Established in 1992 Lagan Agri Contractors is a family run contracting business based near Toomebridge, Co Antrim. With over 25 years experience in both farming and the use of machinery, they can provide the best agricultural contracting services at competitive prices, which means the customer can get the job done quickly and efficiently at minimum cost.
Creating partnerships with landowners and farmers is an important part of their business and many of their customers have been with them years. This is a testament to the reliable service that is provided by Leo and Kevin Lagan.
The brothers are committed to providing a high-quality service and customer satisfaction. They have a wide range of machinery to carry out their work quickly and efficiently, providing the customer with value-for-money and an alternative to investing in their own expensive equipment.
The contracting firm’s success is largely down to the quality of its equipment and the knowledge and expertise of its staff. The Lagan’s deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
“As farmers ourselves, we know what our customers want and that is to go in and do the job as quickly and efficiently as possible, which is always our aim,” said Leo.
“Myself and my late brother Colm set up the business in ‘92 and from there we built it up to what it is today. We provide a wide range of services to a customer base which is probably within a 15 mile radius of us.”
Lagan Agri pride themselves on offering the best agricultural contracting services possible. With a dedicated team of highly trained operatives, supported by a management team with a wealth of experience they can ensure every job, no matter how big or small, is completed to the highest level and as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Combining, Silage, Tillage, Digger work, Slurry, sowing, ploughing and much more are the services provided by Lagan Agri.
“We offer an extensive range of services and are flexible to suit your needs. We can tailor our contracts depending on the machinery required and the level of involvement you’d like to maintain. Services include part and full contract farming as well as individual or tailored operations.”
Despite providing such an extensive range of services, this family run business still find the time to run their own farm.
“We would have 140 suck calves which are brought through to beef, while we would have in the region of 300 ewes. We also grow barley as well, so there is plenty to be going on with.”
Running a fleet of ten tractors, which consists of eight New Hollands and two John Deeres. Other machinery includes a Claas 950, JCB 418, a Claas 3600 rake, five Herron trailers, two Red Rock slurry tankers (2,500 and 3.500gls) amongst other machinery means that this business is keen on having a modern fleet of equipment at their disposal. The machines are upgraded on a regular basis.
Servicing and repair of machinery is carried out both in-house and by the relevant dealers. Realising the importance of avoiding breakdowns and keeping machines running smoothly at all times, they inspect and clean their equipment on a weekly basis.
“We have a fleet of modern and up to date machinery which means we have the latest technology to complete a variety of agricultural operations. Our range of services is broad and flexible to enable us to tailor our offering to suit our customers’ needs.
Working closely with partners, suppliers and customers, they are at the forefront of agriculture and are always striving towards the best in agricultural operations, processes and opportunities. They have a close relationship with New Holland, which they have used over the years and the service they get from suppliers such as them as a manufacturer is second to none and is key in enabling them to provide a first-class service to their customers.
This Antrim based firm is busy all year round with their agricultural contracting business. In the early part of the year, the focus is very much on slurry spreading. The silage and baling season gets underway in May and runs until September. This is a particularly hectic time for the family who will work around the clock to keep their clients happy. It’s followed in the autumn by more slurry spreading. Well that’s how it is meant to go anyway, but Leo revealed that the weather plays a massive part in their work schedule.
When speaking to us, Leo revealed that they were still in the process of spreading slurry, which due to the adverse weather conditions so far this year has seen them slip behind in their schedule.
“We are about five or six weeks behind at the moment. The weather has been terrible and it was impossible to get anything done. Last year and this year so far have been poor weather wise. The grass is only starting to grow now and the silage will be a few weeks behind also.
The umbilical application system is the one used by Lagan Agri and Leo revealed that it has many advantages over traditional tanker-based application methods, the main ones being it empties slurry tanks and lagoons much faster, reduces / eliminates soil compaction and reduces fuel consumption as the contractor is not constantly travelling from the yard to the field.
“For now though, the focus is on the slurry and we use the umbilical system which we and our customers find very beneficial.”
Leo took time out to thank his loyal customers who have stayed with them over the years.
“They have stayed loyal to us because we offer a professional, reliable and clean service at a competitive price. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their business and look forward to working for and with them for many more years to come.”
Lagan Agri Contractors
Toomebridge, Co Antrim
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 8, December 2018/January 2019
