This week, John Deere has confirmed the appointment of Templetuohy Farm Machinery (TFM) as the new dealer for the northwest of Ireland, covering Galway, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo. This is the sixth branch establishment for the TFM Group, which was founded by brothers Jimmy and Joe Butler at Barna, Templetuohy, Thurles, in 1982.

The appointment makes the TFM group the largest retail farm machinery operation in Ireland, as well as Ireland’s largest John Deere dealer. Its sales and service region now runs from Carnsore in Wexford diagonally across Ireland to the Donegal border.

TFM was first appointed as a John Deere dealer in 1983 and, since then, has expanded to the current six-branch operation, with responsibility for John Deere tractor sales in 13 of the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland.

This area also coincidentally accounts for 50% of all John Deere registered tractors in Ireland.

TFM now has branches in Clonmel, Emo, Enniscorthy, Kilkenny and Templetuohy and the new northwestern branch, which is likely to be based in the Tuam region, will be the sixth one.

While the new branch has not been established as yet, TFM is providing sales, service and parts support for farmers and contractors in the area.

Hire fleet service

In addition to John Deere’s full line of agricultural equipment, the company also offers a hire fleet service across the whole of its trading area. Until the new outlet is open for business and new staff are employed, TFM has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that it will provide guaranteed next-day parts delivery from its existing network to ensure continuity of supply and service to John Deere customers in the northwest.

“With 33 years of experience, our aim is to continue to offer the same first-class values and customer service levels that we have established over many years of business in Ireland,” says TFM dealer principal Jimmy Butler.

Sales

“We employ sales and service specialists in all the main John Deere product lines, including tractors, combines, green crop equipment, sprayers and AMS FarmSight precision farming systems, as well as support programmes such as PowerGard maintenance and protection.

“We also carry over €3.4m worth of parts in stock, with a 90% fill rate and a 99% next-day parts delivery service, so we pride ourselves on being well placed to offer the very best in machinery sales and service to existing and new customers,” added Jimmy Butler.

The latest accounts for the TFM Group show that its turnover increased from €26.6m to €27.5m in 2014, while profits dropped from €554,750 to €139,707. The company has strong shareholders funding increasing to almost €5.5m at the end of 2014. Employee numbers increased from 71 to 73 at TFM at the end of 2014 and more will be expected with the northwest expansion.

The TFM appointment in the western region follows the withdrawal of John Deere from Murphy’s Garage in Headford in April of this year.