I don’t have money for land or big fancy machinery so I was wondering if I could get an agricultural loan to start up an urban farm?
Where are you located Brandon?
I am located in eastern ontario.
I would look for a microloan from a local agricultural fund, or a grant from not-for-profits such as the ones given out by Carrot Cache. You can look at some standard sources of funding like FCC and BDC, but you won’t have much luck with them.
Otherwise, my advice would be to make a go of it with what resources you have for the first year and make a financial case to a lender that you have a viable business model for them to invest in.
It would be nigh impossible to get any sort of loan for agriculture before you have proven yourself. Rent some land in excahnge for produce. Make sure you have interested potential customers before you spend any money.
Try to avoid a loan, use knowledge instead. Check out, http://theurbanfarmer.co/
Listen to all the "urban farmer "podcasts, http://www.permaculturevoices.com/category/the-urban-farmer/, actually, listen to all of Diego’s podcasts, very inspiring!
Read this book, https://goo.gl/images/aijyKv.
Last, but not least, don’t fall into the analysis paralysis trap, and just get started, the best learning is always hands on!
Good luck!