With two bases in Limerick and one in Kerry, Crecora Mills is the leading supplier of quality animal feeds in the mid-west and greater Munster region. We caught up with Paul O’Connell – son of company founder John – to take a closer look at this exceptional family operation, which has been going from strength to strength for more than four decades.
Using the best ingredients, Crecora Mills delivers quality animal feed to customers in counties Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Tipperary, Clare, Galway and further afield. The genesis of the business dates back to the early 1980s when John O’Connell started making animal feed in order to diversify the family farm.
Crecora Mills today manufactures a wide range of products for the animal industry, making quality feeds for beef cattle, dairy cattle, calves, weanlings, heifers, lambs, ewes and horses. These products generally come in either coarse ration (blends) or pellet (nut) form.
Starting off as a modest enterprise, the business quickly evolved into a full coarse ration animal feed mill. As demand for the products grew, so did the Mill in Crecora, with the addition of computer-controlled mill and an automated bagging plant and palletiser.
Due to growing demand in the Kerry area, a site was purchased in Lissahane, near Listowel for storing and drying grain and this would also serve as a shop and depot for the North Kerry region.
During the 1990s and 2000s, the mill in Crecora was constantly improved and retrofitted with more modern mixing and storage facilities, while a higher capacity bagging line was fitted to keep up with increased demand resulting in a state-of-the-art facility with full traceability for all products.
In 2007, with the mill in Crecora having reached maximum capacity, a second mill was bought in Castlemahon (following the closure of Castlemahon Foods.) Today, eight people are employed at this site. The Castlemahon Mill is a state-of-the-art modern pellet manufacturing facility which has been extensively reworked by the engineering staff at John O’Connells to incorporate a 40 ton per hour coarse ration line using all the expertise and experience gained over the previous 30 years.
Between the two facilities at Crecora and Castlemahon, up to 5,000 tons of raw materials can be stored to ensure that there is always adequate supply aa well as up to 800 tons of finished product ready for dispatch to customers.
The delivery fleet, which started off with one second-hand truck, now comprises eight modern, reliable units that are maintained to the highest standards and fitted with high-speed bulk delivery systems.
All of Crecora Mills’ animal feed products have full traceability and are formulated with common sense and regard to animal nutrition needs as the year goes on.
Consistently ranked as one of the cleanest animal feed mills in the country. Crecora Mills works hand in hand with customers and provides a nutritional advice service to help them increase profits by maximising the benefits of their feeds.
The fact that the O’Connells also have their own beef and tillage enterprise in Crecora gives them a unique insight into the minds of their customers, whose needs they understand implicitly. “It allows us to look at both sides of the equation,” notes Paul. “We know what works and we know what’s going on in farmyards. We know our customers and we have built up personal relationships with them. We’d regularly go out in the lorries ourselves to meet them and to discuss their needs and how we can achieve a good diet using quality ingredients. The vast majority of our grain is sourced locally in Limerick and surrounding counties, all of the very highest quality.
“We’d have products for every animal at every stage of development, from a calf up to a fattened beef animal and we can advise farmers on the best feeds and the best diets for their animals at every stage of its development.
“My father has used a lot of his own practical knowledge to come up with the best-performing feeds and we always stay ahead of what’s needed by our customers.”
Crecora Mills is a strong family business fronted by John and Phyllis O’Connell alongside their children Lorraine, Jonathan and Paul. Jonathan runs the Listowel branch while Paul – a qualified nutritionist – manages the Castlemahon Mill and is head of nutrition.
Regarding the customer base, Paul adds: “Most of our customers are from the south-west and a lot of their fathers would have been with us before them. We deal with some wholesalers but the vast majority of our feeds are sold directly to farmers in North Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Clare.”
The modern and immaculately-maintained fleet of eight lorries is central to the ongoing success of the business, ensuring that customers receive the highest level of service to complement the superb products. “We have four eight-wheelers – three Scanias and a Volvo – and three DAF artics for delivering feed, in bulk and in bags. We’ve only just taken delivery of a brand new DAF as part of our policy of operating a fresh fleet. We use only the most modern and reliable equipment right across the business.”
Crecora Mills currently employs a team of 27 and continues to experience growth. The business has exceeded all expectations in many respects, but this has not been an overnight success story by any means. Nothing has happened by chance… “It has been a great success story, but a lot of hard work has gone into it and there have been a lot of sleepless nights along the way,” says Paul. “But if you look after customers and give them quality, then they will come back to you. We have a very good name and have developed a reputation for delivering quality feeds at a reasonable price. Customers know what they are going to get.
“Most of our employees are here ten years or more and they are all good people. We know we wouldn’t be here without them. You need excellent staff and we are very lucky in that regard.
“We’ve done a lot of R&D down through the years and we are constantly doing research on beef diets on our own farm, trying out different formulations and management types. We’ve also done a lot of research on the dairy side of things and have for example introduced DairyMax 18% Nut Plus – a unique formula to ourselves – which has been hugely successful.
“We tailor our products to suit the animal and the time of year, making sure the feed has the right balance and ensure that there are adequate amounts of energy, fibre and protein in the diet. We offer advice and management hints regarding feeds and also stock a full range of farm supplies from grass seed to fertiliser, chemicals, sprays, fencing, tools etc. – anything a farmer might need. My father is a qualified geologist and is well-known for his knowledge of herbicides and pesticides.”
Looking to the future, Paul O’Connell believes the abolition of dairy quotas can have a major positive effect on farming in Ireland – and in turn on Crecora Mills. As an extra four or five kilos of feed per day could have the same beneficial effect on milk yields as increasing the herd size, dairy producers who do their maths will undoubtedly be upping their orders!
“I’d like to think there will be higher demand for feeds as producers can up performance levels that way without leaving themselves open to the vagaries of the weather by increasing the volume of cows.
“There is a massive opportunity for expansion,” Paul concludes. “Dairy farmers have a great opportunity to cut loose now and that sector could change drastically. In ten years’ time, we will look back and wonder how we ever survived in 2015.”
Crecora Mills
Crecora,
County Limerick.
Tel: 061 355186
Fax: 061 355658
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 4, May 2015
