Refinancing a farm is a different market from refinancing a strip mall, and the difference starts with who lends. The Farm Credit System, a network of borrower-owned co-operative associations chartered by Congress, does a large share of American agricultural lending, and the rest sits with community banks, the USDA's guaranteed programmes and a handful of specialist agricultural lenders.
The Farm Credit System is not a bank
It is a co-operative: the association is owned by its borrowers, and part of what you pay comes back as patronage. That changes the relationship and it changes the shopping. You cannot introduce yourself to Farm Credit the way you would to a commercial mortgage broker, because the association serving your territory is the one you deal with, and comparing three of them is not really available in the way comparing three banks is.
What the numbers look like, and what this record does not have
No firm in this record publishes a farm refinance requirement. That is a dated absence rather than a gap in the research: the lenders that rank for these searches are Farm Credit associations and specialist agricultural lenders, and none of the ten firms read on 10 September 2026 publishes terms for agricultural property. The commercial figures on this site, a median published maximum of 75% loan-to-value, are the nearest anchor and they are not a farm quote.
What a farm lender underwrites that a commercial one does not
The operation as well as the dirt. Expect questions about crop mix or herd, about commodity price exposure, about whether the land is irrigated and what the water rights are, and about off-farm income. Land value alone rarely carries a farm loan the way a stabilised rent roll carries a commercial one, and the appraisal is a specialist one.
Questions people ask about farm refinance
Who refinances farms?
Farm Credit System associations, community banks, USDA guaranteed programmes and specialist agricultural lenders. No firm in this record publishes farm refinance terms.
What LTV can I get on a farm refinance?
No firm in this record publishes one for agricultural property. The commercial median here is 75%, which is an anchor rather than a farm quote.
What is the Farm Credit System?
A network of borrower-owned co-operative lending associations chartered by Congress. Your territory's association is the one you deal with, which limits how much shopping around is possible.