Donohue Agri & Haulage Ltd is a leading agricultural contracting firm based near Gort in Co. Galway. Also providing a milk collection service for Kerry Agribusiness, the family-run concern has been successfully trading for almost 20 years.
Donohue Agri & Haulage Ltd was formed by Declan Donohue in 1998, but his father and fellow company director Paddy has been in the agri contracting and haulage business for a lot longer. Paddy began offering a contracting service to local farmers in 1981 with a Ford 4000 tractor, trailer and a second-hand square baler. Three years later, he invested in a new John Deere 342A square baler. That was followed in early 1991 by the purchase of a Welger RP200 round baler, a Tanco wrapper, a Kuhn conditioner mower and a Conor slurry tanker and agitator.
All the while Paddy provided a milk collection service for Kerry Agribusiness (formerly Golden Vale) in the Gort / Crusheen area. The Donohue’s continue to draw milk to the Kerry Agribusiness creameries in Charleville and Listowel (Ballyduff) on a twice-daily basis.
The South Galway firm has grown over the years to offer a complete agri contracting service, including baling, wrapping, slurry spreading, reseeding, hedge cutting, fertiliser shaking, drawing in and stacking bales and excavation / drainage work as well as cattle haulage.
Committed to providing a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, Donohue Agri & Haulage Ltd has an array of machinery to carry out your work quickly and efficiently, providing you with value-for-money and an alternative to investing in your own expensive equipment. The company’s success can be attributed to the knowledge, skill and expertise of its staff, as well as the quality of its machinery. Declan, Paddy and their professional team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from the agricultural contracting partner.
The Donohue’s run a fleet of eight tractors – five John Deere, two New Holland and one Renault. The John Deere models are 6610, 6820, 6920, 6115R and 6155R. The New Hollands are a T7200 and a T5135 with a Renault Temis 50 completing the fleet.
Other plant / equipment operated by the company include three 2,500-gallon Conor slurry tankers, a Slurry Mate umbilical system, three Taarup mowers, two McHale round balers (an extra McHale Fusion baler will be added soon), an Amazone one-pass seeder, three hedge cutters (two McConnel and one Spearhead), a new Hyundai 140 digger and a Volvo articulated truck which is used for the milk run.
“We make between 20 and 25,000 round bales a year,” zDeclan says.
“We bought our John Deere tractors from Geary’s in Clarecastle. Geary’s provide a great service. Laurence runs the show there. The new digger was purchased from George Whelan in Barefield. The umbilical system, which we bought directly from Slurry Mate in Cavan, has proven to be a very good investment because of the amount of wet ground in the area. It rains all-year round, meaning the land rarely gets a chance to fully dry out.”
All machines are upgraded regularly to avoid breakdowns and downtime. Service and maintenance is carried out both in-house and by Paul Niland, who is a great asset to local contractors. There is no such thing as a quiet time for this highly-regarded agri contractor. In the early part of the year, the focus is on slurry spreading and reseeding. The baling season starts in May and runs until September. This is a particularly busy time for the Donohue’s who take on part-time staff and work long hours to keep their clients happy. Hedge cutting and slurry spreading take precedence in the autumn. For the past three years, they have had a contract with Colas-Roadbridge to maintain the roadside grass verges on the M18 which runs from the outskirts of Limerick City to Gort. Donohue Agri & Haulage Ltd also works for Galway and Clare County Councils on a regular basis.
The father-and-son team are also part-time farmers as Declan explains: “We farm about 300 acres of mostly rented land, keeping suckler cows and dry stock, and baling silage and hay which is supplied to local farmers.”
The affable agri contractor is full of praise for his staff, adding: “We have six full-time drivers / machine operators who are excellent at what they do. Bookkeeping is a very important part of any business and Bernie Fahy excels in this regard. My wife Aoife is a great help, especially during the busy summer months. We also enjoy a very good working relationship with Paul and Collie McAllen of McAllen Agri Contractors.”
The Donohue family has had a long association with the Kilbeacanty Hurling Club which is situated a few miles from Gort. Declan continues to line out for the club’s junior ‘C’ team at the age of 39, while Paddy played hurling until the ripe old age of 53! Kilbeacanty’s most famous player was the Galway All-Ireland winning midfielder Steve Mahon, who Paddy soldiered alongside for many years.
Covering a wide area in South Galway and North Clare, Donohue Agri & Haulage Ltd prides itself on its professional, reliable, quality, value-for-money and clean service.
“Since setting up the company nearly 20 years ago, we have retained the same customers and gained many along the way. A lot of cowboys have come and gone in the meantime. We are committed to providing an unrivalled service and going the extra mile for our customers, whose busy we greatly value.
“We would also like to thank the local suppliers who provide good credit during quieter times.”
Donohue Agri & Haulage Ltd
Kilbeacanty,
Gort,
Co. Galway.
Telephone: 087 2638642
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 2, March 2017
