Expensive rural credit drives financing solutions

With rural credit more expensive and selective, companies and financial institutions have been looking for alternatives to maintain financing for producers.

The strategy involves models integrated into the agricultural ecosystem, use of data for risk analysis and creation of lines aimed at the specific needs of each production chain.

One of the initiatives is AgroForte, which operates in segments such as animal protein, milk and pig farming. The company structures operations in partnership with industries that receive production from rural producers. Based on shared information about performance and production capacity, fintech models risk and creates pre-approved and customized lines.

According to Felipe D'Avila, CEO and co-founder of the company, the model seeks to integrate different agents in the chain. "It's like an agricultural consignment", he stated in a panel at the Rural Summit, in Piracicaba (SP). The proposal connects producers, industries, input resellers and equipment manufacturers in the same credit structure. In longer-term operations, resources can be transferred directly to resellers, with the aim of directing financing to investments linked to production.

Cooperatives

According to D'Avila, access to a greater volume of information about the producer makes it possible to offer conditions that are more adjusted to the risk profile of each operation.

Another front comes from cooperatives. Coopercitrus created the fintech Fincoop to expand its financial services to its members. Initially, the operation focused on rural insurance, but advanced to credit lines aimed at financing the production cycle.

According to Simonia Sabadin, CFO of Coopercitrus and CEO of Fincoop, the proposal is to expand producers' access to subsidized capital and support financial management on properties. "We obtained subsidized credit lines so that the producer is better capitalized and is prepared for the many variables of agriculture", he said.

E-agro, a platform created by Banco BV in partnership with Basf, is committed to intensive use of data and integration with the financial system.

According to Klaus Kaiser, the company's senior technology and innovation manager, the restricted credit scenario requires more conservative models from financial institutions. "But how can we do this with this framework and tight credit? It's the bank's business, so it's more conservative. E-agro was born with very heavy data, from banks with open finance to be able to build the best credit proposal for the customer", he says.

The company also offers financing to resellers and cooperatives that do not have their own structure to create lines of credit. In 2025, the platform registered more than 10 thousand operations between rural credit and CPRs and launched, during Agrishow, solutions aimed at legal entities.

Kaiser states, however, that access to digital documents is still difficult, and that default is a factor of concern for the entire market and for the release of credit.

Sabadin, on the other hand, states that the cooperative structure contributes to access to documents and information about the producer, as it participates in operations such as the purchase of inputs and others. For her, the most difficult thing is to associate the production cycle with the adverse weather conditions of agribusiness, in addition to the cost of the operation.

Source: CNN