In the early 2010s, brothers Padraig and Andrew Smith made the decision to return home to Tierworker, Co Meath, and pursue the family-run agricultural contracting business, shaping the modern operation it is today.

Although now named Smith Brothers Agri Contractors, the business was established by Padraig and Andrew’s father Philip in the mid 1980s having purchased a Massey 590 and a single-chop Tarrup harvester as an addition to the family’s dairy and suckler farm.

Alongside cutting his own silage, the intention was to provide a service to the neighbouring farmers.

In the years that followed the business grew and so too did the range of services provided.

On the forage side of the business the Smiths run a Claas Jaguar 850 forage harvester, a Malone silage wagon and two McHale Fusion 3 balers.

Today, Padraig and Andrew are responsible for the contracting side of things while Philip has refocused his entire attention on the dairy herd alongside the suckler and beef finishing enterprise.

The business covers a 30-mile radius and Padraig explains that in recent years things have gotten busier, with shortening weather windows and factors such as increasing cow numbers. Today, silage cutting and slurry spreading are the two main services offered. During silage season the team comprises anywhere up to 10 men.

Tractors

The brothers run a fleet of 11 modern tractors all of which are upwards of 150hp and they are predominately Valtra with a few Massey Fergusons. When asked about the brief infiltration of Masseys into the fleet between the 2017 and 2019, Padraig said: “Up through the years Dad kept both brands at one point or another. We got on well with both brands and have kept it this way since. After all, they’re both AGCO brands which works well considering both use AGCO Power engines so the likes of filters are shared between certain models. On another note, service and backup from either dealer couldn’t be faulted. Both brands have performed well for us over the years. In particular the older Valtras, the 2015 T173 for example, has just over 14,000 hours clocked up and all it’s received outside standard servicing is a set of clutch packs. With the price of tractors now, it’s important they are earning their keep. Last year we had tractors clock up between 2,000 and 2,500 hours.

The New Holland W170D loader replaced an older JCB 416S in 2020.

“Valtra has probably upped its game the most in recent years with the latest T series tractors, especially in terms of comfort. At the time the Masseys were bought they were that bit more competitive in price and at the end of the day that’s what it really boils down to. However, pricing seems to be more on par now.”

Padraig noted how one of the future plans is to increase the amount of tillage work carried out.

The fleet in total comprises 11 tractors, of which eight are Valtras (8550, T154, T160 x2, T170, T173, T194 and a new T255) and three are Massey Fergusons (7718 x2 and 7726). The most recent addition to the fleet will be the Valtra T255 which is expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

Mowing and raking

Two sets of Samasz butterflies alongside a Claas front and rear side mounted combination take care of all mowing duties. While discussing the reasoning behind opting for Samasz mowers, Padraig says: “When it came to buying the first set of butterfly mowers, we weighed up the options and priced all major brands including Samasz. The closest competitor to Samasz was still over €30,000 more expensive. We found them to be a well-built mower and had heard some good reports from other contractors. There was no issue in sourcing parts even here locally which gave us the confidence to order a set. We now run the two sets, one with groupers and one without. They’ve performed well overall and have given us little to no bother.

The fleet consists of eight Valtra tractors.

“Although groupers seem to be less common now, we still group over 1,000 acres annually, mainly for bales where crops tend to be that bit lighter,” Padraig explained.

This year the lads almost made the leap to a four rotor rake to replace two of the three twin-rotor rakes but then decided otherwise. Padraig explained: “We haven’t fully ruled out the idea of moving to a four-rotor rake in the future, but at the moment our Jaguar 850 forager would have been the limiting factor in heavy first cut grass.

Forager, wagon and balers

The Smiths made the leap to a self-propelled forage harvester in 2007. In the runup to this, all grass was lifted with a trailed JF 1050 harvester. Padraig described them as a good harvester but noted it was important they were kept fresh. The move to a self-propelled was purely down to output with a Claas Jaguar 850 being the go-to model of choice right up through the years.

“Our current Jaguar 850 is about to go into its third season and has performed well aside from one unfortunate mishap having lifted a stone last year during second cut which resulted in a significant amount of damage.

This 2015 Valtra T163 has now over 14,000 hours on its clock, averaging just over 2,000 hours annually.

“We demoed a Krone Big X 630 last year too, which we were well impressed with. They seem a great machine to take in lumpy swaths of grass. Comfort and turning circle are impressive too. They’re a brand we’ll definitely be pricing next time around,” Padraig said.

In 2020 a New Holland W170D loader was added to the fleet to replace an older JCB 416S. Padraig explained that it was between a new JCB 419S and New Holland W170D. A JCB 435S was just simply out of budget. “The New Holland W170D is an underrated loader, we found it to be a cleverly designed and well-built machine with ample power. In comparison to the 419S it just felt as if New Holland were offering much more loader for the money.”

With the slow start to last year’s silage campaign, the Smiths decided to purchase a Malone forage wagon to help deal with the backlog of work. The rationale behind the wagon was to speed up the forager or to send out to stoney ground or even to a small job on its own. Padraig said that so far the wagon has worked well.

The fleet currently comprises three Massey Fergusons, one 7726 and two 7718 models.

Today, the fleet comprises two McHale Fusion 3 balers, baling between 18,000 and 20,000 bales annually. Round baling is a service that has only been provided since 2012, when the lads felt that there was an opening among existing customers to offer a baling service.

Other services

Outside of silage season, slurry is another large part of the Smith brothers business. They run two umbilical systems and seven slurry tankers, the majority of which are fitted with dribble bars and trailing shoe LESS methods.

Padraig noted how slurry has grown to be one of the main services offered and a job that now sees the team busy throughout the whole spreading season.

Also in recent years the brothers decided to venture into plant hire and so invested in a 21t Hitachi and 13t JCB JS130 digger, work for which entails everything from land reclamation, drainage work, tree and hedge maintenance as well as site work. Other agricultural services provided by the Smith brothers include bulk fertiliser spreading, dung spreading, grass reseeding and dump trailer work.

A new Kverneland one-pass and five-furrow plough has recently been bought with the intention of increasing the amount of arable work carried out. The winter months generally see two hedge cutters and a tractor and saw on the go too. Diversifying the business further, a truck was added to the fleet last December which will predominately be used to haul slurry and stone.

The business and challenges

“When I decided to come home after Ag College in 2012 and later Andrew when he had finished serving his time with a local refrigeration company in 2014 we both knew the business would need to be expanded and diversified if it was to sustain the two of us. After entering a partnership, this is what we done gradually and continue to do. We are both actively involved, during silage season I operate one of the butterfly mowers while Andrew drives the forager.

“To be fair, we have a loyal customer base, many of whom date back to Dad’s early days contracting. It’s great working for these customers. Everyone benefits, whether that be us knowing his or her fields and yards or them knowing that they can rely on us to get the job done as they require.

Brothers Padraig (left) and Andrew Smith (right).

Although this is going to be a challenging year for everybody, I think farmers understand that there will have to be a diesel surcharge put on rates in order to make the job pay. It’s not as if we’re going to make any more profit.

“The price of machinery poses another long-term challenge to the sector. A tractor that cost us in the €80,000s in 2017 is now north of €100,000 for the same model. Rates will inevitably have to increase going forward. After all, it’s a business we are running and the figures need to add up. Labour too is an issue as is the case across all industries at the moment. Good labour is getting harder to find, especially for seasonal staff. This was partly some of the reasoning behind buying the diggers and hedge cutters so that there would be work over the winter months,” Padraig said.

During the November/ December period two drivers and tractors are often subbed into a potato farm in Ardee to pull potato boxes, which according to Padraig, helps keep both men and machinery busy during what is typically a quieter period.

It’s clear from speaking with the Smiths that they run a tight ship and carefully consider their options before making any business decisions. As margins tighten it’s important all contractors take a similar approach in order to guarantee their future.

Best machine ?

“The best machine that’s come into the fleet I would say is the New Holland W170D loader. Now approaching its third season, we couldn’t fault it. Its ability on the silage pit is seriously impressive. It’s a real dark horse in a market that is dominated by some big names,” Padraig says.

Worst machine ?

“We’ve had two Kuhn power harrows from new over the years. They were never lucky for us, it wasn’t uncommon to have them split open a few times a year replacing bearings which was no small job. The bearings never seemed heavy enough for their purpose.”