CBH secures $2bn in harvest funding

The CBH Group has finalised funding facilities totalling around $2 billion to pay growers for this season's grain harvest.

CBH Group Chief Executive Officer Imre Mencshelyi said the mix of facilities came from Australia's big four banks - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac - and agribusiness specialist, Rabobank, one of the world's most highly rated financiers.

"Securing this amount of funding amid the current global credit crisis is a major achievement and a reflection of our financial strength and credibility," he said.

"It gives all growers who deliver to our marketing arms Grain Pool and Agracorp the confidence that they will be paid.

"In practice, it gives us the capacity to market and fund virtually the entire Western Australian grain harvest this year. Growers can be assured we intend to be in the market for the whole of harvest for all major grains in keeping with our position as a farmer-owned co-operative and the only company in Australia whose interests are totally aligned with growers.

"I urge everyone to consider more than ever this harvest who they are marketing their grain to as not all players have the same strong balance sheet.

'"Growers should take comfort that we are financed by four AA rated Australian banks and one AAA rated international bank which are all showing resilience in the current volatile environment and which have recently had made available to them a guarantee from the Federal Government to protect deposits."