Farm Loan Renewal Document Checklist
Every ag lender asks for roughly the same stack at renewal. Pull these together before the meeting and the conversation moves from gathering paperwork to making a decision.
First, check your coverage ratio in two minutes →
What to bring
Income & taxes
- Schedule F — last 2–3 years of farm tax returns
- Form 4562 — depreciation schedule for machinery and buildings
- Prior-year actuals — income and expenses / P&L
- Off-farm income — W-2s or records for reliable outside income
Assets
- Current balance sheet — assets and liabilities, dated
- Land owned — acres and estimated value
- Machinery and equipment list — with current values
- Receivables due — grain sold unpaid, insurance, government payments
This year's plan
- Crop budget / projection — acres, yield, and price by crop
- Projected cash flow — for the coming operating year
- Grain on hand and contracts — priced and unpriced bushels
Debts
- Loan schedule — balances, rates, payments, maturity dates
- Land and equipment notes — term-debt principal and interest
- Rented ground — acres, cash rent, lease terms
- Accounts payable — open input and operating balances
Prefer it on paper? Download the one-page version (PDF).
The documents are only half of it
A pile of accurate documents still isn't a statement set. Your lender runs the real number off an accrual-adjusted P&L, a balance sheet, and a cash flow that reconcile to each other and to your depreciation schedule. When those are built separately — the tax return in one place, the balance sheet on a legal pad, the cash flow in a spreadsheet — they rarely tie, and the file goes back for more information.
TG360 imports your Schedule F and Form 4562, codes your invoices and bank statements, and generates the whole stack from one dataset, so the numbers agree before your lender sees them. See what lands in the lender package.
Know the ratios before you walk in
The documents feed four numbers your lender computes first: coverage, liquidity, solvency, and profitability. Here's what each one has to clear — and you can run your own coverage ratio free in about two minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- What documents does a bank need to renew a farm operating loan?
- Most ag lenders ask for two to three years of Schedule F, your Form 4562 depreciation schedule, a current balance sheet, a loan schedule with balances and payments, this year's crop budget, and a projected cash flow. Off-farm income records and grain inventory or contract positions are commonly requested as well.
- How far ahead should I start gathering renewal documents?
- Start 30 to 60 days before your renewal date. The balance sheet should be dated close to the meeting, and the crop budget should reflect your actual acres and input commitments for the coming year — both take time to pull together accurately.
- Does my balance sheet need to be dated?
- Yes. Lenders want a balance sheet as of a specific recent date, usually within 90 days of the renewal. An undated or stale balance sheet is one of the most common reasons a file gets sent back for more information.
- What if my numbers don't tie together?
- That's the usual delay. When the Schedule F, depreciation, balance sheet, and cash flow are built separately, they rarely reconcile, and the lender ends up rebuilding them. TG360 generates the whole stack from one dataset so the statements tie out before you hand them over.
Are you the lender?
If you're an ag loan officer, this checklist and the free DSCR check are yours to forward — copy-and-send email text and a printable handout are ready to go.