In 2005, Farm Credit East initiated a program to support talented, hardworking individuals entering agriculture. FarmStart assists beginning farmers and new cooperatives through their startup years by providing working capital investments of up to $50,000 to get their business off the ground. The investment functions the same as an operating line of credit. It is intended to provide the critical last dollar of funding to overcome the timing mismatch that makes it difficult for true startup farming operations to generate working capital. Repayment of these funds is up to five years.