A farming operation out of Katherine, NT, needed a cashflow boost after weather conditions hit the property hard. Three John Deere tractors, owned outright, became the security. ABL released $400K, structured with capitalised interest so there were no monthly repayments to find, and flew its own valuers and tracker installers out to the Territory to get the deal done.
The situation
A farming business in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, was in a tight spot. Not because anything was wrong with how the farm was run — the weather that season had worked against it, and cashflow had come under real pressure as a result.
The property needed capital to get through to the other side of the season. It didn’t need a long-term loan. It needed room to breathe while the business kept operating as normal.
Weather is one of the most common reasons a good agricultural business hits a cashflow wall. It isn’t mismanagement. It’s a season that didn’t go the business’s way. The equipment sitting on the property, fully owned, is often the fastest way to bridge it.
The asset
Three John Deere tractors, owned outright by the business. Still needed on the property, still doing the work a farm this size depends on day to day.
That’s the detail that shaped the whole deal. The tractors weren’t sitting idle waiting to be sold. They were working assets that had to keep working. The equity in them was the answer, but taking them out of action wasn’t an option.
The need
$400,000, to give the business the cashflow room to ride out the season. The timing mattered because the pressure was already being felt — this wasn’t a hypothetical buffer, it was capital the farm needed to keep meeting its obligations while conditions were against it.
The gap this closed
Without ABL, there wasn’t a solution that arrived in time. A bank credit decision on a rural property this size takes weeks, sometimes longer, and Katherine’s remoteness only adds to that. By the time a traditional lender had valued the property, assessed the financials, and worked through its own process, the season the business needed to survive would already be over.
That’s the gap ABL closes for the broker as much as the client. Not a cheaper option than the bank — the option that exists at all when the bank’s timeline doesn’t match the business’s. The tractors gave the deal its security. Speed is what actually solved the problem.
The structure
The deal went through as a Track It facility. The tractors stayed on the property, GPS-tracked for the term, and kept working the farm the entire time.
What made this one different was how the interest was handled. Rather than charging interest monthly, ABL capitalised two months of interest into the final loan balance. The trade-off is straightforward: no monthly repayments to manage during the loan, in exchange for slightly less funds landing in the business’s account upfront. For a farm already managing tight cashflow, removing the monthly repayment was the point.
Location added its own layer of complexity. Katherine is remote, and getting valuers and tracker device installers out to the property wasn’t a simple metro job. ABL flew its own team out to get it assessed and secured properly — because where the asset sits shouldn’t determine whether the deal can happen.
- Product: Track It, with capitalised interest
- Asset: 3x John Deere tractors, owned outright
- Disbursement: $400K
- Use of funds: Cashflow support through a difficult season
- Security: Tractors GPS-tracked for the loan term, still in daily use
- Interest structure: Two months capitalised into the final balance instead of monthly charges
- Logistics: ABL valuers and installers flown to Katherine, NT
The outcome
$400K landed in the business’s account, and the tractors never left the property. The farm kept operating through the season with the cashflow room it needed, no monthly repayments adding to the pressure, and the tractors doing exactly what they’d always done.
A bank was never going to move fast enough for a property that remote. We got our own valuers and installers out to Katherine instead — if the equipment’s owned outright, that’s the deal, wherever it sits.
Why this deal worked
Three things had to be true for this deal to work. They’re the same three things every Track It deal needs:
- A working asset with real equity, owned outright. The tractors weren’t financed elsewhere. ABL could take a clean security interest and hold it for the term without the business losing use of them.
- A structure matched to the actual problem. This was a cashflow problem, not a repayment-capacity problem. Capitalising the interest meant the structure solved the right issue instead of adding a new monthly obligation to an already stretched season.
- A willingness to go where the deal is. Katherine isn’t down the road from anywhere. Getting valuers and installers out there was part of the job, not a reason to say no.
Asset-based lending isn’t the answer to every business problem. It’s a specific tool for a specific moment — when timing matters more than rate, when an asset is available, and when there’s a clear way out. For more on the category, read our complete guide to asset-based lending.
If a client on the land is feeling a bad season in their cashflow, and they own equipment outright, that’s worth a call — especially if the bank’s timeline doesn’t match the business’s. Location doesn’t rule it out either; ABL will get equipment assessed and secured wherever it sits in Australia. Without that option, the broker is often left with nothing to offer until the season’s already over.
When the bank’s timeline is the problem, the asset is the answer.
If your client owns equipment outright and cashflow is under pressure, that’s a conversation worth having — wherever in Australia they’re based. Without a fast option, there often isn’t a solution in time. ABL doesn’t need credit checks or financials. The asset is the security, and the structure can be built around what the business actually needs.