Struggling farmers offered loans by the Federal Government

FARMERS struggling with debt will be offered concessional loans under a Federal Government's Farm Finance package

The Package will provide $60 million in loans over two years to restructure their debts.

A tax relief deposit scheme will be overhauled, including raising the off-farm income threshold to $100,000, Treasurer Wayne Swan said.

The assistance package follows a rural finance roundtable held in October last year, convened by Mr Swan, who said he had been concerned to hear how farmers had been hit by the high Australian dollar and depreciating land values.

"These are big issues for our farmers and mean many of our farming businesses find themselves moving towards a negative equity situation," Mr Swan said.