One of Ireland’s leading distributors of wood shavings for the past 45 years, McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd in Newbliss, Co. Monaghan is now supplying straw chip which is an increasingly popular form of animal bedding.
The idea to supply straw chip, or milled straw as it’s also known, came about during the Covid-19 lockdown when sawmills were forced to close their doors. This had a knock-on effect on the wood shavings sector and prompted Sean McPhillips of McPhillips Woodshavings to explore alternative forms of animal bedding.
“We dabbled a bit in it during Covid,” he recalls.
“We got a local agri contractor with a self-propelled harvester to chop up some straw for us. But the idea was parked as soon as the sawmills reopened. There was a pent-up demand for wood shavings and we were extremely with that up until last year when the timber mills got quiet again. It was at that point that we renewed our interest in straw chip.”
Sean invested in a Haybuster straw chopper which is able to break down large straw bales into 10 and 20mm chips. The dust is extracted and the end product is a highly absorbent animal bedding.
“Our poultry clients, in particular, have really taken to it. It’s an alternative to timber-based bedding, while it can also be mixed with wood shavings. A lot of the straw we’re using is coming from the UK because of the poor harvest we had here in Ireland last year. While wood shavings and sawdust are still our main products, straw chip is growing in popularity. We’re looking at another machine from Ken Mills Engineering which would allow us to increase production.”
Sean adds: “You won’t survive in this business if you’re not prepared to diversify and try different things.”
Established in 1979 by Sean’s late father John and mother Maeve, McPhillips Woodshavings has earned an enviable reputation for supplying quality bedding to the poultry, equestrian and dairy sectors nationwide. Its wood-based products are 100% pure white softwood kiln-dried shavings, with no recycled materials or MDF content. Every bale is dust extracted and composed of clean dry softwood, making it an excellent choice for animal bedding.
McPhillips Woodshavings insists on a consistent quality of bales and this is achieved through an advanced production and control process, providing an ultra-compressed bale using state-of-the-art equipment. Every single 25kg bale is vacuum-packed using a weather-proof, heavy gauge plastic cover which is then heat-sealed. Bales are then built on a 36-strong pallet, which is in turn wrapped and protected from all weather conditions.
Shavings are readily available in bales or bulk, and sawdust can also be provided in bags or in bulk. The benefits of McPhillips’ wood shavings are manifold: quality-assured poultry bedding offers biosecurity, excellent absorption, comfort, hygiene and better crop results; sawdust is super absorbent, ideal for cow mats and offers a practical and value-for-money solution; equestrian shavings boast excellent soakage and absorption properties and are also soft, comfortable and easy to muck out.
Sean is supported in the long-established family business by his wife Laura and a small but dedicated team who work out of its state-of-the-art Drumloo South facility. McPhillips Woodshavings has three Scania artics on the road and is planning on adding a rigid and drag trailer in the near future for collecting straw from the UK.
“Unfortunately, straw is very hard to come by in Ireland at the moment, but we try to shop local and source our products locally as much as we can,” the affable managing director says.
The Co. Monaghan company’s customers include Manor Farm, Grove Turkeys and Western Brand Chicken, while its main suppliers are ECC Timber Products in Corr na Mona, Co. Galway, Glennon Brothers in Longford and Agnew & Co in Redhill, Co. Cavan.
Looking back on the history of the business, Sean – who took over operations in 2010 – states: “My father had broiler chickens and was also farming beef cattle. He found that it was very difficult to get a good supply of quality shavings so he started getting them himself from Agnew & Co.
“They just had a small mill at the time and as they grew, so did we. He started using those shavings on his own farm and soon enough other poultry growers in the locality were making enquiries about them and he realised that there could be a business opportunity there, so he started supplying them.
“From there, we branched out and got into different timber mills in Dublin, Galway and Clare, and started bringing the shavings back to Monaghan for distribution.
“One thing led to another and the business kept growing. He started to supply Grove Turkeys and then Western Brand in Mayo also came on board. We picked up more and more customers before getting into the equestrian side of things.”
For Sean, the business model is simple but very effective.
“We take the shavings from the timber mills and distribute them into the poultry farms and other clients,” he outlines.
“We have our own baler in situ at Agnew & Co, baling the 25kg packs, which are popular with equestrian centres for topping up etc. As well as poultry farms and equestrian centres, we also supply dairy farmers with sawdust, straw and bales of shavings. The poultry sector is very vibrant at the moment. Chicken is still a cheap meat.”
As for things on the home farm, Sean still keeps three chicken sheds with some 175,000 broiler chickens inside them. Those chickens are sold to Manor Farm and more recently, the McPhillips’ family have planted 120 acres of forestry which will be ready for harvesting in about 20 years.
As this exceptional family business celebrates 45 years in business, Sean would like to take this opportunity to thank his clients and suppliers for their continued support as well as his team for their hard work, dedication and expertise.
McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd
Drumloo South,
Newbliss,
Co. Monaghan.
Telephone: 047 548 18
Mobile: 086 884 4027
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.mcphillipsshavings.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 12 No 1, March/April 2024
