Two weeks after the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate cut and the call from the National Farmers Federation to pass on the full rate cut to  agribusiness customers – only four banks have provided some rate relief.

The NFF’s December Agribusiness Loan Monitor shows that BankSA Agribusiness, BankWest Agribusiness, National Australia Bank agribusiness, Commonwealth Bank Agribusiness and Westpac Agribusiness have passed on rate cuts since the RBA’s decision to reduce rates to 3 percent. None of these four have done so by the full 25 basis points.

NFF president Jock Laurie acknowledged the cuts, which range from 0.15pc to 0.20pc for agri-term loan customers and 0.05pc and 0.20pc for overdraft customers, yet urged financial lenders to do more to pass the full benefits of the RBA cut on to farmers.

“The December rate reduction was the sixth such cut made by the RBA since November 2011, bringing the cash rate down to 3pc – a reduction of 1.5pc in just 13 months," he said.

“Yet agricultural lenders have shaved an average of just 1.02pc off their agricultural term loans during this time. ANZ has been the bank to pass on the highest rate cuts to agricultural customers since November 2011, with a total reduction of 1.15pc in its term loans, followed closely by Suncorp Agribusiness on 1.14pc."

Meanwhile, in overdraft loans, Westpac is a clear standout, passing on a 1.58pc reduction to agricultural customers in the last 13 months – over the 1.5pc RBA interest rate cuts – while the average for all financial overdraft lenders is 1.07pc.

“However, since the latest RBA cut earlier this month, we’ve only seen four banks pass on any rate reductions, and then, not to the level set by the RBA," Mr Laurie said.

"We encourage all financial lenders to not only follow Westpac’s overdraft example and pass the full RBA interest rate cut for the past 13 months on to farmers, but also to act quickly in passing this latest cut on in time for Christmas,” he said.

The December NFF Agribusiness Loan Monitor shows agri-term loans tracking at about 4pc higher than the RBA cash rate, and at around 1pc higher than standard variable mortgages.

• The full December Loan Monitor, and a summary of the November 2011 to December 2012 results, is available via the NFF website: www.nff.org.au        The Monitor is compiled each month by leading money market monitor Canstar and published by the NFF as a tool for all Australian farmers.