This past December saw Naughton Farm Machinery open a brand new premises just outside Roscommon Town. Irish Tractor & Agri got the lowdown from Enda Naughton about the business which provides a comprehensive range of agri services to its customers.
Business has been good lately for the Naughton family and the ambition for Enda Naughton and Co is to keep things like that out Roscommon way for the foreseeable future.
The Naughton family provides a comprehensive range of agri services for its customers, with the father Eddie overseeing Naughton Agri Supplies while his sons Enda and Michael manage Naughton Farm Machinery and the mixed family farm in Fuerty respectively.
Eddie Naughton himself has worked in agriculture all of his life and his experience is very much central to the family business.
With the family farm to run, along with the popular agri supplies and farm machinery outlets, that experience comes in handy.
Michael Naughton runs the mixed farm in Fuerty, which is a half parish of Athleague close to the town of Roscommon. It’s a tillage and livestock enterprise and he also provides a keen contracting service.
Enda Naughton looks after Naughton Farm Machinery, which was established in 1998 adjacent to the original family business – Naughton Agri Supplies – which moved from the Athlone Road out to the Racecourse Road at the end of last year.
Specialising in animal feeds, chemicals, fertilisers and related products, Naughton Agri Supplies has been going strong since 1985, trading from rented premises in Roscommon town for four years before relocating to the existing site in ‘89.
The origins of Naughton Farm Machinery as a stand-alone entity date back some nine years later, the eponymous proprietor having sold fertiliser spreaders, transfer boxes, small mowers etc. since the early 1990s.
As an agent for Lely, Naughton Farm Machinery stocks the complete range of grassland machinery, from superb balers, wrappers and mowers to market-leading rakes, tedders, loader wagons, forage harvesters, etc.
As farmers themselves, the Naughtons understand the requirements of their customers implicitly.
Kuhn (imported through Cork Farm Machinery) and NC Engineering equipment is also stocked, alongside a range of smaller machinery. As well as sales of new and second-hand machinery, a complete parts and back-up service is also provided around the clock.
The Lely agency covers County Roscommon, while Kuhn machinery is sold as far away as Sligo.
Enda took time from his recent hectic schedule to full Irish Tractor & Agri in on what the Naughtons have been up to lately, while also giving us a report on the current state of business across all ventures.
“Business has been very good. We’re busy with everything right now. It’s peak time right now,” he outlined.
“Everyone has their bad reports about farming, but in terms of machinery things are good. It’s a lot of old and new clients that we have here and we’ve a good customer base which has been built up over the last few years.”
He continued: “We opened up a newly built premises in December 2018 out on the racecourse road just outside the town. Since we opened it has been a new lease of life for us. There’s lots of space and room to operate and it has been going great.”
With four full-time staff, Naughtons have always been renowned for the high level of aftersales care afforded to each and every customer.
It’s something which Enda himself takes great pride from, as he explained:
“If a farmer or a contractor buys new machinery – or anything else – from us, he can ring us at 11pm on a Saturday night or at 5am on a Monday morning and we will do whatever it takes to get him going or keep him going. From fixing a pipe to giving him a second-hand baler, we will make sure that he doesn’t lose out.
“It’s all about looking after your customers and I can honestly say that I spend as much time in here after 6pm as I do before it. Even if they have bought a competitor’s machine, we will still take the call and go out there and get them going.
“The mobile phone is never switched off and anybody who has had any dealings with us will testify to that.
“We won’t leave any man stuck and the logic behind it is that if you look after all customers then, somewhere down the line, when a new mower or baler has to be bought, then they will remember you and hopefully be prepared to do business.
“The Lely brand of grassland equipment is excellent and we are really pleased to be able to offer those machines to customers and to back them up with a strong aftersales service.”
Another factor which Enda puts down to the continued success over the last 20 years is the fact that the Naughtons bring a personal touch to their work, and don’t stray too far from home when it comes to needing work done.
“We’re the local men, as the saying goes. We’re family-run and everything is employed local,” he stated.
“There’s a more personal touch to it and I’d like to think that we’re looking after our own here. We don’t go outside of the county if we can at all.
“We built the new premises here with local men using local contractors. It has definitely stood to us over the last 20 years and when we sell here, we try and look after the machine as well.”
Another big change in recent times as far as the Naughtons are concerned has been Agco’s acquisition of the Lely franchise.
“Agco finished the production of Lely mowers, tedders and rakes. We decided last October to take on the SIP brand (imported by Farmec in Meath) and this has proven to be a really positive move with SIP tedders and rakes, in particular, proving really popular with customers,” said Enda.
“In place of the Lely branded baler we are keeping our options open. As well as continuing to supply customers with Agco brand (MF or Fendt) balers, we hope to take on the Kuhn balers from next year, a brand which is growing increasingly popular in the region and all across the country.”
As for what’s flying through the gates at the moment with regards to sales, Enda says that Tanco Autowrap round bale wrappers are presently quite popular amongst clients.
The new addition for Enda came thanks to an enquiry he made in Bagenalstown at the end of last year.
“Tedders and rakes are fairly busy at the moment and mowers as well,” he said. “We’ve also taken on machines belonging to Tanco (Autowrap) in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow.
“I got an enquiry about a machine in December, so I approached them. We wouldn’t have been selling a lot of wrappers before that but Tanco is a brand with a new wrapper which has become popular.”
“Kuhn is still going very well for us as well but all the machines we have here are excellent.”
He concluded: “Put it this way, Naughtons wouldn’t be selling it unless it was a good machine.”
Enough said.
Naughton Farm Machinery
Athlone Road,
Roscommon,
Co Roscommon
Tel: 090 662 7645
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 7 No 5, September/October 2019
