Roe Agri Services has been the contractor of choice for many farmers in Co. Laois and surrounding counties for over 50 years. Specialising in tillage and general contracting, the family-run business continues to go from strength to strength by providing a professional, efficient and value-for-money service.
Based in Ballacolla, Co. Laois, Roe Agri Services was established in the early 1970s by Clifford Roe who continues to run the business in partnership with his son Gary. They are supported by three full-time staff and a similar number of part-time who help out at busy times. Clifford and Gary are also tillage farmers who grow winter oilseed rape, winter oats, winter barley, winter wheat, spring barley and maize on 300-400 acres of mostly rented land for themselves, and a further 400-500 acres for others on hire.
Gary joined the business in 2002 after attending Gurteen College for a year and spending another year working on the harvest in Australia.
“My father initially specialised in dung and slurry spreading before branching out into tillage and beet,” he explains.
“It’s mostly tillage we do now which is the big thing in this part of the country. We do ploughing, sowing, harvesting and spraying along with bulk fertiliser spreading for dairy clients, slurry and dung spreading, baling and wrapping, hedge cutting and a small amount of mulching.
“We make 3,000-4,000 silage bales, 3,000-4,000 round straw bales and 3,000-5,000 big square bales a year. We have a wider customer-base for the big square bales in Kilkenny, Offaly, Kildare and Tipperary as well as in Laois. In addition, we cut 800-900 acres of corn a year.
“We’ve really pushed the business on in the last decade or so, while retaining many of the same customers who have been loyal to us since the beginning.”
Committed to providing superior service and complete customer satisfaction, Roe Agri Services 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. The contracting firm’s success can be attributed to the knowledge, experience, skill and expertise of its staff as well as the quality of its machinery. The Roes and their highly-skilled and highly-motivated team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
The father-and-son combination runs an all-John Deere fleet which consists of a 3650, a 6910S, a 6830, a 7930, a 6170R, a 6145R and two 6175Rs. “We started out with Case Internationals before we got a John Deere 3050 on demo from TFM (Templetuohy Farm Machinery) in 1992. My father liked it and bought a one-year-old 3050 the following year. We have been John Deere ever since,” Gary says.
The Roes also run a John Deere T670 combine harvester along with a Deutz-Fahr 5690 combine harvester. Their tillage equipment includes Kverneland six-, five- and four-furrow reversible ploughs, a Lemken One Pass seeder, a Horsch Pronto 4m trailing drill, a Vaderstad disc harrow and a Amazone 24ft trailed sprayer. Their grass machinery includes Kverneland front and rear-mounted conditioner mowers, a CLAAS rake, a new Kverneland Fastbale round baler – purchased from Gordon Hegarty & Sons in Kilkenny – and a Massey Ferguson 2190 big square baler.
For slurry, Roe Agri Services have Conor 2,750-gallon and 3,500-gallon tankers. They also have a Richard Western 14t dung spreader, a Bredal F10 fertiliser spreader and a Bredal K85 lime spreader. Other pieces of kit include a JCB 4165 loader, a McConnel 7775 hedge cutter, a Bomford Buccaneer mulcher and an assortment of Broughan trailers.
All machines are maintained and upgraded on a regular basis to avoid downtime.
“While we’re able to do some of the maintenance ourselves, the main dealers look after the bigger jobs. We deal mostly with TFM in Emo for John Deere. Eardly Agricultural Services in Kilkenny maintain the sprayer and Atkins in Birr do likewise for our Bredal spreaders.
“We deal with the Abbeyleix branch of Kelly’s of Borris for CLAAS and Richard Western, HLR Machinery in Durrow for Broughan and Conor, and Gordon Hegarty & Sons for Kverneland and McConnel. We enjoy an excellent relationship with all of our dealers and suppliers.”
There is no such thing as a quiet time for this highly-regarded family business which will work around the clock at peak times to keep customers happy. Slurry spreading, ploughing and sowing take precedence in the early part of the year, followed by silage baling during the summer months. After that comes crop harvesting, hedge cutting and more slurry spreading. The business serves within a 15-mile radius of Ballacolla and further afield when it comes to big square baling.
“We have some great customers who keep us busy all year round.”
Gary admits that skyrocketing machinery costs are putting a huge strain on the agri contracting sector.
“New tractors now cost €50,000 more on average than what they did five years ago. New trailers have gone up €10,000 in the same period. Parts have jumped 100% in some cases. Costs went through the roof after Covid and dropped. While the technology has improved, it doesn’t justify the massive price increases across the board.
“You have to take it on the chin because you need machinery and parts to function. Our rates have gone up, but still aren’t in keeping with these added costs. It’s unfortunate that we have to pass it on to the customer, especially drystock farmers whose margins are being cut the whole time, but you wouldn’t survive in this business otherwise,” continues Gary, who is also concerned about the lack of skilled and enthusiastic labour in the sector.
Passionate about agri contracting and tillage farming, Clifford and Gary would like to take this opportunity to thank their customers and suppliers for their continued support as well as their staff for their hard work, dedication and expertise.
Roe Agri Services
Tinnaraheen House,
Ballacolla,
Co. Laois.
Telephone: 087 616 5272
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 11 No 5, October/November 2023
