As we enter the summer months, agricultural contractors are gearing up for their busiest period of the year as farmers rush to get their silage made.
The unpredictable climate in Ireland means that there is usually a short timeframe for contractors to get the job done and so time constraints are constant.
Agricultural contractors are an integral part of the farming industry and without them; many farmers would not be able to get their work done.
There are many overheads in agri contracting as machinery doesn’t come cheap, but in order to carry out their duties to the highest standard, nothing but the best will do.
From a time when everything was hands on, the machinery available these days allows operators to get through at least ten times as much work on a daily basis.
Agricultural Contractors have benefitted greatly from the evolution of technology, but there is one thing that cannot be surpassed and that is experience.
Being able to know what a customer wants and giving them the service that they require cannot only be achieved through a modern fleet of machinery.
For this month’s edition of Irish Tractor & Agri, we profile Coleraine based Lyons Contracts who over the years, have built up an extensive customer base.
Robert Lyons started the business in the eighties providing a wide range of services to farmers in the locality. In 1998, having finished agricultural college, Robert was joined by his son John and it is he who speaks to us about the success of the business.
These days, Robert and his two sons John and Stephen run the successful business that sees them work at silage, slurry, harvesting, ploughing, sowing, grain crushing, dry rolling and dung spreading.
This means that the family run operation are busy all year round, but John revealed that the summer months are certainly the most hectic.
“Everything is geared towards the few months during the summer when the silage is being made. We have two forage harvesters, a John Deere 7450 and a John Deere 7480, while we would also have Volvo loaders and two New Holland combines a Claas rake while they have a wide range of tractors as they operate two crews. We have a third harvester coming soon.
“We would buy most of our machinery locally and we would deal a lot with Stephen Moore Farm Machinery in Coleraine.
“With the two crews, we can get through so much more work. We upgrade the machinery when necessary and we would do our own maintenance to make sure that the fleets are ready to go when the summer comes around.
“We would buy the tractors second hand, while the rest of the machinery would be bought new. During the summer months, we would take on extra staff to help us get through the workload.”
John admitted that many of the customers that they have on the books have been with them a number of years. “Some of our customers would be with us since my father first started the business.
“We would have the same customer base for many years now and the fact that we provide so many services means that they usually get us in to do more than just silage. Our customer base would be growing on an annual basis and we would cover a 30 mile radius from the home place.”
The slurry season is another busy period for Lyons Agri as the provide the must up to date services possible. “We would do the umbilical slurry spreading which involves pumping the liquid from a liquid storage facility (lagoon or tank) using a high-pressure pump unit, via a pipeline, to a tractor mounted applicator unit. Once the system is set up and the pipeline has been laid, the pump is started and the applicator unit is then driven in straight lines, dragging the supply pipe, known as the drag hose, up and down the spreading field.
“We are very impressed with the output of the dribble bar, we spread 29 million gallons in the first season using the SlurryKat system. One of the best features of this system is carrying everything on one tractor, hose and dribble bar.
“Since we started using the system our business has increased, it is trouble free and of excellent built quality. We operate two full SlurryKat Umbilical Systems in Co. Antrim and Londonderry.”
John admitted that they wouldn’t be turning down any work, if it comes their way.
“We are pleased with the direction of the business at the moment and although we have no plans to expand, we would always welcome extra work.”
Lyons Contracts,
19 Mayrs Lane,
Ballyrashane Road,
Coleraine,
BT52 2NN
Tel (028) 703 56222;
Mobile 07730700875
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 5, June 2015
