From humble beginnings in 2006, Mohan Agri in Robinstown, Navan has grown into one of the leading silage, maize and slurry contractors in Co. Meath.
An old head on young shoulders, Stephen Mohan hasn’t looked back since starting the business as a 19-year-old. Through constant investment in machinery and sheer hard work, he provides an exceptional contracting service to customers across the Royal County, specialising in pit silage, slurry spreading, maize whole crop and reseeding.
Committed to providing superior service and complete customer satisfaction, Stephen 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 contracting firm’s success can be attributed to the knowledge, experience, skill and expertise of its staff as well as the quality of its machinery. Stephen and his highly-skilled and highly-motivated team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
“My father Bernard came to Meath from Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh to work as a farm manager. He did that for 35 years up until his retirement a few years ago,” Stephen explains.
“I was one of three children born to him and my mother Jackie. I always had an interest in farming and, after starting out doing an agri engineering degree which I ended up not liking, I bought my first tractor – a John Deere 6920S – from Meath Farm Machinery in Kilberry and worked for a local potato man. Thankfully, I haven’t had any regrets.”
Fast forward 17 years and Stephen is still dealing with Meath Farm Machinery for all his John Deere needs. He now runs one of the most modern and stunning fleets of John Deere tractors in the country along with state-of-the-art grass, slurry and tillage equipment.
“We have six John Deere 175Rs, including two new ones which we’re taking delivery of in January. We’re trading in a 6210R for one of them which means we are going from eight tractors to nine. We’re also running two 6250Rs and a 6R145. We’ve stayed loyal to John Deere thanks to their reliability, comfort and fuel economy,” he says.
Stephen’s grass machinery includes a 2022 John Deere 9700i self-propelled forage harvester with a whole crop head and a 12-row maize head, two Fendt Tigo forage wagons (PR60 and XR75) which were purchased from Farmworks Machinery in Ballyboughal, two sets of John Deere butterfly mowers (a third set has been ordered from Meath Farm Machinery for 2024), four new Smyth Supercube 25ft triaxle trailers, two new Smyth Supercube 20ft tandem axle trailers, a Broughan 24ft triaxle trailer, a 2022 Krone 1370 four-rotor rake, two Krone tedders and a 2021 JCB 435.
For slurry, Stephen has two New Rock 5,000-gallon tankers, one High Spec 5,000-gallon tanker, a Red Rock 4,000-gallon tanker, a New Rock 3,500-gallon tanker, while an order has been placed for a new 3,000-gallon Abbey tanker from Mortimer Machinery in Trim. In addition, Stephen has a Mixit tower up-and-over stirrer, purchased from Benn Agri in Tipperary, a New Rock agitator and three Agquip umbilical systems with 12m dribble bars. He uses Mastek applicators on all tankers.
When it comes to tillage, the young agri contractor operates two Samco four-row seeders, a Kuhn six-furrow reversible plough and a Kuhn 6m harrow. Stephen grows 40 acres of maize himself for local farmers, while he cuts between 7,000 and 8,000 acres of silage per annum.
“We have some great suppliers who we have built up excellent relationships with over the years, including Meath Farm Machinery, Farmworks Machinery, Mortimer Machinery, Derek Clarke, ECI JCB and Benn Agri,” Stephen notes.
All machines are maintained and serviced on a regular basis to avoid downtime, with most of this being carried out in-house. Machines under warranty are sent to the main dealer.
Stephen is full of praise for his seven-strong team who are supported by part-time staff at peak times. He is also grateful for the support and loyalty of his customers in the Navan area and beyond.
“We pride ourselves on our efficient, reliable and value-for-money service. We get a lot of repeat business which is a sign that our customers are happy with us.”
As a member of the Association of Farm Contractors of Ireland (FCI), Stephen is acutely aware of the challenges facing agri contractors and the difficulties the sector faces in attracting young people. The FCI was formed in 2012 to give agricultural contractors a voice at Government and EU level. Its other objectives are to promote good contractor / farmer relationships; to promote the benefits of a good agricultural contracting service; to provide members with knowledge and courses to help them run their business; to promote a good working relationship between contractors.
“You must be willing to work hard and do long hours,” is Stephen’s advice to any young person thinking of becoming an agri contractor.
“Then you have rising machinery costs on top of that. When I started out, a tractor was half the price of what it is now. I was lucky in that sense. It takes a lot of money to get going. A decent silage outfit costs north of €1 million. But the high age profile of contractors means the opportunities are there for anyone that wants it badly enough.”
As his agri contracting business continues to go from strength to strength, Stephen would like to take this opportunity to thank his customers and suppliers for their continued support as well as his professional team for their hard work and expertise.
Mohan Agri
Robinstown,Navan,
Co. Meath.
Mobile: 086 388 0049
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 12 No 1, March/April 2024
