With a reputation for completing every job to the highest standards, Cullen Agricultural Contactors is a family-run business based just outside Rathdrum, County Wicklow and are focused on providing high-quality service and customer satisfaction to the farming community.
With an extensive range of machinery, they can carry out their customers work quickly and efficiently, providing them with value for money and an alternative to investing in their own expensive equipment.
Eamon Cullen sowed the seeds for the business back in 1977 and through sheer dedication he has grown the business from modest beginnings and gradually built up an extensive fleet of John Deere tractors and associated machinery.
Speaking to Irish Tractor he said: “what separates us is the fact that we provide a stand alone contracting service. Were unique in the sense of the agricultural contracting service we provide, we’re full time committed to it, it is our living.” Today Eamon is joined in the running of the business by his son Brian.
They provide a complete service from plough to harvest and excel in the following services: lime and fertiser spreading, slurry spreading and injecting, ploughing, sowing, silage harvesting, maize harvesting, maize sowing under plastic, combine harvesting, spraying, tractor and loader hire, provide straw and hay, and are Silo-King stockists.
With over 35 years experience, Eamon values his strong relationships with his customers which he has got to know over the years. They understand their customer needs and can be relied upon to deliver on time. Their hands-on approach ensures that work is carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible.
“We value all our customers big and small and that is something we have always done. Our customers are very important us, we’re grateful for their loyalty and some of them have stood by us since the 1980’s. Indeed in some cases we’re doing work for second and third generation farmers. I’d like to think they are very happy with the service. As far as we are concerned we’re only ever as good as our last job. We’re very conscious of timeliness and quality of work. If the job is done on time and done well, the farmer is happy.”
Eamon continues: “I didn’t come directly from a farming background. My father Dinny left a small family farm in Ballinaclash to go to Dublin to work as a young man in Guinness brewery but when the family came back to Wicklow, I used to help my Uncle Hugh with general work on the tractor. I’ve been back in Wicklow since 1977. I started off doing a small bit of contracting, taking out a bit of timber with a Fordson Major because I liked the outdoor life. The farming scene appealed to me and this was the next best thing. We get great satisfaction from our work. We mainly work along the east coast of Wicklow, Arklow to Bray and inland Roundwood to Tinahely.”
As a member of the FCI (Association of Farm Contractors in Ireland), Eamon is passionate about agricultural contracting and is keen to promote the benefits of a good contracting service. A good working relationship between farmer and contractor can be a sustainable cost effective future for both parties. “I think the FCI is heading in the right direction. It’s about increasing the profile of agricultural contractors throughout the country and promoting the extremely cost effective service that contracting can provide. The challenge is to have agri contracting regarded as a serious business and not a pastime or hobby that you can take or leave. Agri Contracting has to be a standalone business and therefore proper costing and charge out rates for these services will have to be more realistic.”
What are the other issues facing agricultural contractors?
“Cashflow I think is an issue with contracting. Perhaps sitting down with the customer early in the year to work out the different jobs that are on target for the coming year and maybe coming up with a monthly payment plan or something of this nature could be worked out. The downward pressure on rates is unrealistic and uneconomical. With the cost of machinery purchase, spare parts, servicing and fuel, the rates for agri contracting in Ireland don’t seem adequate. When the fuel price dropped to the low of January 2015 we were looking to the year with a bit of a margin. This now seems to be eroding already as fuel prices has had a slow steady increase.
“Again I would like to thank all our customers for their loyalty over the years and we will always strive to meet their farming needs into the future.”
Eamon Cullen Agri Contractor
Hazelbrook
Ballinacarrig Lower
Rathdrum
County Wicklow
www.cullenagri.com
Eamon Cullen 0877413268
Brian Cullen 0876464414
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 3, April 2015
