Mark Cornell is the owner of Agri Lending Solutions, a farm finance broking business based in Mildura that serves farming families across regional Victoria and far south-western New South Wales.
Born and raised in Mildura, Mark has spent more than 20 years working in agribusiness finance, building a detailed understanding of the pressures, rhythms, and long-term goals that shape a farming operation. He works closely with broadacre cropping enterprises, mixed farming businesses, livestock producers, and family farms across the Mallee, Wimmera, North Central, Central Murray, Western Districts, and Far West NSW regions.
Mark's approach goes well beyond placing a loan. He takes the time to understand each farm's financial position in depth, including income, costs per acre, debt servicing capacity, equity levels, and lending value ratios, before approaching any lender. That analysis forms the foundation of everything he does, whether a client is purchasing a neighbouring block, financing a header, buying out non-farming siblings as part of a succession plan, or working out whether expansion actually stacks up.
Farm succession planning is one of the areas where Mark's on-the-ground experience makes a real difference. He works alongside farming families, their accountants, and their solicitors to make sure the finance side of any intergenerational transfer is viable and clearly structured. That includes exploring funding arrangements for the next generation to take on the farm, retirement income planning for the outgoing generation, and understanding how different farm structures affect borrowing capacity and security options.
When it comes to farm expansion, Mark conducts in-depth analysis of a farm's present gross income and costs per acre to clearly demonstrate its capacity to service additional debt before any commitment is made. He also helps clients think through the trade-offs between purchasing and leasing land, and how machinery finance fits within the broader picture of capital expenditure and cash flow.
Mark is a well-known and trusted figure in finance and sporting circles throughout the regions he serves. His long-standing community ties give him a genuine understanding of what farming families are working toward, and he approaches every conversation as a long-term partner, not just for a single transaction.
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ADRIAN ECKERMANN
OVER THE PAST 7 YEARS I HAVE WORKED WITH MARK,FIRSTLY WITH FINANCEFOR MACHINERY PURCHASES.THEN WE HAD A COUPLE OF DEATHS IN THE FARM STRUCTUREAND MARK WAS A GREAT HELP WITH OUR FAMILY AND WHAT WE WANTED TO ACHIVE MOVING FORWARD.I VALUE MARK'S KNOWLEDGE OF AGRICULTURE .FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT,DEALING WITH BANKS AND ACCOUNTANTS AND FAMILY BUSINESSES.I HIGHLY RECOMMENDMARK AT ALS.
Woolaco Ag
We have worked with Mark for over 15 years and he has been a great support to our family farm and business over that time. Our relationship with Mark started with financing individual pieces of equipment and has continued to grow from there. Today, Mark assists us with much more than just equipment finance, including negotiations within the banking sector, and has been instrumental in working through our family succession process. Mark is always willing to understand what we are trying to achieve and find a solution that works for us. We would recommend him to anyone, whether you're looking to finance one piece of equipment or need support with the more complex financial decisions involved in running and growing a farming business. We genuinely wouldn't be in the position we are today without Mark's expertise, advice and support over the years.
Miles Farms
We have worked with Mark for a number of years, initially with finance for machinery purchases and, more recently, as our focus has shifted to farm expansion and succession planning. Mark has taken the time to understand our business, our family and what each of us hopes for the future. He has guided us through the financial and succession planning process, working alongside our accountants, solicitors and banks when needed. What we value most is Mark’s practical and considered approach. He keeps things moving while allowing us to work through important decisions at a pace that feels right for our family. We are very grateful for Mark’s ongoing guidance and support and would highly recommend him to other farming families planning for the future.
R & K Hunter
Over the last decade, Mark has been an integral part of our family farming enterprise. His guidance, expertise, and support through his business offerings has given us the confidence to do what we do best, and continue to grow in an ever challenging environment. From initial equipment finance, through to full succession planning and implementation, including complete financial review and KPI analysis to satisfy the most stringent criteria, has given us a much fuller understanding of the financial matters that affect our operation, viability and profitability. His complete knowledge of the ag sector has lead us to developing a long term, inter-generational plan, that we would have not have thought about without his guidance and leadership. We can highly recommend his services to anyone that seeks stress-free options and advice, irrespective of the size of your operation.
Paul Leslie
We have worked with Mark for the past 7 years and he has been instrumental in helping us with expansion and forward planning our farming business. His understanding of agriculture, family businesses, financial management and dealing with banks has been invaluable. He's very personable and enjoyable to work with.
J&A Frankel
Since we began farming in 2002 our farm and how it operates has evolved significantly over the years, as has the business and financial side of farming, with many changes in how business is now conducted. When we came across Mark at ALS we were looking for someone who supports and understands the direction we wanted to take our business but also someone who takes the time consuming and hard work out of the preparation needed for conducting that business, especially when it came to financing. Mark has a wealth of knowledge which he has used to support our business with financial processes making them simple and stress free. We highly recommend Mark at ALS.
Areas Serviced
Specialties
Farm Machinery Finance
Farming Land Finance
Expansion Analysis
Succession Planning