Glanbia Ireland has launched a new loan for farmers buying calf feeding equipment.

The FundEquip scheme will allow farmers borrow to buy calf rearing equipment such as new technology like automatic calf feeders.

The loan can be paid back over three to five years, at a variable interest rate of 3.9% or 4.5% respectively.

Repayments can be deducted directly from monthly milk receipts and no security is required, although farmers must have an appropriate credit history.

Glanbia is also promoting a €2,000 special offer for farmers who purchase particular automatic calf feeders. This is €500 of milk replacer vouchers for four years.

Partnership

The Glanbia loan is a partnership with Finance Ireland and a range of equipment suppliers. It includes a full package of management advice.

Glanbia chair Martin Keane said the modern calf equipment could help farmers as a strong management tool and labour-saving aid to continue to ensure that the health and welfare of animals in Irish dairy herds set a leading standard internationally.

The Glanbia package comes just weeks after a the Department of Agriculture launched a new €1.5m scheme for calf equipment.