At just 32 years old, Brian Lawlor is already in his eleventh season cutting silage. There are many reasons why his eponymous business, Brian Lawlor Plant & Agri Ltd., has proven to be a resounding success story – including outstanding workmanship, great machinery, excellent staff, always remaining true to one’s word and careful pre-planning. We travelled to Drimoleague in West Cork and caught up with the dependable, straight-talking farmer / contractor to find out more.
Although Brian Lawlor Plant & Agri Ltd. was only incorporated as a limited company at the start of the current calendar year, the Drimoleague man has been contracting for over a decade. Of farming stock, the graduation into contracting was an organic one.
“We were milking cows and kept dry stock as well, and I got involved that way,” he reflects. “We bought the agri machinery to do our own work and just started to do some work for other farmers and it got bigger that way.”
On the home farm, Brian oversees around 300 acres, milking 160 cows. He’s following in the footsteps of his parents, Jerry and Betty, while his grandparents were also involved in farming prior to that.
On the contracting front, Brian specialises in delivering keen silage, slurry and planting and reseeding services. Slurry spreading is offered with either a splash plate or trailing shoe, the latter of which is the most popular in the part of West Cork covered by Brian Lawlor Plant & Agri., within a 15-20-mile radius of the yard in Drimoleague, incorporating Rosscarbery to Skibbereen to Bantry and everywhere in between.
Tractor-wise, Brian runs a superb fleet of Massey Fergusons, all purchased through long-standing and thoroughly-reliable local dealer Cork Farm Machinery. “I’m extremely happy with the performance of the Masseys and Cork Farm Machinery provide an exceptional back-up service at any time of the day or night. They would never see you stuck.”
The newest tractor in the fleet is a one-month-old 7718, while the Cork man also operates a 151-reg 7620, 2012 6840, 2007 6490 and 2001 6290 for contracting work. “I also have a 390t and a 168 on the home farm, so seven in total,” he reveals. “They’re a great tractor. There are 13,000 hours on the 6490 and it never misses a beat. We’re not afraid to put the hours on them and the response you get is outstanding. We do fierce hours with them and they stick the pace, while the service provided by Cork Farm Machinery really is second to none.”
Other equipment owned and operated by Brian includes three Strautmann silage wagons; two Kverneland mowers with groupers, which cut the grass in 20-foot swathes; two JCBS (a 414s and TM320); and an Amazone one-pass system. All the gear is maintained in tip-top condition.
“We do some light servicing ourselves but the main dealer looks after anything major. During the winter, we go through the entire fleet with a fine toothcomb, even though the majority of it is fresh. We’re doing 2,200 acres of silage with three wagons, so we go at it fairly hard,” says Brian, who also offers raking through a subcontractor.
Direct, gainful employment is generated for four full-time employees, including Brian, as well as a couple of casual workers. Regarding the secrets of his success, Brian confirms: “We do good work. That’s what it all boils down to. If we say we are going to be there at a certain time on a particular day, then we will be there. You stick to your word, even if it means working all night the night before. We have very good equipment and great staff – once you feed them and pay them well, they tend to stick with you. Planning is also important; we always plan ahead to make sure every job is completed as smoothly and professionally as possible.”
Needless to say, this meticulous approach to customer care culminates in a high volume of repeat business. Says Brian: “This year we’ve taken on an extra man with the trailing shoe, so the business is moving in the right direction.”
Brian Lawlor Plant & Agri Ltd. also has two track machines – 21-tonne Case 210 excavators – which are put to a range of jobs for local farmers – land reclamation and digging out for tanks and roadways, etc. “There’s a lot of land reclamation going on in West Cork and we do a lot of rock breaking as well during the winter.”
Of course, any man who aspires to run a sustainable, viable contracting business has to have the ability to look ahead and think on their feet, so to speak. “We’re at the stage now where we can’t realistically do much more mowing,” the Cork man muses. “The two mowers are under pressure, doing 70-80 acres on an average day. Those mowers are only in their second season but my feeling is that they are being pushed too hard. I have to decide whether to go down the Big M or triple mower route, or just get a third mower and another driver. That’s something I’m going to have to consider now.
“To stay in silage, you have to be prepared to invest money every year. There’s no alternative other than investing if you want to provide a premium service. You’d have to be putting at least €60,000 to €70,000 per year into your equipment on top of an initial investment of up to €800,000.”
These are eye-watering amounts. Trying to maintain steady cash flow is another test… “Cash flow is a challenge and making sure you can get the wages paid, but I’m very lucky in that we have very good customers and I couldn’t fault any of them. I have over 100 farmers here in the area that we work for between digging and silage and reseeding and slurry – and none of them have ever let me down.”
The nature of the work has changed significantly in recent years, placing contractors under additional pressure in that they are expected to get through higher volumes of work in shorter timeframes, but running superb equipment allows Brian Lawlor to stay ahead of the game:
“In the last five years, it’s changed big time,” he concludes. “Silage is done and dusted now in three-four weeks, whereas before you were talking six-seven weeks. The season is more compact now and you are getting through up to 80 acres a day as opposed to 30 or 40. All the local farmers have grown their herds since the quotas went, so there are more cows and more work to be done.
“Your average 60-cow man from five or six years ago might be up to 100 now, while a man who had 100 might be now running 160 or even 200, so there’s a huge increase in demand for slurry, silage, reseeding and spreading fertilizer – which is obviously good news for us. At the moment, there’s plenty of work for everyone, so hopefully it’ll stay that way.”
Brian Lawlor Plant & Agri Ltd.,
Rerahanagh,
Drimoleague,
County Cork.
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 8, December 2017/January 2018
