Providing the highest quality agricultural contracting, environmental and plant hire services to satisfied customers across the challenging terrain of counties Leitrim and Sligo, Rory Comiskey Contracts Ltd. is a well-established, versatile and highly dependable second-generation enterprise. We interrupted Rory’s busy schedule to find out more about the vast range of prompt and professional services offered to local farmers.
Agri contracting accounts for the main thrust of the services provided by Rory Comiskey Contracts but it’s not just farmers in counties Leitrim and Sligo who can depend on this long-established, diverse family-run business. To complement the exceptional agri contracting business, Rory also offers plant hire and environmental services from his base in Newtownmanor on the Leitrim-Sligo border, providing a comprehensive range of solutions to clients in the counties.
Renowned near and far for delivering the high quality slurry, silage, lime spreading and hedge cutting solutions, Rory Comiskey Contracts are busy all year around, serving the needs of farmers and local authorities. Rory went out on his own in 2005, following in the footsteps of his father, Michael Comiskey, who was a well-known local contractor going back to the 1970s.
Upon taking over his father’s business, one of his first undertakings was to diversify the range of services offered so as to make the company more versatile, less seasonal and more financially viable. “It was just agri contracting when I took over but we branched into a couple of other things to generate a greater workload during the winter months,” he reflects. “It’s now a year-round business, with enough work for three full-time employees all year round.”
Agri contracting of course remains at the core of the operation and Rory Comiskey Contracts is renowned near and far as one of the premier contractors in the greater Leitrim / Sligo region. “I’d estimate that about 70% of our work is agri-related,” he notes. “We start off in the Spring time with slurry – using an umbilical system with dribble bar. That starts in February and takes us through the first quarter. “Lime spreading and silage take us through the summer and we also do some hedge cutting for farmers and local authorities in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. So there’s plenty there to keep us busy into the winter months.”
Quality machinery is a prerequisite to providing dependable contracting services and, to this end, five well-maintained TM Series New Holland tractors are at the heart of Rory Comiskey Contracts’s fleet. “They are getting older but we find that they are extremely reliable and we keep them well-maintained,” says Rory. “They have proven themselves to be very good tractors and they are easier to maintain. I’m cautious about moving to the newest models because of the increased maintenance complexity and costs. The hours might be increasing a little but they’re still performing and we know exactly how to maintain and service them.”
For slurry, Rory runs four Red Rock tankers and an Agquip umbilical system with 7.5-metre dribble bar for low-emission spreading. “We began to use the umbilical spreading system ten years ago and added the dribble bar four years ago,” says the Leitrim man, who also uses a nine-foot trailed Kverneland mower, JF trailed harvester and three silage trailers for silage. “We’re never stuck for something to do when the weather is good.”
Meanwhile, McConnel and Spearhead hedge cutters are complemented by an Agrimaster strimmer for roadside verges, which can cut either vertically or horizontally, while Rory’s 5-tonne lime spreader was never as busy as it was in 2020. “This was an exceptional year for lime spreading and we spread more than ever before,” he confirms. “We’ve been providing this service for a long time now but this year was extremely busy due to a combination of the dry Spring and farmers realising that it’s so important. Many farmers are now focusing on more lime and less fertilizer. Farmers are also taking more soil samples and Teagasc advisors are highlighting the importance of correct PH values correct.”
Plant and environmental services ensure that there’s never a dull moment at Rory Comiskey Contracts. Three-foot, four-foot and eight-foot Hitachis are deployed for a variety of uses, including loading lime, groundworks and carrying out water leak repairs for local authorities, while Rory is also a fully-permitted waste collector, licensed to empty septic tanks and dispose of their contents (again for local authorities). He’s also contracted by Leitrim County Council to de-sludge tanks.
“Whereas in the past there might have been quiet days during bad weather in the winter months, we never stop now. We’re always busy. Of course, winter is still a good time to take the opportunity to get the machinery serviced and checked to make sure all is in order for Spring with everything working as it should be.”
Providing a wide range of services is vitally important as farms in the Sligo / Leitrim region tend to be quite small by their very nature and the terrain can be challenging. “The land around here doesn’t lend itself favourably to our work,” Rory states. “There a lot of hills and the lowland is soft. So we’ve invested in wider wheels and floatation wheels for the slurry, and other work.
“In terms of farming, it’s mainly sucklers farms in this area with some dairy farms particularly in County Sligo. We have well over 100 customers for slurry but many of them are not heavily stocked. The average suckler farm in this area would have less than 20 cows and it’s not as intensive as it was a few years ago. Sheep numbers remain stable enough but cattle numbers are definitely falling. Most farmers are happy with part-time farming along with some form of off-farm employment to provide a regular income.”
Going forward, Rory intends to continue providing fast and efficient services to farmers, who are very much the bread and butter of his business. “We’ll keep providing a good service and we’ll increase the fleet and diversify as necessary,” he concludes. “For me, the farmer always comes first. I have considered other types of work but the farm work comes around every year, it’s local and it’s a very loyal client base. “We’re comfortable doing the agri work, we know it well and we know our clients well. Farmers are decent people to work for and it’s something I really enjoy doing, so I’ll continue the strong emphasis on the agri contracting for the future.”
Rory Comiskey Contracts Ltd.,
Leckaun,
County Leitrim.
Tel: 071 916 4245 / 913 459
Mobile: 087 642 4797
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 1, January/February 2021
