’s Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer.
About Finance of America
Finance of America is a diversified national lender dedicated to providing best in class financial solutions to improve the financial well-being of its customers. Finance of America serves borrowers through trusted brands including Finance of America Mortgage LLC, Finance of America Reverse LLC and Finance of America Commercial LLC. The Finance of America family of companies employs more than 4,000 professionals in more than 350 offices across the country. For more information, please follow us on LinkedIn.
About FarmOp
FarmOp is an agriculture lender addressing long-term macro trends in farm operations. With the requisite leadership, flexibility and innovation, FarmOp fills a growing lending need: providing credit to growers based on their operational efficiencies. Headquartered in St. Paul, MN, FarmOp provides debt products that increase independence and buying power by aligning agricultural lending with agricultural tech to help growers make more profitable decisions. Find out more by visiting FarmOp.com.
Note to Editors: trends in agriculture
- Bigger Farms: In the late 1980s, USDA reports that 7,000 farms were greater than 2,000 acres. Today, that number is more than 30,000
- Shifts in Land Ownership: Today, a large amount of farm land is rented. As operators rely on the efficiency of scale, the change in land ownership structure shifts with it
- Traditional sources of capital have restricted the ability to underwrite renter’s working capital since regulators limit value allocated to growing crops
- The breadth, depth and adoption of agricultural technology continues to expand, providing new ways to manage agronomic risk, however few ag lenders use these resources to address credit risk