HSBC UK has widened access to its Sustainable Farming Pathway finance package.
Eligible food and farming businesses can receive discounted loan arrangement fees on term lending between £25k and £25m, including flexible business loans, commercial mortgages and property development loans.
The move follows the pathway’s launch with Linking Environment and Farming 2024. It now includes additional eligible parties, including: First Milk, Soil Association, Cefetra and Soil Capital. Each provides their own sustainability schemes, frameworks and certifications.
“This is also just the start – we expect additional schemes and frameworks to join the pathway in the coming months,” said HSBC UK head of agricultural banking Martin Hanson.
Dairy co-op First Milk’s CEO Shelagh Hancock said the bank’s move recognised the “strength and integrity” of its regenerative farming practices.
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“As interest grows in how farming can positively contribute to adapting to climate change, restoring nature, and supporting thriving rural communities, it is encouraging to see financial institutions stepping up to support this transition,” Hancock said.
The Soil Association added the move recognised organic farming as a leading sustainable farming system.
“Organic farmers have to work with nature to build soil fertility, and organic farms are havens for wildlife because of the use of no artificial pesticides. So often finance can be a barrier to more sustainable practices, and so we welcome the Sustainable Farming Pathway to support the UK’s organic farmers,” a spokesperson said.
Uwe Schroeder, head of Cefetra System Services, meanwhile, called HSBC UK’s decision a “another big step forward to scaling up regenerative farming in the UK”.
“All lenders have to focus on risk,” said Chuck de Liedekerke, co-founder and CEO at Soil Capital, who said regenerative farming was a “practical way to build resilience to climate and market shocks over time”.
He added: “As climate increasingly shapes agricultural finance, we look forward to building on this partnership.”
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