Celebrating 25 years in business, McAllen Agri Ltd in Gort, Co. Galway is a leading contracting firm specialising in pit and baled silage, slurry and dung spreading, reseeding, digger work – including site clearance, land reclamation and drainage – and grain harvesting.
The McAllen name has been synonymous with farm contracting in the South Galway and North Clare area since Tom McAllen started out as sole trader in 1998. Nowadays, his sons Paul and Colman run the business in tandem with their beef and grain enterprises. They finish 120 cattle a year which are supplied to Liffey Meats in Ballinasloe and grow 300 acres of grain on mostly rented land. As well as selling some of the grain rolled, the brothers supply it to Flynn’s of Lackagh and Farmco Agritrading in Mallow.
In addition, the McAllen’s supply limestone from their quarry to Galway County Council as well as to the local construction and agri sectors.
Committed to providing superior service and total customer satisfaction, the McAllen’s have 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. Their longevity and success can be attributed to the knowledge, experience, skill and expertise of their staff as well as the quality of their machinery. The family business’ highly-skilled and highly-motivated team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
“We pride ourselves on our exceptional service and excellent reputation for quality work,” Paul McAllen says.
“We have five full-time staff who know the business inside out. With silage being the main service that we provide, the aim is to get it in and get the job done as quickly as possible. The weather dictates everything. We cut about 3,000 acres of pit silage and make a small number of bales every year. We cover within a 20-mile radius of our base in Ballyaneen, Gort and will always go the extra mile for our customers.”
McAllen Agri runs a top-class fleet of John Deere tractors. They include a 6830, a 6930, a 6130R, a 6145R, a 6215R, a 6170 and a 6190. “We’re big fans of John Deere. They’re a great tractor in terms of power, fuel efficiency, reliability and comfort,” Paul explains.
Paul and Colman’s grass machinery includes a Krone Big X 630 self-propelled forage harvester, two Pottinger wagons (Torro and Jumbo), a Krone Big M 420 mower, a Kverneland trailed mower, a Volvo L90 loading shovel, a JCB 414 loading shovel and two HiSpec Kompactor trailers which can be used for both silage and grain. For baling, they run a McHale Fusion 3.
For slurry, the McAllen’s have two Conor 2,500-gallon slurry tankers and a Red Rock agitator. They also have Hyundai 320 and 160 excavators in the quarry, two Deutz-Fahr 4065 combine harvesters, a John Deere 2254 combine harvester, a Kverneland five-furrow reversible plough, an Amazone 5m disc harrow and Vaderstad 4m seed drill along with several other pieces of kit.
All machines are maintained and serviced on a regular basis to avoid downtime, with most of this being carried out in house. Machines under warranty are sent to the main dealer. “We deal with Geary’s Garage in Clarecastle for all our John Deere needs. We have always found them easy to deal with and they provide an excellent aftersales service.”
There is no such thing as a quiet time for this highly-regarded contractor who will work around the clock at busy times and take on extra staff if needs be to keep clients happy. Slurry spreading, ploughing and sowing takes precedence in the early part of the year, followed by pit and baled silage during the summer months. After that comes the grain harvest and more slurry spreading. The digger and quarry work keeps them busy all-year round.
“All of the limestone is certified for work with concrete. There’s a good demand for it from the County Council, local builders and farmers. We invested in a second crusher a few years ago to keep up with demand.”
The brothers are grateful for the support they have received over the past quarter of a century from farmers who use their services time and again.
“Some of our customers have been with us from the start. That speaks volumes for the service we give them. We look after them and they look after us. You’re nothing without good customers or good staff. We’re very lucky to have staff who are reliable, hardworking and are good with machinery, especially at a time when there is a severe labour shortage.
“Most of our crew have been with us a long time, while we also enjoy a great working relationship with Declan Donohue of Donohue Agri & Haulage in nearby Kilbecanty.”
As their contracting business continues to go from strength to strength, Paul and Colman would like to take this opportunity to thank their customers, suppliers, staff and family for all their support.
Here’s to the next 25 years!
McAllen Agri Ltd
Ballyaneen,
Gort,
Co. Galway
Telephone: 091-631388
Mobile: 087 2203854 (Paul) / 087 6897560 (Colman)
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 11 No 4, August/September 2023
