Oxbury, the UK’s only bank dedicated to agriculture, food, and farming, will today (Thursday 6 February) launch a new globally unique facility for farmers to support them in making sustainable changes to their farming practices.

Speaking to farmers, top industry leaders and academics at the LEAF Conference 2025, Oxbury co-founder and Managing Director Nick Evans will set out how the bank’s new Transition Loan Facility incentivises and rewards farmers to make sustainable changes. 

The facility, the first of its kind for UK farming businesses, provides funding for farmers to manage their cashflow and capital needs to transition their business to increase their resilience by reducing carbon emissions and improving their soil health and soil organic carbon.  

Independent research by the Soil Association Exchange*, shows that the majority of farmers (77% of those who have decided to transition) have little or no financial flexibility to adapt their farming systems.  

With climate change pressures and demands from government and supply chains, Oxbury recognises the need for farmers to obtain the necessary funds to change their farming practices.  

Oxbury Co-founder and Managing Director Nick Evans said:

“Oxbury spent two years developing the Transition Facility ensuring that it understood the needs of farmers and the supply chain. The Bank concluded that the whole industry including government, banks and the supply-chain needs to work together to support farmers to remain profitable while reducing emissions and improving soil health.”

The Oxbury Transition Facility operates in conjunction with other financing initiatives, such as government grants and private sector payments for farming practices, creating a “blended finance” model to extend the impact of multiple partners in the value-chain. 

As well as giving farms access to finance, the Oxbury Transition Facility will help farmers measure and prove that the changes that they have implemented are delivering results.

Carbon footprints will be used at the outset of the facility and will be ongoing to measure reductions in emissions. Satellite earth observation combined with soil and environmental data from the ground will be used to access high-resolution views on the farm’s improvement in soil organic carbon (SOC) levels.

These factors, combined with evidence of the changes in business practises, may be shared by Oxbury’s customer with the supply chain and government to prove the positive environmental impact of on-farm activities.  

Oxbury has partnered with Downforce Technologies to help calculate the annual average SOC – initially – on more than 120,000 hectares of customers’ farms. This partnership will provide valuable data for farmers to share, calculate their net zero position and track the outcomes of transition actions on soil health.  

While there are existing facilities for farmers to fund specific sustainable projects, Oxbury’s initiative allows farmers to take a wide range of actions over time and understands that the transition benefits will be gradual.  

The product aims to facilitate and support farmer-led transitions and therefore customers can use the facility in the way they deem most appropriate for their transition. This could cover for instance: input costs, general working capital, infrastructure or machinery. 

The Oxbury Transition Facility provides funding for farmers who have already started these changes as well as those at the beginning of the process.   

For farmers exploring actions to change farming practices, Oxbury will provide a facility for up to two years to plan and start those changes. For farmers more advanced in the process Oxbury is offering the only facility committed to a six-year period in terms of pricing for farmers to support the implementation of plans.   

Benefits of an Oxbury Transition Facility: 

  • Facility amounts of up to £500 per hectare farmed with a minimum facility size of £25,001 to a maximum of £500,000.   
  • Interest rates from 1% above the Bank of England base rate for a period of up to 6 years.  
  • Annual facility fees from 0.5% of the facility amount.   
  • Flexible repayment terms based on cash flow, facility can be continuously repaid and withdrawn during the facility period. Interest payable monthly on outstanding balance.  
  • No early repayment charges.   
  • No need to change your existing bank relationship.   

To find out more, click here.