Situations · A balloon is coming due
Farm loan balloon payment due
A farm loan balloon payment due in the next ninety days is the most common file that crosses this desk, and it is almost never a credit problem — it is a calendar problem.
Written & reviewed by Ryan, Principal at Turnrow CapitalLast reviewed August 17, 2026
What's actually going on
The structure is standard farm credit: a note written on a five- or seven-year term but amortized over twenty or thirty, so the payment stays manageable and a large principal balance arrives all at once at maturity. For years the renewal is routine. Then the renewal isn't routine — the bank changed hands, the ag portfolio got repriced, the loan officer who knew your operation retired, or a soft year on the schedule F moved you outside a box you were never told the dimensions of.
What makes this situation dangerous is not the balance. It is that the clock started long before anyone told you. Borrowers commonly learn a renewal is in question sixty days out, discover a conventional refinance needs ninety to a hundred and twenty, and spend the gap watching default interest, forbearance language and credit damage move from hypothetical to scheduled.
The land itself usually has not changed. If anything it has appreciated. The equity that would comfortably cover the payoff is sitting right there in the dirt — it simply cannot be reached on the timeline the maturity date allows.
How the refinance works here
- —We underwrite the real estate, not the operation. Appraised value, title and the payoff figure carry the file — no tax returns, no P&Ls, no farm financials.
- —Proceeds retire the maturing note in full at closing. The payoff wires from escrow the same as any refinance; your existing lender is made whole and the lien releases.
- —Up to 70% of appraised value, up to $1.5M. If the balloon balance sits comfortably inside that, the deal is generally straightforward.
- —Interest-only structures are available where the plan is to season the file and move to long-term ag credit once the operation shows the years a bank wants to see.
- —A written term sheet inside 48 hours, so you know whether this closes before you need to have a harder conversation with your current lender.
Ninety days is comfortable. Thirty is workable. Ten is not.
Rates as of August 15, 2026
Once a maturity date passes, options narrow quickly and get expensive — default rates, forbearance agreements, and a credit file that makes the next lender's job harder. The single highest-value thing you can do is start the conversation the day the renewal becomes uncertain rather than the week the note matures. Nothing about starting early obligates you to anything.
Indicative range today: 9.25%–11.50%, business-purpose and non-owner-occupied, up to 70% LTV, 680+ credit, 48 states. Priced per asset on your term sheet — not an offer to lend.
What we need to give you a number
Four things. No documents, no credit pull to get an indication.
Two minutes tells you whether the deal fits — and a written term sheet inside 48 hours tells you exactly what it costs.
Price my dealGood questions
My balloon matures in three weeks. Is that too late?+
It is tight but it is not automatically fatal. Order of operations matters more than the raw number of days: a term sheet in hand is often enough for a current lender to grant a short extension, because a documented takeout is exactly what they want to see. Call before the maturity date rather than after it.
Will my bank know I'm shopping the refinance?+
Not from us. They learn about it when a payoff demand is requested, which is a routine part of any refinance and carries no signal beyond the fact that the loan is being retired on schedule.
The bank offered a renewal, just at a rate I don't like. Should I still look?+
Compare them honestly. A renewal from a lender who already knows the ground is often the cheapest money available, and if the pricing is livable you should probably take it. This program exists for the files where the renewal isn't offered, arrives with conditions the operation can't meet, or won't be decided until after the maturity date.
Can I refinance a maturing seller carry-back the same way?+
Yes — a private note behaves the same at maturity, and sellers are frequently less flexible about extensions than institutions. See the seller-financed refinance page for how those files differ.
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