TG4 offer insight to world of the farm contractor
Contractors, TG4, February 24 at 9.30pm
There’s a monumental lot of work to be done on the land from April to September as farming enters its busiest six-month period. From slurry spreading to hedge cutting, ploughing to round baling, the farmers of Ireland can’t do it alone. So they turn to farming contractors and their families. These are their stories – This is ‘Contractors’.
‘Contractors’ is a seven-part observational entertainment-based documentary series exploring the working lives and personal narratives of seven agricultural contracting families from April to September, a unique practical and personal insight into contemporary life in rural Ireland.
Featuring crews from Limerick, Kerry, Meath, Tipperary, Galway, Donegal and Clare, the series highlights their professional challenges, the high and lows of their daily routine and their hopes and dreams, presenting a portrait of seven extraordinary crews for hire.
Without them, fields would be unploughed and unseeded, slurry would be unspread, silage would be uncut and hedgerows would descend into chaos.
Culturally and economically, farming is Ireland’s oldest and most resilient industry. It’s such a part of who we are – so deeply rooted in the Irish psyche – that we often take it for granted.
For the 137,000 families whose livelihoods depend on it, farming is a full-on, full-time job. But few farmers have the time, the manpower or the expensive specialist plant required to do it. And so, they call on the services of 1800 agricultural contractors from all around the country.
Every year and in all weathers, these hardworking journeymen and women arrive with 20,000 tractors and harvesters (€150 million worth of agricultural machinery) and 10,000 full and part-time operators to get the job done.
In a single season, their crews will harvest five million bales of silage, spread 10 billion litres of slurry and handle a nationwide programme of hedge-cutting, reseeding, crop spraying, fencing, ploughing and drainage maintenance.
Along with that workload, the contractors will deal with the immense pressures of a seasonal industry requiring huge investment in equipment, long hours, unpredictable schedules and skilled workers and operators that are often hard to find.
Timeframes are short, fuel is expensive, bad weather can derail a season and red tape can reduce a workforce to critical levels.
These are real, hardworking people. Some are full-time farmers who offer their skills and machines for hire come ploughing season and harvest time. Others are dedicated contractors who hire additional help for the busy months – among them, mams, dads, and students – a connected community in a no-nonsense world where time is money and excuses count for nothing.
With an unprecedented mix of Irish culture, heritage, experience and contemporary society presented in the Irish Language, featuring many strong female led and female centred enterprises, this series will be a melting pot of all ages, generations and sexes.
Meet the contractors
Alastair Doherty, Bobby Doherty Agri, Ramelton, County Donegal
Alastair runs Bobby Doherty Agri, a company his father started 40 years ago. They have 130 dairy cows and supply their milk to Aurivo-Co-Op. When the milking is done, Alastair and crew are out and about spreading slurry, ploughing, reseeding, round baling and cleaning septic tanks. With eight Massey Fergusons at his disposal, there’s no better man for the job.
Thomas Moloney, Moloney Agri and Tree Care, Clogheen, County Tipperary
Thomas runs Moloney Agri and Tree Care along with his father Jim. They do silage work such as mowing, tedding, raking and baling of silage hay and straw using round and square bales, as well as slurry spreading using low emission trailing shoes. Digger and dump trailer work is also a service they provide as well as tree surgery work carried out by certified operators. They are award winning contractors.
Eoin Ó Muircheartaigh, Ó Muircheartaigh Agri, An Fheothanach, County Kerry
Eoin, from west Kerry, runs a beef and sheep farm. He also carries out baled silage, slurry spreading with trailing shoe, a small bit of ploughing and reseeding grassland. From modest beginnings with just one tractor and a baler he has now upsized to employing up to four lads in the busy summer months.
Karen O’Donoghue, O’Donoghue Agri, Croom, County Limerick
Karen has been working with her father’s agri contracting business since she was 16. They do all kinds of work, such as precision chop silage, round and square baling, raking, tedding, slurry spreading, dumper hire, wrapping and stacking bales and ploughing and tillage work. Now with baby Clodagh in tow, Karen still remains stone mad for John Deeres!
Eoin Collins, Collins Agri, Kilfenora, County Clare
A secondary school teacher, Eoin is part of Collins Agri, a business his father started in 1994. He and his father and three brothers specialise in silage, baling, tillage and slurry.
Peadar Seoighe, Highland Ground Services, Corr na Móna, County Galway
Peadar Seoighe, a sheep shearer and contractor from Galway has been in the contracting business for about six years. From lime spreading to topping and spraying rushes, Peadar has built an agri contracting business based upon the size of enterprise in the hills of Corr na Móna along with his competent sheepdog called Lindsey who helps him get the job done!
Peter Farrelly and Pat Farrelly, Farrelly Brothers Kells, County Meath
Brothers Peter and Pat have been in the contracting business for 40 years. From pit silage to ploughing, sowing seeds to site clearances, they have around 20 people working for them and the hard work never stops.