Key Takeaways
- Tight finances mean growers are delaying crop input purchases for the 2026 planting season.
- Input financing designed for small- and mid-sized independent retailers can ease the financial burden and make it possible for growers to make buying decisions.
- Interested retailers can launch a program in just two weeks.
Around the country, ag retailers are experiencing the same thing: even with 2026’s planting season just weeks away, growers are still not committing to input purchases. And there’s little wonder why: many have loans from prior growing seasons coming due that they don’t yet have the cash to pay.
It’s a complex situation: lots of farmers are sitting on harvested crops because prices remain frustratingly low. While the federal government has promised bridge payments, it hasn’t yet said when it will disburse those funds. And input prices remain high.
There is good news, though: retailers can take action today to facilitate input purchases and keep their customers on track for strong harvests in 2026. That action? Introduce an input financing program.
Here, we’ll explain why it’s not too late to launch a program and how to see the best possible results.
Transform Growers’ Access to Crop Inputs in Just 2 Weeks
For more than a year, we’ve been tweaking our input financing so that it works for small and mid-sized independent ag retailers. One of the outcomes of that work is that you can get a fully branded input financing program up and running at your organization in just two weeks.
The program is a no-recourse offering, meaning you don’t have to put any of your own money on the line to give your customers access to credit. Just as important for retailers considering an input financing program at this point in the season: the application and approval process is fast, online, and painless.
Once they apply, your customers can have access to funds in as little as two to three days.
That can shift the reality of the growing season entirely: with access to input financing, your growers can focus on getting crops in the ground when they need to and delay selling decisions a bit longer.
And because the credit line is fully branded to your organization and only usable for your inventory, you also benefit: when you’re providing access to credit, your customers are more likely to shop with you.
Expect ~60% of Growers to Qualify for Financing
Nationwide, retailers using our input financing program are currently seeing approval rates of about 60 percent. This is important to understand going into the program. It can help you plan and budget for the season and help you set expectations among your customers.
If it’s important to you to make funds accessible to more of your customers, our input financing offer may not be right for you. You may find more success with an offer that includes recourse and so lets you make funds accessible to customers with weaker credit backgrounds who might not qualify under the standards of our no-recourse model.
If you’re not sure how this might play out in your organization or you’d like a better sense of the specific underwriting standards our program has, the best move is to reach out to us. We can talk through the specifics of your situation and how our input financing might work for your customers.
If you determine that our program will work for your customer base, there are several ways you can maximize the likelihood of success. Let’s take a look at those.
Maximize Success by Following These Best Practices
While our input financing program is fast and easy to set up, the most successful ag retailers are those who take a hands-on approach once their offering is live.
Here are some of the techniques we’ve seen lead to more growers getting funded, getting access to their funds faster, and using their loans to make essential input purchases from retailers:
- Active marketing of the program: We’re seeing retailers spread information about their input financing offers on Facebook, via text, via word of mouth, and on their websites. In all cases, actively promoting the program increases signups and therefore the number of growers who can use the financing line to purchase inputs from the participating retailer.
- Close monitoring of the partner portal: Our system includes a portal where retailer partners can keep track of applications and active loans. If you notice that an application has been completed but the loan hasn’t been booked, for example, that’s a signal that you might want to reach out to the farmer to remind them to complete the process (e.g., by providing driver’s license info). This helps move things along so farmers can access the funds they need.
- Educating sales agronomists: Your in-store team is a crucial part of any financial tool you offer. They’re the ones most likely to encounter questions from customers, so they’ll need a clear understanding of the product, along with concise answers to common questions. (Struggling to get your team to embrace new things? Check out our guide to driving change.)
We also send out weekly tips, tricks, and best practices to all retailers who currently offer input financing. Staying on top of what’s working for your peers can help make sure you and the growers you serve get the biggest benefit possible from your input financing offering.
Ag Retailers Can Help Drive Farmer Success in a Historically Difficult Economy
2026 has so far been a historically difficult year for farmers, which of course impacts the retailers who serve them. In the midst of uncertainty, however, input financing is a bright spot.
By adopting an input financing program, small and mid-sized independent ag retailers can increase growers’ access to capital, and thus help them bridge the financial gap many are experiencing today.
If you’re interested in establishing an input financing program, get in touch. Depending on where you are in the country, we can likely have you up and running in time to get your growers access to capital for this growing season. We look forward to hearing from you!