Grovemount Livestock is a family-run business providing livestock haulage services throughout Ireland and the UK. Earlier this year, the Parks family opened a state-of-the-art EU approved export assembly centre at their Co. Tyrone premises in Castlecaulfield, which is four miles from Dungannon.
Located beside another EU approved export assembly centre which they opened in 2006, the new centre facilitates the export of Holstein/Friesian calves from Northern Ireland to Spain. Alan and Derek Parks, and their father David, have invested in a specifically designed facility which can hold up to 350 calves or a smaller number of weanlings and larger cattle.
The assembly centre meets all the management and welfare needs of stock. The animals can be bedded and fed in conditions that maximise their comfort levels. It is designed in such a way that the off-loading and onward shipping can be achieved in the minimal amount of time or without putting stress on the stock or the team of operators at the centre. Teemore Engineering was enlisted to design, manufacture and install the penning, gating and feeding system in consultation with Grovemount Livestock.
The facility is used be Seamus Scallan of the Wicklow Cattle Company who exports approximately 300 Holstein/Friesian calves to Spain every fortnight. Seamus buys the calves from farmers throughout Northern Ireland which are delivered to the centre on a Thursday evening. Each is then checked by a vet and certified as fit for export. The calves are fed twice – on the evening of their arrival and the following morning – before they are loaded onto Wicklow Cattle Company’s lorry and exported to Spain.
Grovemount Livestock is a third generation family business which was established in 1951 by Alan Parks Snr. Following Alan’s death in 1986, his sons David and Stanley took over the business. In 1996 Stanley relocated to Scotland. While David is still heavily involved in the business, his sons Alan and Derek have been directing operations since 2006. Tom Bowen works full-time with Grovemount Livestock, who also employ other staff on a part-time basis.
As well as providing an unrivalled livestock transport service, the Parks are suppliers of straw (barley and wheat) and woodchip. The straw is drawn from farms in Carlow and north Co. Dublin each autumn and sold to farmers across Northern Ireland for bedding purposes.
Grovemount offers its customers a complete livestock transport service as Alan Parks explains: “We look after the whole process for farmers. As we have many beef finishers among our customers, we have a lot of dealings with the factories, including Linden Foods and Dunbia here in Dungannon.
“We also transport cattle to Scotland and other parts of the UK mainland. When it comes to exporting cattle or calves to the Continent, we look after all the paperwork and certify the animals as fit for export at our assembly centres. Our original assembly centre was one of the first to be opened after the EU lifted the BSE ban on British beef exports in 2006. Our job is to make life as easy as possible for our customers.”
Grovemount Livestock’s location beside the new A4 Dungannon to Ballygawley dual carriageway and the M1 means it can be easily accessed from any part of the North.
“Our central location in Northern Ireland means there is no part of the province more than an hour-and-a-half’s drive away. We are also within each of the South, with the border being only a few short miles away,” Alan says.
The Parks run four trucks – three Scania and one Volvo. With their eye-catching red and white livery, the trucks are always immaculately turned out. The family also owns two double-deck Houghton Parkhouse trailers and two single-deck trailers, which are 45ft and 31ft in length. In addition, they also have three flatbeds for drawing straw and a bulk trailer for transporting woodchip.
Grovemount prides itself in providing a professional livestock transport service which comes from nearly 65 years’ experience in the business. Every animal is transported with great care, guaranteeing a safe and comfortable journey. A strong emphasis on animal welfare ensures that cattle are stress-free during their journey. The Parks understand the needs of the livestock they are transporting. Each driver holds a certificate of competence and has many years of experience in livestock handling.
And it goes without saying that the trailers are cleaned and disinfected thoroughly after every trip.
Alan concludes by saying: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for their support over the years. Some of them have been with us since our grandfather’s time, so we must be doing something right! We look forward to providing them with the same great service for many more years to come.”
Grovemount Livestock
3 Reaskmore Road,
Dungannon,
Co. Tyrone BT701RR
Telephone: 028 87761888
Mobile: 077 92038113 (Alan)
or 077 92332260 (Derek)
E: [email protected]
www.grovemountlivestock.co.uk
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 5, June 2015
