Michael Ryan & Son Agri Ltd is a third generation agricultural contracting firm based in Ballindoney, Ballywilliam in Co. Wexford. Offering a complete farm contracting service, Michael Ryan runs the business along with his wife Mary and son Micheal.
It’s almost 40 years since Michael – then aged 17 – joined his father John’s agri contracting business. The family-run operation has come a long way since then, offering everything from silage cutting, maize, wholecrop , beet harvesting and sowing to baling, wrapping, drawing in and stacking bails , dung spreading and hedge cutting. “Spraying is about the only thing we don’t do. If people are looking for this service, I just refer them to my brother Sean who can do it for them,” Michael says.
Committed to providing a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, Michael Ryan & Son Agri Ltd has a wide range 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 company’s success is down to the knowledge, skill and expertise of its staff, as well as the quality of its equipment. Michael and his professional team deliver the value that quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
Michael Ryan & Son Agri Ltd runs a fleet of six tractors, including five John Deere and one Case IH. It’s one of the most modern fleets in the South-East with two of the John Deere’s – a 6215R and a 6195M – having been purchased new from Templetuohy Farm Machinery in Enniscorthy this year. The other John Deere’s are a 6930 and a pair of older 6910s. Like the 6930, the Case IH Puma 215 is only three years old.
“John Deere is a firm favourite with us. They are a reliable, economical and a comfortable tractor to drive. Having said that, the Case is a very good tractor too,” the affable agri contractor explains.
Other plant / equipment operated by the company include a 141-registered JCB 435 loading shovel, a 151 Claas 860 forage harvester, Claas Lexion 450 and John Deere 2056 combine harvesters, two McHale Fusion balers, New Holland square bailer a new four-metre Horsch seed and fertiliser purchased this year in Kellys of Borris arriving just in time for this seasons winter sowing , a Samco six row maize sower , a Kverneland plough, 5 meter Kuhn power harrow , Armer Salmon beet sower and beet harvester, three Kverneland mowers (front, trail and side-mounted), a McConnel hedgecutter, an 18-tonne Bunning dung spreader and five 20-feet Smyth silage trailers.
All machines are upgraded on a regular basis to avoid breakdowns and downtime. Servicing and maintenance is carried out in-house, while machines under warranty are sent to the dealerships they were bought from. Fodder beet is something of a speciality as Michael explains: “When Greencore was in full production, we were ploughing, tilling and sowing 800 acres of sugar beet with a turnover of about €100,000. This left us with a lot of expensive machinery and nothing to do from October to January. It took us years to get over this loss.
“Today, we rent 50 acres nearby for growing beet. We pull the beet and wash it with our mobile washing unit before selling it to local dairy, beef and sheep farmers. We can also pull and wash beet for other growers in the area.
“In addition, we grow 30 acres of maize which we sell mostly to dairy farmers. We keep dry stock on another 30 acres that we own in Monamolin, Rathnure, which is only a mile from our yard.”
Michael Ryan & Son Agri Ltd has a large and loyal customer-base in Wexford and the surrounding counties of Carlow and Kilkenny. “We cover within a 15-mile radius of Ballywilliam and will travel further if needs be,” he adds.
There is no such thing as a quiet time for this highly-regarded agricultural contracting firm. In the early part of the year, the focus is on dung spreading, ploughing, tilling and sowing cereals, beet, maize and grass seeds. The silage and baling season gets underway in May and runs until September. This is a particularly hectic time for the Ryans who take on part-time staff and work long hours to keep their clients happy. They cut pit silage and make a substantial amount of round bales with their two McHale Fusion 3 Plus balers. When the silage and hay is done with, it’s on to cutting and hauling corn, making round and big square bails of straw, harvesting beet, maize and hedge cutting.
So what gives Michael Ryan & Son Agri Ltd the edge over its competitors? Michael replies: “Reliability, the quality of our machinery and work, and value-for-money are the hallmarks of our business. If we tell someone we’ll be with them at such a time, we’ll be there at that time. We don’t mess people around. We would be unable to provide this service without our top class staff and we would like to thank them for all their hard work.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their support over the years, and look forward to maintaining our partnership with them for many more years to come.”
Michael is a member of the Association of Farm Contractors in Ireland (FCI) which was formed in 2012 to give agricultural contractors a voice at Government and EU level. Its other objectives are to promote good contractor / farmer relationships; to promote the benefits of a good agricultural contracting service; to provide members with knowledge and courses to help them run their business; to promote a good working relationship between contractors.
For all your agriculture contracting needs in the Ballywilliam area, look no further than Michael and Micheal Ryan and their team.
Michael Ryan & Son Agri Ltd
Ballindoney,
Ballywilliam,
Enniscorthy,
Co. Wexford.
Telephone: Michael
Mobile: 087 2578567
Michèal Mobile 087 1278224
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 9, November/December 2016
