Jim Good Agri Contractor Ltd is a leading agricultural contracting firm based near Mallow in Co. Cork. Jim set up the company four years ago, but has been in the business for much longer.
Like most agricultural contractors, Jim – who is in his late forties – comes from a farming background and grows grain and maize on 140 acres of land just outside the village of Dromahane, which is four miles from Mallow. But most of his time is taken up with his agricultural contracting business which provides a wide range of services to customers within a 25-mile radius of his home.
“We cover mainly north Cork – Mallow, Kanturk, Millstreet, Newmarket and Castletownroche – going as far as the Kerry and Limerick borders,” explains Jim, who is married to Linda and has four young children (three boys and one girl).
“We became a limited company in 2011, but I’ve been involved in farm contracting since my mid-teens to establish a strong business which offers an efficient, timely and reliable service to an ever-expanding customer-base.”
Jim provides a complete agricultural contracting service, including silage cutting, grain and maize harvesting, slurry and dung spreading, reseeding, fertiliser spreading, ploughing, loader hire and excavation. He employs three full-time staff and takes on additional staff during the during the busy silage and harvest seasons.
The Dromahane man is fulsome in his praise of his dedicated staff, who hail from farming and mechanical backgrounds, and understand Jim and his customers’ needs. The employees are extremely dedicated in supporting the business, giving long hours and commitment when required.
“I have as many as 13 or 14 working for me at peak times,” he says.
“We’re busy for about 10 months of the year. The slurry spreading season runs from January until October. The silage cutting takes precedence from May to September. When the weather is good, we work long hours with two teams. August and September are the two big months for cutting barley, wheat and grain. We start harvesting maize at the end of September and that goes on until November.”
Jim runs a large modern fleet comprising tractors, loaders, mowers, silage harvesters and trailers, slurry spreaders, a combine harvester and much more. He has built up a reliable and performance-orientated machinery fleet.
He has nine tractors, including seven John Deere (6930×4, 6830, 6140 and 6150) which he purchased from Farm Power Ltd of Cork and Castlelyons. The other tractors are a Case CVX160, which he bought from Lynch & McCarthy, Little Island, and a New Holland 6080.
In addition, Jim operates four Volvo loaders (L90x2, L70C and L70D). Other plant / equipment includes a Claas 440 combine harvester, a Claas 950 self-propelled silage harvester, a Claas 860 forage harvester, a Krone Big M II self-propelled silage mower, a Krone Big M 420 self-propelled mower, a Claas rake, a Volvo 140 excavator, two Keenan dung spreaders as well as low loaders, ploughs, power harrows, three slurry spreaders, three dump trailers, fertiliser spreaders, maize feeder and a dozen silage trailers.
All equipment is regularly inspected, with servicing and repair work carried out by the relevant dealers. Jim knows just how important regular servicing is as it reduces the risk of breakdowns and downtime.
Health and safety and best environmental practice are also two issues Jim Good Agri Contractor Ltd take very seriously. The company prides itself on delivering a reliable, quality and value-for-money service to its customers.
Jim Good Agri Contractor enjoys an excellent relationship with its customers, many of whom have been using the services over a long number of years. The business is also strongly supported by machinery dealers and local service providers such as diesel, tyres, oils, parts and so on.
Looking back on 2014, Jim says it was a satisfactory year for his business.
“The silage crops were very good, although the extra loads meant that our diesel costs were higher than usual. But we got a dry summer so we’re not complaining. Overall, the weather was very agreeable, even if the forecasts weren’t always accurate,” the affable agricultural contractor continues.
“The sector is doing okay at the moment and I expect it to go from strength to strength over the next few years. It will be interesting to see what kind of an impact the lifting of the milk quotas will have for farm contractors. I see it as an opportunity for my business to grow.
“As long as there is a need for food and farming, there will be a need for us.”
Jim is a member of FCI (Association of Farm Contractors in Ireland), which was established just over two years ago by a group of farm contractors, and has gained considerable momentum since then with its membership currently standing at around 200. The Association, which held its first conference in Monastervin, Co. Kildare in November 2012, was formed to give agricultural contractors a voice at Government and EU level.
For all your agricultural contracting needs, give Jim a call.
Jim Good Agri Contractor Ltd
Dromore,
Dromahane,
Mallow,
Co. Cork.
Telephone: 087 2604011
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 1, January/February 2015
