It's been a hard couple of years for anyone looking after land. Feed, fuel, fencing materials and insurance have all gone up, and they've gone up faster than incomes. Most people we talk to aren't being careless with money. They're putting off jobs because the bill comes at the wrong time.
The trouble is that land doesn't wait. If you leave a paddock untopped for a season, the weeds set seed and you've got twice the problem next year. A blocked ditch turns into a waterlogged field by February. A sagging fence turns into a loose horse on the road. Putting the job off usually just makes it more expensive.
You can now spread the cost
When you book a contractor through Emmerdale Agriculture you can now pay with Klarna and spread the cost over up to three months instead of paying it all at once.
How it works:
- Post your job and tell us what needs doing. It takes a couple of minutes.
- Compare prices from local contractors who cover your area.
- Choose Klarna at checkout when you accept a price. Klarna checks your eligibility straight away and tells you what you'll pay and when.
- The work gets done, and you pay it off over the following weeks instead of in one go.
You agree the price with the contractor before anything is booked. The contractor gets paid in full in the usual way, so it makes no difference to them how you pay.
Who it's for
Spreading the cost makes most sense for a job that's needed now, where a big one-off payment would be awkward:
- Weed control before ragwort or docks go to seed
- Topping and harrowing to get grazing back in order
- Drainage and ditching before the winter rain
- Fencing repairs where stock safety is at risk
- Hedge cutting inside the legal season
It's also handy if you're waiting on money that hasn't arrived yet, such as a livery payment, a grant or a harvest cheque, and you don't want the work held up until it does.
Borrow carefully
Klarna is a form of credit, so it's worth being honest with yourself before you use it:
- Only spread a cost you're confident you can pay back on time.
- Check the payment dates against when your money actually comes in.
- Missed payments can affect your credit score and your ability to borrow later.
If paying over three months still won't work for you, tell us. We can often split a big job into stages, so you could do the urgent part now and the rest later in the year.
Get the job done
Times are tough, but a job left undone usually ends up costing more. If there's work you've been putting off, post it today, see what local contractors would charge, and decide at checkout whether to pay now or spread the cost.
