KC Agri Ltd offer the most extensive range of agricultural contracting services and solutions for farmers and landowners from the Hook Peninsula to New Ross and the surrounding area. Irish Tractor sat down with Kevin Creane to reflect on their years in business.
With over three decades of farming experience, Wexford based KC Agri Ltd provides an extensive range of agricultural services. When it comes to professionalism, reliability and diversity in their range of services, they are your one stop service and are always willing to help.
Agricultural contractors play a central role in Irish Agriculture. It is estimated that 80% of the heavily mechanised work, such as silage making, is done by contractors while the value of services provided is about €500m per year.
Contracting runs in the Creane family. Father Kevin has 30 years experience to fall back on and he has passed on his knowledge and skills to his son Ciaran who has inherited his passion for farming.
“It is a family business and we pride ourselves on the work that we do,” Kevin explained to Irish Tractor magazine.
“We consider ourselves fortunate in that we have a lot of loyal customers and we always strive to provide them with a top quality service
“I come from a farming background and have been contracting for over thirty years. I worked with two other contractors before setting up my own business in 1983. Myself and Ciaran decided to combine forces and set up KC Agri in 2010 and in that time has built up quite a large portfolio of work and many happy customers.
“ In addition to ourselves, we employ one person full time while, at the busy times of the year, we could have up to nine others working for us.”
The Creane name is synonymous with quality work and competitive prices. Generally working within a 12 mile radius of their base near Fethard-On-Sea, they provide a complete contracting service and all jobs, big or small, are treated with the same attention.
With carefully analysed costs, they offer exceptional commitment to their customers. “We are always looking at ways we can improve the services we offer our customers so we can give them the best possible value for money. We recently invested in a new McHale Fusion 3+ baler and Keltic bale carrier which means less handling of the bale giving the customer better bale quality.”
Kevin, Ciaran and their employees provide the full range of services including ploughing, sowing, spraying, harvesting corn, maize, beet and silage; baling and slurry to name but a few.
With a well maintained fleet of modern tractors, balers, combines, silage harvester and associated machinery, they can be flexible to suit everyones individual needs depending on the task and can tailor contracts depending on what machinery or help is required from them as contractors.
They offer very competitive prices and the best rates allowing you quality service using the latest technology and modern equipment available at the lowest prices. This means you can get the work done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“We look after all the maintenance work ourselves and if there’s anything major we go back to the main dealers – TFM Enniscorthy (John Deere) and Kill Agri, Kilrossanty, Co Waterford (Case).”
By using KC Agri you free up more time to concentrate on other aspects of your farm, and eliminate the need to invest large sums of money in equipment that you may only need a few times in a year.
“Thankfully, we were very busy in 2015, it was a very good year from our point of view, we are extremely lucky to have such a loyal customer base,” Kevin replied when asked: was there much demand for their services in the year just come to an end.
He also sounded a note of caution however: “There are plenty of challenges in this business.
“The price of diesel was a big factor there for a long time but has come down but insurance is now a big issue. The price of insurance is after seeing a big hike in the last 12 months and there doesn’t seem to be too many companies willing to quote contractors at the moment.
“On top of that, machinery costs are rising every day so when the work is there you have to do it. Having said that, overall we’ve been happy with how things have gone for us since setting up the business and we hope to stay at it for a long time to come.”
Do not hesitate to get in contact with Kevin, Ciaran and KC Agri Ltd to see what they can do for you.
KC Agri Ltd
Ballygarret,
Saltmills,
New Ross
Co Wexford
Kevin: 0862602438
Ciaran: 087-9473061
[email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 2, February 2016
