Steward Loans

Unlike traditional banks or lenders, Steward is 100% focused on the growth of regenerative farms, ranches, fisheries, and local food producers. Steward offers business loans tailored to your specific financial situation. So whether you’re looking to add a hoop house, purchase new equipment, or acquire the land you cultivate, a Steward loan may help propel your business forward.

Steward loans range from $10,000 to $1,000,000+ (average loan ~ $50k, largest loan to-date $700k).

What They Fund:

• Human-scale fruit & vegetable farms, livestock (animals, poultry, eggs, etc.), seafood & aquaculture, food & textile products, supply chain & food system infrastructure.

• Funds may be used for equipment, infrastructure, land, inventory, working capital, marketing.

• 3+ years farming experience (new operations with significant experience)

• U.S. business in good standing (LLC, Inc., or registered nonprofit)

• Incorporate regenerative and sustainable practices

• Securable assets (loan collateralized by land, equipment, inventory, etc.) 

• Loan Terms: range from 36 months to 60 months (sometimes longer)

• Interest Rate: range from 5% to 10% depending on purpose of loan and state of business (6%- 8% is most common, all interest passed on to lenders).

• Repayment: typically begin 3-6 months after funds are disbursed.

• Fees: Steward charges a fixed 3% origination fee, that’s it.

Make an account here to start you application.

Steps to expect:

1. Apply: Complete the online loan application, telling us more about your business and financial needs.

2. Approval: Work with the Steward team to confirm loan terms and plan for your raise campaign on Steward’s lending platform.

3. Private Raise: Start by sending emails and making phone calls to invite qualified “anchor lenders” in your network to participate early in your campaign to build momentum.

4. Public Raise: Once a campaign reaches a certain percentage funded (typically 20-25%), the raise is featured on Steward’s public website. Here we co-market the campaign with outreach to prospective lenders in your community, as well as Steward's national lender network.

5. Receive Capital: After a successful raise, Steward will finalize its loan to your farm business by disbursing funds through our secure lending platform.

6. Grow: Expand your business and share your success! Begin repaying your loan to Steward starting 90 days* after the loan funds are received. At that point, Steward will automatically begin repayments to participating lenders in this project.

• Farm Loan Fact Sheet