From their base just outside Durrow in County Laois, Tynan Brothers Agri provide local farmers with a full range of exceptional agricultural contracting solutions. We spoke to John Tynan – who has been contracting for coming up on half a century – about this industry-leading family-run enterprise and the fantastic fleet of fresh and immaculately-maintained machinery at their disposal.
Running their own mixed farm enterprise, brothers Michael, John and David Tynan have worked the land all their lives. As well as growing crops and fattening cattle, the Laois siblings – who farm just outside Durrow – also provide a one-stop shop for all agri contacting needs.
For decades, farmers within the local area have been availing of a comprehensive range of contracting services from Tynan Brothers Agri, who cover literally everything bar hedge cutting.
As farmers themselves, the vastly-experienced trio understand implicitly the level of service their customers demand, thereby invariably providing prompt, professional and value-added services, combining the expertise garnered over decades with the best machinery money can buy to deliver outstanding results every time. This explains why they benefit from so much repeat business, with generations of the same families coming back to them season after season…
“We’re very lucky to have a lot of work locally,” John confirms “A lot of those farms have been passed down through the generations and we continue to work on them. Or in some cases a neighbour might buy the farm but you keep working the same land. There are fewer farms now and they are bigger but thankfully we are still getting plenty of work.”
The key to providing a dependable contracting service that convinces farmers to stick with Tynan Brothers Agri? “The most important thing is to listen closely to what the farmer wants you to do,” says John. “We are here to do that for him, as requested, and of course it is all weather-related. Regular customers will mostly give you notice and then you are able to plan ahead.
“When we make a promise to a farmer, we won’t break that promise. We are good to our word. If we say we are going to be there on a certain day, then we will be there. We try to keep everything straightforward and we never make a promise that we aren’t going to keep.
“You have to be honest and upfront with people – when a lad rings, you talk to him straight. If you can’t make it on a certain day, just tell him that. Farmers respect you when you tell them the truth.”
As they provide virtually all services, Tynan Brothers are kept busy all year around, with full-time employment generated for the three brothers plus two other men, as well as additional manpower during the peak of the summer season. “There’s no problem when the weather is good,” John continues. “Weather-wise, it has been a very good year so far and we can have no complaints on that front.”
John started contracting 48 years ago. While he accepts that he chose a tough life for himself, he says he wouldn’t change it for the world. Farming and contracting is his life, 24/7/365, starting from 6am most days and often continuing late into the evening or night. “During silage season we pull out at 10pm, having started at 6.30am – you can’t burn the candle at both ends,” he notes.
The Laois man bought his first tractor – a Ford – in 1977, having used his father’s trusty Massey Ferguson 35X for a few years prior to that. Today, Tynan Brothers Agri run a fleet of ten tractors, predominantly New Holland workhorses, including T7 210s, 190s, 175s and a T7 180 as well as a couple of smaller tractors, such as the T6 180 which is mostly used for spraying.
The tractor fleet is regularly replenished and upgraded, with one brand-new model added to date this year and two acquired in 2021. “For the work we are at, you need reliable tractors and machinery. They have to be in top condition. If you only get two fair days in a week, the last thing you need is a breakdown.”
Between ploughing, tilling, sowing, spraying and cutting beet and corn, harvesting maize and winter cereals, cutting silage, spreading slurry, baling and wrapping, it’s all go at Tynan Brothers Agri and there’s never a dull moment.
The Tynans run a vast fleet of superb machinery, including but by no means limited to a Claas Jaguar self-propelled harvester, JCB loading shovel, Berthoud sprayer, Kverneland plough and mowers, Herron and Broughan trailers, Claas rakes, New Holland combines, Claas harvesters, a McHale Fusion baler / wrapper and two stand-alone balers.
Each piece of equipment is preserved in tip-top condition at all times and everything is upgraded on regular rotation. “Each year you change the machine that most needs to be changed,” John states. “You will always find something to change, if not too much! My oldest brother, Michael, who also drives, does a good bit of the mechanical work but our main dealers Kelly’s of Borris and Shaw’s also look after a lot of it for us – when it comes to sensors or computers, we can’t fix them ourselves.
“David is spraying constantly, spreads manure and feeds the cattle in the winter. There’s always something for everybody to do.”
The Tynans buy stores in October and fatten 500 cattle over the winter. The home farming enterprise comprises 650 acres, 130 of which is owned, where they grow crops and cut silage, both to feed their own animals and also to sell.
If he isn’t tending to the cattle or baling and wrapping, John can be found cutting corn, transporting grain or taking phone calls to keep on top of everything. “No two days are the same, that’s for sure,” he concludes. “It’s not an easy life but I wouldn’t be doing anything else.
“You meet a lot of good, interesting people and talk to farmers every day and there’s a social element to it. You’re outdoors most of the day, which is good. The changing seasons are grand and there’s great variety to it. Farming has been my life and I haven’t had time for anything else.”
It’s a vocation for John and Tynan Brothers Agri, in truth, and that’s precisely why their customers are guaranteed such outstanding service.
Tynan Brothers Agri,
Dunmore,
Durrow,
County Laois.
Tel: 087 2530141
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 6, November/December 2022
