McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd. is one of Ireland’s leading distributors of wood shavings, delivering quality animal bedding to some of the country’s best-known poultry producers and equestrian centres. We caught up with proprietor Sean McPhillips at his North Monaghan base to find out more about this exceptional family business.
McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd. supplies animal bedding to the poultry, equestrian and dairy (sawdust) sectors nationwide. A quick glance at their customer list speaks for itself, revealing names like Grove Turkeys, Cobb Europe, Cavan Equestrian Centre, Hogans Turkeys, Whitaker Turkeys, Western Brand Group and Manor Farm Group.
McPhillips’ high-quality products are 100% pure white softwood kiln-dried shavings with no recycled materials or MDF content. Every bale is dust extracted and composed of clean dry soft wood shavings, making it an excellent choice for animal bedding.
The consistent quality of these bales is achieved through an advanced production and control process, providing an ultra-compressed bale using state-of-the-art equipment. Each 25kg bale is vacuum-packed using a weather-proof, heavy gauge plastic cover which is then heat-sealed. Bales are then built on a 36-strong pallet, which is in turn wrapped and protected from all weather conditions. Shavings are readily available in bales or bulk and sawdust can also be provided in bags or in bulk.
The benefits of McPhillips wood shavings are manifold: quality-assured poultry bedding offers biosecurity, excellent absorption, comfort, hygiene and better crop results; sawdust is super absorbent, ideal for cow mats and offers a practical and value-for-money solution; equestrian shavings boast excellent soakage and absorption properties and are also soft, comfortable and easy to muck out.
Reflecting on the genesis of the family business, Sean McPhillips notes: “My late father, John, started the business in 1979 and I took over in 2010. We used to trade as John McPhillips Shavings but rebranded as McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd. five years ago.
“My father had broiler chickens himself and was also farming beef cattle. He found that it was very difficult to get a good supply of quality shavings so he started getting them himself from Agnew & Co., the timber importers in Redhills, County Cavan. They just had a small mill at the time and as they have grown, we have grown. He started using those shavings on his own farm and soon enough other poultry growers in the locality were making enquiries about them and he realised that there could be a business opportunity there, so he started supplying them.
“From there, we branched out and got into different timber mills in Dublin, Galway (ECC, Cornamona) and Clare and started bringing the shavings up to Monaghan for distribution. One thing led to another and the business kept growing. He started to supply Grove Turkeys – and still does – and then Western Brand in Mayo also came on board and we picked up more and more customers before getting into the equestrian side of things about ten years ago.”
The business model is simple but effective. “We take the shavings from the timber mills and distribute them into the poultry farms and other clients,” says Sean. “We have our own baler in situ at Agnew & Co., baling the 25kilo packs, which are popular with equestrian centres for topping up etc. As well as poultry farms and equestrian centres, we also supply dairy farmers with sawdust, straw and bales of shavings.”
Wood shavings would have been classified as waste a decade-and-a-half ago but are now considered to be a by-product, which means an increase in cost for the Newbliss-based business. However, this hasn’t prevented Sean – and his father before him – from continuing to develop at an impressive rate.
Sean operates a fleet of four Scania artics – from a vintage ’95-reg up to a 2008 model – all maintained in excellent condition at all times. He has three curtainsiders with Moffett Mounties for pallets of bales as well as two walking floor trailers to draw bulk loads in and out.
Gainful employment is provided to a team of seven. “I have three drivers as well as myself, while my wife Laura runs the office and we also have two guys baling the shavings for us at Agnew & Co.
“Next year, we are hoping to do even more bales. We’re building a new facility here in Newbliss and will put in our own baler. We’re getting more shavings in from Galway and will bale them ourselves here on site.”
Meanwhile, on the home farm, Sean still keeps some 75,000 broiler chickens (selling to Manor Farm) as well as having 120 acres of forestry land which will be ready for harvesting in about 20 years – a good investment for the future!
Speaking of the future, the Monaghan man is optimistic about the prospects of the business going forward. “We’re kept busy all year around and it’s growing all the time,” he states. “We’re looking forward to opening our own baling facility and that should lead to further employment – another two or three men, anyway. There are more poultry sheds going up all the time between Western Brand and the Carton Group in Cavan / Monaghan, which means more business for us. Hopefully that will continue.
“We also started doing baled straw this year, which we bring from Wexford to beef and dairy farmers nationwide. We’re covering a lot of bases now and I suppose you are always on the lookout for new openings.”
The bold entrepreneurial streak that led to the genesis of McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd. 36 years ago is still very much alive and well!
McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd.,
Drumloo South,
Newbliss,
County Monaghan.
Tel: 047 54818
Mobile: 086 8844027
E: mcphillipsshavingsltd@gmail.
www.mcphillipsshavings.ie
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 1, January 2016
