Operating out of Feothanach, Co Kerry, Ó Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting is looking forward to what it hopes will be another busy summer down in the country’s south west. Irish Tractor Agri & Plant caught up with its Managing Director Eoin Ó Muircheartaigh to find out all about the company – from its origins to the state of business at the moment.
Business is good these days at Ó Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting and the plan for Eoin Ó Muircheartaigh is to try and keep things that way right through to 2023.
Established in 2016, the company offers its customers services in Slurry spreading with trailing shoe, Agitating, Ploughing, Land levelling, Spraying, Square baling, Hay turning and Topping, to name but a few.
It goes without saying that the summer time is the busiest period for this west Kerry-based venture, with staff numbers getting up to seven to help deal with the workload during those months.
Irish Tractor Agri & Plant spoke with Eoin Ó Muircheartaigh to hear more on the company which has been growing year on year since its inception six years ago.
“Silage baling is our bread and butter here and we’d be very busy with it in the summer,” he outlined.
“We do everything from baling to wrapping to agitating, re-seeding, ploughing, spraying and topping. We offer everything for our customers more or less and they know they can trust us to be there for them when they need us.”
Also a part of the team is Eoin’s father Jack Ó Muircheartaigh – a man himself who has been involved in the agricultural industry for decades now.
The family runs a farm of beef and sheep on 130 acres in the townland of Feothanach and it’s an enterprise which continues to go strong to this day, having been set-up by Jack Ó Muircheartaigh what now seems like a lifetime ago.
These past two years have been like no other for businesses throughout Ireland, with the Covid-19 pandemic and the government lockdowns which followed to try and combat the spread of the virus having a telling impact.
Eoin is glad to report that the pandemic did not have as much an effect on Ó Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting as other companies and, half a dozen years in, it’s very much business as usual at the present time.
“We’re just starting to kick off now coming up to summer,” he outlined.
“We’ve had a bit of slurry work recently, but nothing hectic, so we’re just gearing up for what will hopefully be another busy summer season.
“To be honest, we weren’t really hit that much by Covid. We were kept going throughout it but the biggest problem at the moment for us is the price of diesel.
“Everybody is taking a hit with it and hopefully the price will level out sooner rather than later.”
As for the company’s fleet, last year saw a new addition made which has been earning rave reviews ever since.
As Eoin pointed out, baling is very much Ó Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting’s “bread and butter” and the new McHale Fusion 3 baler that they’ve brought in is set for a busy couple months ahead this summer.
“We’ve four John Deeres here and also purchased a new McHale Fusion 3 Plus last year that has been a great job for us since. We’re very happy with it,” he said.
“We picked it up from Noonan’s Farm Machinery and it has been a great addition and with the John Deere, we have always found them the most reliable tractor out there.
“We buy them off Geary’s Garage and they give us a great the back-up service. If anything ever goes wrong, they’re always there.”
From modest beginnings with just a single tractor and a baler, Eoin’s company has grown steadily over the past six years and that growth continues.
This past saw February saw the company featured on the popular TG4 programme ‘Contractors’.
The series itself spans seven episodes and is an observational entertainment-based documentary programme which looks at the lives of seven agricultural contracting families on and off the land, across Ireland between the months of April and September.
The experience “was great” according to Ó Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting’s Managing Director, who was happy to see the company getting some exposure on national television.
“It was very good, I have to say,” Eoin reflected. “To have them here filming was a good bit of craic and the experience itself was great.
“Hopefully, it gave a good insight to what we do here.”
Six years on from its establishment, the burning question is what has been the secret to success for Ó Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting?
How has a small start-up grown into a thriving venture which now holds an excellent reputation amongst its clients?
For Eoin, it’s been all about establishing trust with his customers from ‘Day One’.
“If you have your word, it’s the main thing,” he said. “We will be there when they want us to be and another thing is that we take pride in our work and doing a good job for them.”
Looking towards the coming months, Eoin himself is eager for another busy summer season and one which is set to further enhance Ó Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting’s reputation as a both an excellent and reliable contractor in the country’s south west.
“We’re definitely looking forward to summer. The closer we get to it, the bigger the urge is to get going and the only real dampener on it is the price of everything at the moment,” he concluded.
O Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting
Feothanach,
Curragraigue,
Tralee,
Co Kerry
Mobile: 087 123 1207
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 4, July/August 2022
O Muircheartaigh Agri Contracting
