Celebrating 25 years in business, Martin Walsh Agri is a leading agricultural contractor in the Claremorris area. Among the services he offers to local farmers are pit silage, baled silage, umbilical slurry spreading, grass reseeding, tillage, hedge cutting, crop spraying and fertiliser spreading.
Committed to providing a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, Martin 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 Co. Mayo contractor’s longevity and success can be attributed to the knowledge, experience, skill and reliability of his staff as well as the quality of his machinery. Martin and his highly-skilled team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
Martin decided to make a living out of agri contracting after he used to cut his own silage with a single chop Taurus on his suckler farm outside Claremorris. He quickly built up a loyal customer-base in Claremorris and the surrounding area.
“We’ve always been busy,” he declares.
“We have a lot of great, long-term customers who are a mix of dairy, beef and sheep farmers. Most of them do two cuts of silage a year and some do three. We work within a 10-mile radius of Claremorris, taking in places like Knock and Bekan. It wouldn’t pay us to go any further with the price of diesel. We pride ourselves on our service, modern machinery and staff. We’re reliable and won’t see anyone stuck.”
Martin runs three John Deere and two Fendt tractors. The John Deere’s are a 6155R, which is the newest in the fleet, a 6830 and a 6330, while the Fendt’s are a 720 and 718. He deals with Murphy Agri Machinery for John Deere and with McHale Farm Machinery in Kilmaine for Fendt.
His grass equipment includes front and trailed Kverneland conditioner mowers which are powered by the Fendt 718, a Malone silage wagon, two McHale Fusion balers, a McHale rake, a Broughan 24ft bale trailer and a JCB 414 loading shovel on the pit.
The affable Claremorris man recently invested in a new Mastek umbilical system which boasts 1,000 metres of piping. The system goes hand-in-hand with his two Major slurry tankers (2,600 and 2,400 gallons) and Abbey 2,250-gallon tanker.
Other machines operated by Martin include a Kverneland four-furrow reversible plough, an Amazone Catros disc harrow, an Amazone 3-metre power harrow with pneumatic seed drill, a Gaysa sprayer, a Rauch fertiliser spreader and a McConnel 6565T hedge cutter.
All machines are maintained and serviced regularly to avoid breakdowns and downtime. The fleet is maintained both inhouse and by John Egan of Egan Tractors in Kilkelly.
“I do most of the maintenance and repairs myself and also use John Egan from time to time. John is a John Deere mechanic who knows them inside out,” Martin says.
There is no such thing as a quiet time for this highly-regarded contractor who will work around the clock at busy times and take on extra staff if needs be to keep clients happy. Slurry spreading, ploughing, fertilising and sowing takes precedence in the early part of the year, followed by pit and baled silage during the summer months. After that comes more slurry spreading and hedge cutting.
No job is too big or small for Martin who retains long-term customers and attracts new ones by offering a professional, reliable, clean and value-for-money service. Like all agri contractors, his schedule is dictated by the weather. “We’re at the mercy of the weather all the time. You have to make hay while the sun shines.”
Martin is full of praise for the support he receives from his silage crew and family. His brother Mark helps out along with cousins and friends. Martin’s wife Kathleen is also a tremendous support to him, while their two boys Liam (11) and Oisin (nine) aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in either!
“It’s a real family affair and I’m delighted to see the two young lads showing an interest. It would be nice to be able to pass the business on to them when they’re older.”
Martin would like to take this opportunity to thank his customers and suppliers for their continued support.
Here’s to the next 25 years of this well-run agri contracting business!
Martin Walsh Agri
Rockfield,
Claremorris,
Co. Mayo.
Telephone: 086 8333573
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 1, January/February 2022
