Validity assessment of financial plans based on FADN data

Abstract

The global financial crisis establishes new obstacles, requirements and challenges to the agricultural producers. In such circumstances it is especially important for farmers to base their investment and financial decisions on well-founded methods using multiple information sources. In Hungary during the reviewing of the credit applications the assessment of financial plans has only minor importance as banks tend to avoid granting loans on business grounds and rather favour loans secured by mortgages or other means. However, if for the assessment of financial plans there were a well-worked out, reliable tool available that could make the reviewing of loan application much easier. Assuring higher security for loans would not only increase the amount of credits granted but in the long run could reduce the interest rates as well. In this paper we intend to introduce a concept, based on FADN data, that will make the assessment of the validity of the financial plans possible. The core of the method is the selection of very similar FADN holdings and whether the farms’ income will secure the redemption of the required loan will be assessed from the data of these holdings.