Murphy Concrete will be at the National Ploughing Championships to showcase a selection of its many precast concrete products on block 2, row 9, stand 207. It has been a busy period for drinking troughs sales this year, according to the company.

John Murphy said when the big pressure came on water systems during the warm weather, smaller capacity troughs could not cope with the demand. This was especially the case where herd numbers might have increased over the past number of years but water systems were not upgraded to meet the extra demand.

There are two sizes of tractor weights available - 650kg and 1,000kg.

“We will have our full display of drinking troughs where sizes start at 30 gallons and go up to 500 gallon troughs” said John. “We will also be there to answer technical questions such as valve sizes and types that would suit the water infrastructure on your farm” he explained. John said trough prices range from €100 to €490 including VAT. “All troughs come fitted with Hansen fast fill valves,” he said.

“At last year’s Ploughing we launched our newly designed cow foot bath. This has been an instant success and orders were very good after the Ploughing.”

John said the price of the footbath is €450 excluding VAT and side rails are an extra €200 excluding VAT per rail. He said its slurry channel and scraper slats will be on display too. The slurry channel and slat cost €550 excluding VAT.

Storage tanks

“Storage tanks are always very popular on our stand and always bring some good conversations. Some farmers want advice on how we can help with solving dirty water collection while others want to learn about the options available for collecting and harvesting rainwater for reuse on the farm,” John explained. Concrete tank sizes range from 550 gallons to 2,400 gallons.

“Prices for the tanks are approximately €1.00 per gallon,” he said. They will also have two sizes of tractor weights on show (650kg and 1,000kg). A 650kg tractor weight costs €700 excluding VAT and a 1,000kg weight costs €850 excluding VAT.

Feed troughs

“We will have a full range of feed troughs on display, and there will be seven different types that will cover most situations,” he said. John has noticed that the feed trough season has started very early this year as farmers had to feed silage throughout the summer months. Prices range from €180 to €210 excluding VAT per unit.

Walls

The Murphy Concrete silage walls and grain bunker wall will also be on display. “With silage pits getting bigger, there has been an increase in sales this year. All walls are CE Certified and NSAI approved,” said John. He said prices for silage walls are €300 per unit and the grain bunker wall is €360 excluding VAT.