Given the expensive nature of farming machinery many farmers turn to contractors to carry out their annual harvesting and other work that is carried out every year.
Agricultural contractors play an integral role in the day to day running of farms and farmers turn to them to carry out much of the work they need done.
From slurry work in the winter and early spring, to silage, baling and wrapping, there are many services that the agricultural contractor covers.
The majority of the work carried out is weather dependent and usually for contractors, the time constraints work around the heavy rain fall we generally experience in Ireland.
Kerry based Kieran Galvin has been in business since 2013, and has been out on his own as Kieran Galvin Agri Contracting doing their own baling since 2017, with four seasons done now.
From humble beginnings, Kieran has swiftly grown the business over the past four years, which has seen his fleet of machinery grow in order to allow him provide a wider range of services to his ever-increasing customer base.
They have a wide range 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.
Kieran has at his disposal, a superb fleet of tractors and agricultural machinery which he has assembled and maintained painstakingly and meticulously in the last few years, always mindful of the fact that a modern fleet would provide key efficiencies and in turn a better service to clients.
A tremendous investment of personal care and attention to detail goes into every job, allied to an innate understanding of the land and a steely determination to get the job done right – and on time – every time!
Kieran and his team provide a wide range of services including silage, round baling, slurry and fencing work.
“I started out working with another contractor,” said the Ballyferriter based contractor. I bought a tractor and loader and was doing work for him before I bought a Fusion 2 baler and decided to go out on my own.
“I’ve had no regrets since and the customer base is growing all the time. Most of the customers would be there for the past four years and I’m delighted that they have stayed with me.”
The fleet of tractors is made up of four John Deeres, two 6630s, a 6830 and a 7530 with loaders on three of them –clocking up over 3,500k hours between them each season.
“It is important to keep investing and keep the machinery fresh. The tractors would be bought from various locations as I find it best to shop around.”
Maintenance wise, Kieran revealed that he does all his own servicing and basic maintenance, He gets all his parts for tractors from Geary’s Garage in Limerick who are the closest John Deere dealer.
Like the majority of agricultural contractors, Kieran’s customer base is not too far from his homestead in Ballyferriter.
“The customer base would be within a 15-mile radius of here. It would be good dry ground in general as well, which allows us to get the work done, although it is very weather dependent. We had a very good start to the year and I suppose it hasn’t been a bad year in that regard.”
Kieran is keen to grow the business further and is looking at other services to provide, but for the time being, the focus is on ensuring that the customers he has are happy with the service that he provides.
“The increase in the customer base has steadied out in the last two years and the aim is to hold on to what we have. I have three guys with me part-time and they are good-experienced lads. They come and help out when needed, which is great.”
Coming from a farming background, Kieran understands the needs of his customers and uses that understanding to provide the best service possible.
“We do try and get in and get the job done as quickly as possible and get through as much work as possible when the weather permits. When that window of opportunity arises, you have to put the work in and I think our customers realise that we do that.
“I would like to thanks all the customers for their continued support. Also thanks to all the staff, friends and family who make it a happy environment to work in and we are all looking forward to the new season ahead.”
Kieran is not short of things to do as if he is not busy doing the agricultural work, then he is at home on the farm.
“I took over the farm from my father this year. We have 35 suckler cows and I hope to increase that to 40 next year all going well. I would be kept going alright, the summer months are generally the busiest, but it is good to be that way and hopefully we can grow even further.”
Contact Details:
Kieran Galvin Agri Contracting
Leathive Beag,
Ballyferriter
Co Kerry
Mob: 0879142268
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 2, March/April 2021
Kieran Galvin Agri Contracting
