The health and safety and wellbeing of animals is paramount in modern society as there are regulations and legislation in place to look after the welfare of all livestock.
It has been found that the better the surroundings, the more cattle, sheep or pigs thrive and there is an increase in production for farmers. There is much more of an emphasis on where animals are kept these days as farmers look to get the best out of their livestock.
Housing solutions for farm yards come in a variety of forms and one of the top companies in Ireland producing these sort of products is Condon Engineering Ltd.
This Louth based company specialises in Livestock Housing Solutions and has been designing, manufacturing and supplying quality and innovative products to the agriculture sectors for over 30 years.
Located in Collon Business Park, Collon, Co Louth, the family run business has developed a quality service that has seen its customer base continually grow over the years.
As many farmers come from a long line of family involved in the agricultural industry, the need to upgrade their facilities has become a necessity and when it comes to the housing solutions for their animals then then are very few businesses that can rival Condon Engineering.
Established in the late eighties by Tom Condon, this growing concern has evolved into a major business from humble beginnings.
“We are a family run business based in Co Louth that designs and manufactures high quality livestock products,” said Tom’s son Jason who along with his brothers Keith and Graham help their father run business on a daily basis.
In the early 1980’s, Tom found that it was too dear to buy cow cubicles and he started making them for his own farm. His local Teagasc representative him to go into business full time and following some consideration, that’s exactly what he done and since then this has led to supplying products throughout Ireland and beyond. Today, Condon Engineering employs over 35 staff. “Coming from a farming background, we pride ourselves on having a great understanding of our customers’ needs,” added Jason.
Condon Engineering designs, manufactures and supplies such products as cattle crushers, cubicles, cattle drinkers, feeding barriers, dividing gates, etc to not only the Irish market, but further afield as well.
“We would have an extensive product range and our design team are always looking at new products and modifications that we can make to existing ones. Our customer base would be mixed in that we would have retail and trade customers both here in Ireland and the U.K.
“We work with the customer and help advise them if they are unsure of exactly what they want. We would manufacture 95% of our products and buy in a small bit. Suiting the customers’ needs is our priority and something that we strive to do all the time.”
Jason stressed that they are always looking at ways of improving not only the product range, but the service that they provide to their customers also.
“You cannot rest on your laurels in this business and you have to be always pushing forward and looking at ways to improve in all areas. We are looking at the possibility of developing a range of field gates at present as well as other products.
“Whatever the farmer needs, we have the solution for it. There is a skilled workforce here, many of who have been with the company for years.”
As mentioned earlier, health and safety is paramount and there are certain criteria to be met when producing products for livestock housing.
“All our products are galvanised and this is not just more practical but it is for animal safety as well, given some of the paints that can be used. It last longer and is a lot safer. A company in Dublin does all our galvanising for us.”
The fact that the Condon family still farm 150 cattle gives them an edge over some of their competitors as they have a greater knowledge of what the customer actually wants.
“Up until about ten years ago, we were milking 100 cows, but the business took off so much that there just wasn’t the time to keep both going, so we have finishing cattle now.
“My father started this business knowing what he wanted for his farm and that is something we are continuing to do today, experimenting and looking at ways to improve the service.”
Condon Engineering Ltd
Unit 5, Unit 6,
Kells Rd,
Collon,
Co. Louth.
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 9, October 2015
