Alan Poff & Sons Agri Contractors is a long-established agricultural contracting firm based near Killorglin in Co. Kerry which is synonymous with Valtra. George Poff, who runs the family business along with his parents Alan and Patricia, and brother Stephen, explains more.
Trading for over 40 years, Alan Poff & Sons runs one of the largest fleets of Valtra tractors in the country. There are 13 in total, all of which were purchased from O’Connor’s Tractors in Knocknagoshel, who are main Valtra dealers for Kerry, Limerick and Clare. Since taking delivery of their first Valtra – a 6400 – in 2000, the Finnish brand has become a firm favourite with the Poff’s and has contributed to the growth and success of their enterprise.
“We can’t speak highly enough of them,” George says.
“They’re strong, efficient, comfortable to drive and never give any trouble. They’re a great loader tractor, especially the N Series which is compact in size. There is something for everyone in the Valtra range. You can spec’ them up any way you like… even down to the colour. Ours are a mixture of black, white, blue, grey and red.
“Their quality also stands out. Valtra aren’t the cheapest tractor, but they’re not the dearest either.”
The Poff’s only recently traded in their original 6400 along with an 8150 and replaced them with a t174, a t153 and a n142. The other models in the all-Valtra fleet are t140, t160, t162, t151, n111 (x2), n143, t183 and n154 (x2).
“The last time we bought new was in 2017 when we took delivery of the two n154s,” the affable agri contractor explains.
“The three latest additions were bought second-hand, but are in great condition. The t174 is only two years old, while the t153 and n142 have only 2,500 hours on their clocks, despite being seven and nine years old respectively. The t174 is driving front and rear mowers, while the n142 is fitted with a Quicke Q51 front loader for drawing bales.”
From humble beginnings, Alan Poff & Sons Agri Contractors has grown to provide a wide range of services to farmers in the Mid Kerry region. Starting out with a Massey 135 and a square baler, Alan Poff and his family have built up an impressive fleet of tractors and farm machinery to cater for all their customers’ requirements.
Specialising in baled silage, slurry spreading, hedge cutting, saw work, reseeding, muck / soil shifting, crop spraying and fertiliser spreading, and employing two full-time staff, the Poff’s run the business in tandem with their beef farm. They cover within a 25km radius of Killorglin / Milltown and have earned a reputation for being the best in their field.
“We’re so busy with the bales that we don’t bother with pit silage. Our customers are a mixture of beef, dairy and sheep farmers, and the trend in those sectors is towards baled silage. We make 25,000 bales a year approximately.
“A lot of our customers have been with us from the start, which reflects well on the service we provide. We pick up new ones every year and they usually stay with us for the long haul. We value their custom and treat everyone the same regardless of their size.”
Offering a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, Alan Poff & Sons Agri Contractors 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 contractor’s success is down to the knowledge, skill and expertise of its staff as well as the quality of its machinery. The Poff family delivers the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
The Co. Kerry contractor recently invested in two new McHale Fusion 3 Plus film-on-film bale wrappers which give the bale a second seal. Both were purchased from Buckley Agri in Listowel. Two other new pieces of kit are a CLAAS 2700 rake, which is used for lighter second crops, and a CLAAS six-rotor tedder. Both were bought from Nolan’s Garage in Tralee.
In addition, the Poff’s have purchased a new JM Agri TR-3 high output bale handler direct from the manufacturer and a new NC dump trailer from Nolan’s Garage.
Other plant / equipment operated by the family include a McHale Fusion 3 round baler, a CLAAS 2600 rake, front and back Kverneland mowers as well as a Kverneland trailed mower, four Quicke loaders, two Arbocut hedge cutters, two NC 14-tonne dump trailers, a Kverneland four-furrow non-reversible plough, Amazone fertiliser spreaders and sprayers, a Jarmet crop sprayer, two Belmac slurry tankers, a Connor slurry tanker, a Doda umbilical slurry spreading system and a Rabe power harrow.
All machines are maintained and repaired regularly by the Poff family themselves in their own workshop to avoid breakdowns and downtime. For bigger repair jobs, they enlist the services of Cronin’s Farm Machinery in nearby Milltown or the aforementioned O’Connor’s Tractors.
There is no such thing as a quiet time of the year for this well-respected contractor who will work around the clock during the silage season to keep clients happy.
“We have two great lads with us all-year round. When things get really busy, we bring in extra help. We’re lucky to have some wonderful neighbours who are happy to help out, sometimes at very short notice.”
George concludes by saying: “We’re busier than ever and are expanding our customer-base. Like every other agri contractor, we’ve had to increase our rates due to rising fuel, repair and plastic wrapping costs. However, we’d like to think that we’re still giving good value-for-money.”
The Poff’s would like to take this opportunity to thank their many customers and suppliers for their continued support.
Alan Poff & Sons Agri Contractors
Dromin,
Milltown,
Killarney,
Co. Kerry.
Telephone: 087 4185577 / 1803848 / 087 2520896
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 6, November/December 2021
Alan Poff & Sons Agri Contractors
