Celebrating 25 years in business, Wauchope Agri Contractors is a leading Co. Donegal-based agri contracting business specialising in pit and baled silage, umbilical slurry spreading, ploughing, harvesting and soil preparation.
The business grew from the Wauchope family carrying out their own tillage work on their 300-acre farm near Castlefinn, which is located in the Finn Valley between Ballybofey and Lifford. While Robert Wauchope continues to run the beef and tillage enterprise, his sons William and Kenneth look after the agri contracting end of things.
“Kenneth and I wanted to stay in farming after leaving school, but there wasn’t enough work for us on the farm,” William recalls.
“So one day, our father went to an auction, bought some machinery and the contracting business took off from there. The two enterprises are run side-by-side and we continue to look after our own contracting needs as well as those of our customers. Our father finishes about 700 cattle a year. They are a mixture of store bulls and bullocks which are kept indoors all year round.
“Traditionally, we have grown grain for our own stock and for the local Clonleigh Co-Op. But in the last two years, we have started growing maize for a small number of customers, including one who has an anaerobic digester. We grew 200 acres of maize the first year and 400 acres last year. If the demand is there, we will sow 400 acres or more this year. The maize has gone well for us so far and last year we invested in a four-row Samco maize planter which will hopefully get plenty of use again this year.”
Committed to providing a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, Wauchope Agri Contractors have 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.
Their longevity and success can be attributed to the knowledge, skill and expertise of their staff as well as the quality of their machinery. William, Kenneth and their highly-skilled team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
The brothers run a modern fleet of 11 tractors which include a Fendt 939, a John Deere 6195R, four John Deere 6155Rs, a John Deere 6140R, a John Deere 6150M, two John Deere 6930 and a slighter older New Holland 8560.
At the time of writing, the Wauchopes were looking forward to taking delivery of a brand-new John Deere 6145 from Agri-Power in Lifford.
As far as grass machinery is concerned, they have a Claas Jaguar 870 harvester, Claas 9200 triple mowers, two McHale Fusion 3 Plus balers, Claas 2900 rake and a new 50ft Claas 3600 rake. They also run two umbilical systems, two 4,000-gallon Herron tankers, a 2,750-gallon Herron tanker and a 2,000-gallon Red Rock tanker. Other machinery includes six Herron H2 silage trailers, a John Deere 27m precision sprayer (GPS mapping with boom sensors), two four-furrow ploughs, one five-furrow reversible plough and a Muldoon agri bulk-blowing trailer which is used to deliver meal to local farmers on behalf of Clonleigh Co-Op.
The business has certainly come a long way since Robert Wauchope got the ball rolling when he purchased a RP12 Welger baler a quarter of a century ago.
“We haven’t looked back since then,” William proudly states.
All machines are regularly maintained and serviced to avoid any breakdowns or downtime. There is no such thing as a quiet time for the Wauchopes who will literally work around the clock at peak times to keep their clients happy. They retain long-time customers and attract new ones by providing a professional, reliable, friendly, clean and value-for-money service.
“We’re based on the border and do a lot of work in north Donegal and Tyrone, within a 15-mile radius of Castlefinn. We’re lucky in that over the years we have built up a long list of loyal customers who call on us for a lot of repeat business. We have hardly ever lost a customer.
“We pride ourselves in providing an efficient service and when the weather allows, we will work 24/7. Our father has always told us never be afraid to try new ventures. Reliability is a big thing in this game and locally we’re hard to beat,” the hard-working contractor adds.
William concludes by thanking his customers for their continued support:
“If it wasn’t for their loyalty, we wouldn’t be here today. We are fortunate to have so many great customers who have stuck by us through thick and thin. We would also like to pay tribute to our brilliant, hard-working staff and to the machinery dealerships and mechanics we deal with on a regular basis.”
Here’s to the next 25 years of Wauchope Agri Contractors!
Wauchope Agri Contractors
Gortfad,
Castlefinn,
Co Donegal.
Telephone: 087 2703519 / 087 7907392
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 8 No 2, Summer 2020
