Features

Monaghan Plant & Agri – one of the best in the West

8 Jun , 2021  

Monaghan Plant & Agri Ltd. (formerly Anthony Monaghan) have been providing exceptional agri contracting and plant hire services from its base in Erris, Co. Mayo for nearly two decades.

Established in 2002, this family-run Gaeltacht business is the agri contractor of choice for farmers on the Mullet Peninsula and beyond. Specialising in land reclamation and the various stages of getting fields ready for baled silage, the business also provides a wide range of plant and groundworks services, including digger hire, site clearance for construction and private houses and all types of groundworks including roads maintenance, group water scheme and town sewer works as well as excavation for sports and recreation projects such as pitches and playgrounds.

Following on from their late father Tony who had been cutting hay for locals since the 1990s, Anthony and his brothers juggle the commitment of running their business with looking after their suckler herds. 

“Dad had been operating on a smaller scale before we took over. It all took off from when we bought a John Deere 6110 tractor and a John Deere round baler, and we haven’t looked back since,” Anthony explains.

Commitment to delivering a top-class service for customers requires having a range of machinery to carry out the various tasks quickly and efficiently, providing value-for-money and an alternative for farmers investing in their own expensive equipment. The company’s growth and success can be attributed to the knowledge, skill and experience gained over the years as well as the quality of its machinery. The Monaghan team delivers the value and quality customers expect from a contractor.

From humble beginnings, the brothers have built up an impressive fleet of tractors and machinery. They run four tractors, namely a 2015-registered John Deere 6125, a 2013 Massey Ferguson 7618, a 2008 New Holland TM130 and the aforementioned John Deere 6110, which was purchased new in 2002 and is still going strong. In terms of grass equipment, they operate two Lely Welger 245 Extracut balers, two McHale bale wrappers, a Lely rake and two Kverneland trailed mower conditioners.

Among their other agri equipment are a 2,000-gallon Ruscon slurry tanker, an NC slurry agitator, a Kverneland four-furrow plough, a Maschio power harrow, a McCauley dump trailer and a Chieftain low loader trailer. The Monaghan’s also have Hitachi three- and 13-tonne diggers which are mainly used for groundworks and site clearance.

All machines are maintained and upgraded on a regular basis to avoid downtime. “We keep our machinery fresh and look after the maintenance ourselves. As the saying goes ‘make hay when the sun shines’, you can’t afford to break down”

Offering a year round agri service, with slurry spreading, ploughing and seeding taking precedence in the early part of the year, followed by mowing and baling during the summer months and more slurry spreading after that, the plant hire and groundworks side of the business fits in the rest of the time keeping the brothers busy yearlong. 

Agri contracting and plant hire services are available throughout the Mullet Peninsula, including Belmullet, Bangor, Inver, Corclough, Elly, Binghamstown and Aughleam.

“We generally stick to the Mullet Peninsula, but will sometimes travel further to do groundworks and site clearances. Our main customers are farmers, community and sports groups. We have some great customers who have been loyal to us from the very beginning,” Anthony continues.

“We pride ourselves in providing a top-class, reliable, clean and cost-effective service. We are always at the end of the phone for our customers and will go the extra mile for them. The majority of our work is secured through word of mouth or recommendations from our past and existing customers.”

While COVID-19 had a devastating effect on many businesses across Ireland in 2020, it’s fair to say that lockdown has shone a light on all those “odd jobs” in homes and businesses that we just haven’t gotten around to.

“Lockdown has given people the opportunity to get those jobs they had put on the long finger done. We got a lot of enquiries for this type of work – landscaping and home improvements.” 

“After the long dry spell in the spring and into early summer there was little growth and crop yields were down. But we got a good spell of rain so the crop came on again. We’ve made about 10,000 bales, mostly silage this year, which would be average for most years. We should be fine for winter feeding with additional bales available for farmers who need them.”

Everyone in Monaghan Plant & Agri Ltd. would like to take this opportunity to thank their customers and suppliers for their continued and ongoing support.

Monaghan Plant & Agri Ltd.

Tarmon,

Blacksod,

Co. Mayo.

Telephone: 086 8756876

Email: [email protected]

First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 2, March/April 2021