Hughes Brothers Agri have been providing unrivalled contracting services for more than four decades. We travelled to the fertile terrain of Ballinkillen in County Carlow and touched base with Philip Hughes to find out more about this highly-regarded family-run enterprise.
Specialists in wagon silage, self-propelled silage and baling & wrapping, Hughes Brothers Agri are renowned near and far for providing a range of agri contracting services to exceptionally high standards.
As it’s a family operation first and foremost, attention to detail and a personal touch are guaranteed on every job. The fact that the Hughes family have been contracting for 43 years means that they boast a wealth of experience and now-how, backed up by a strong work ethic and an outstanding fleet of fresh and well-maintained equipment. The cherry on top is that they are farmers themselves – so they have an innate understanding of exactly what their customers want!
“We grew up on the family farm, which was run by our parents, Dermot and Maeve, and always had a great interest in it,” reflects Philip Hughes, who started the contracting business in conjunction with his brother, Vincent. “We started off doing spraying first, then baling hay and then straw.
“We built it up gradually, bought a combine and went at the silage and it developed from there.”
Silage is the predominant activity today, as well as some tillage work – ploughing; sowing corn, maize and beet; cutting corn, etc.
The striking fleet of seven tractors includes three John Deere 6920s, one John Deere 6910 and a Valtra T191, while the latest additions are a pair of superb Claas tractors purchased brand new from Kellys of Borris in 2016. “We’re very pleased with them,” says Philip. “We use them for ploughing, drawing silage, baling and general tillage work … you couldn’t ask for better machines and Kellys give us great back-up service.”
Philip is ably assisted in the running of the family business by his brother Vincent, son Philip Jnr. and nephew David (Vincent’s son), with additional casual help also enlisted during busy season.
Complementing the tractors is a truly stunning selection of gear, including three combines – a John Deere CTS, New Holland TX66 and New Holland TX32 – as well as three 24ft Smyth trailers, three 20ft trailers and a Strautmann silage wagon.
There’s also a Claas Jaguar 870 forage harvester and two maize sowers – one with plastic and one without – as well as a McHale baler and Taarup butterfly mowers. “We also run a 435 JCB, 414 JCB and 526 JCB teleporter,” Philip continues. “We have six-metre and three-metre Kuhn power harrow drills, a twelve-row beet sower and a two-row beet harvester as well as a couple of Kverneland ploughs, two Class liner rakes and a Goweil bale wrapper.
“We keep them all in good nick around the clock. The two new Claas tractors came with 5,000-hour warranties, which is very good. We try to do as much of the maintenance work as we can ourselves, and we also get a lot of help from local man Damien Whitford as well as the local dealers.
“We buy our combines off Frank Jenkinson Farm Machinery because he brings in great machinery, while the back-up service from Kellys of Borris is simply second no none. My son, Gary, actually works in the stores there, so that comes in handy!”
In terms of the catchment area covered, Hughes Brothers Agri normally keep within a 20-mile radius for silage and go as far as Shillelagh in County Wicklow for maize (32 miles, approximately).
Philip admits that the summer gone by was a particularly hectic one, even for an experienced and meticulously-organised contractor…
“It all came at once at the end of July and we were flat out but it’s been a very good year in general,” he says. “We were trying to cut corn, cut silage, pick up silage and bale silage all at the same time and it was crazy for a while. But we got there in the end. There was a lot of organising to do and we made sure all our customers were looked after.”
Indeed, when it comes to looking after farmers, nobody does it better. The key to the prevailing success of Hughes Brothers Agri? “Efficiency is number one,” says Philip, without hesitation. “And to be there when you say you are going to be there. Farmers aren’t going to wait around or stay with you if you waste their time. We’re always prompt, efficient and dependable and having good machinery is also a big part of this. You need good gear to get through the work economically and quickly.”
Being farmers themselves is an added bonus as it means the Hughes brothers and their sons understand implicitly the requirements of their customers. “Vincent owns the original home farm now and I bought 45 adjoining acres 25 years ago and also inherited a farm in Graiguenamanagh. So we now have 165 acres between us, tillage and grass. Vincent keeps 45 sucklers and we rear 150 calves a year, selling them on after twelve months.
“We do conacre, too, and have 300 acres of winter barley, winter wheat and spring barley.”
On the contracting end of things, Hughes Brothers are doing around 1,800 acres of silage per year plus 250 acres of wholeccrop and 450 acres of maize. They’re busy but times are always worrying due to downward pressure on farmers’ margins, with costs rising and incomes dropping.
“It’s very difficult for the farmer now because costs have gone so high they’re crippling everyone,” Philip concludes. “If the farmer was getting a little bit more money for what he’s producing there’d be no bother. The dairy man is the only man making money at the moment but they had a bad year so hopefully things will improve across the board for farmers in 2018.”
A sentiment no doubt echoed by all readers of this magazine!
Hughes Brothers Agri,
Ballinkillen,
Bagenalstown,
County Carlow.
Tel: 087 2507264
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 1, February 2018
