AgriSwine Asia

Pig Farm Loan Compliance Audits for Banks and Lenders

When a bank or fund lends to a pig farm, the money usually comes with conditions. The borrower agrees to put biosecurity in place, fix how manure and wastewater are handled, cut antibiotic use, stock the sheds to plan, or hit other targets by set dates. Signing those conditions is easy. Meeting them on the farm is harder, and a progress report from the borrower is not the same as seeing it in the barn.

I carry out independent loan compliance audits for lenders and investors. I visit the farm, check each condition against what is actually happening on site, and send you a written report that says plainly which conditions are met, which are not, and what needs to change.

Who it is for

  • Commercial banks and agricultural lenders with a pig farm loan on the books.
  • Development banks and impact funds whose loans carry environmental, social or animal-health action plans.
  • Investors and fund managers who released money against milestones and want to know they have been reached.

I work on farms in Vietnam, China, the UK and across the EU.

What I check

Every loan is different, so the audit starts from your conditions, not a standard checklist. These are the farm-side conditions I most often expect to see.

  • Biosecurity and disease control. Whether the measures in the plan are built, staffed and followed every day: perimeter, vehicle and feed-truck controls, showers and clothing changes, quarantine for incoming stock, dead-pig handling. On paper and in practice are often two different farms, especially where ASF is a risk.
  • Environmental and social action plan items on the farm. Manure storage and spreading, wastewater treatment, odour and fly control, worker safety and staff housing. I check that the works have been done and are being run properly.
  • Antibiotic and medication targets. Treatment records, medicine stores and purchase invoices checked against the target, and the barn practices that drive medicine use up or down.
  • Animal welfare commitments. Stocking density against building capacity, pen conditions, water and feed access, and how sick and injured pigs are handled.
  • Capacity and production milestones. Whether the buildings that were financed are finished and in use, and whether sow numbers, pigs sold and other reported figures match the herd and the records.
  • Records and reporting. Whether the figures the borrower sends you can be traced back to farm records and to the pigs in the sheds.
  • VietGAHP and other certificates. If the loan requires VietGAHP (Decision 4653/QĐ-BNN-CN for pigs), whether the certificate and surveillance audits are current, and whether the farm still runs to the standard between audits. See VietGAHP for pig farms.

What it does not cover

This is a production and on-farm audit. Legal and permit checks are best done by a local law firm, and financial covenants and accounts by your own credit team or auditors. I can work alongside them so the report covers what they cannot see from an office.

How it works

  1. A first call about the farm, the loan and the conditions you need checked.
  2. You share the conditions or action plan that apply to the farm. I agree a scope and quote with you before any work starts.
  3. Typically two days on site, with time in every stage of production, not just the office.
  4. A written report that rates each condition, shows the evidence, and lists the actions needed to close any gap.
  5. If you want, a follow-up visit at the points that matter to you, such as before a drawdown or at each annual review.

Why an independent audit

Audits are commission-free. When a lender hires me, the report goes to the lender only, and I take nothing from feed, genetics or equipment suppliers on that work. You get a view of the farm that does not depend on the borrower or anyone selling to them.

I have spent more than 20 years running commercial pig farms in the UK, USA, Ireland and Russia, including as managing director of a 1,200 to 1,500 sow farrow-to-finish business in the UK and as group production manager of a 6,000-sow multi-site operation in Ireland, where we cut vaccine and medication spend by 25%. I also worked on active sites in ASF-affected regions of Russia. I know what a working farm looks like, and what is only there for the visit.

If you are assessing a farm before you lend or buy, see the independent pig farm audit and due diligence page.

Talk to Lee

Tell me about the farm and the conditions on the loan. I will arrange a first call and propose a scope of work before anything is agreed.