Machinery manufacturers are quick to stress how efficient and essential to modern farming their latest products are. However, one farming enterprise from County Cork runs four Ford New Holland tractors dating from the late 1990s, which, they claim, perform just as well in the field as their more current counterparts
“What we need is productivity when in the field” — a sentiment with which very few farmers could, or would, pick a quarrel. To add to its impact it is voiced by Tim Sheahan, who, in partnership with his brother John, farms 607ha in County Cork alongside a well established farm merchant business. Having such an insight into the market for both produce and inputs, the brothers are acutely aware of the effect that fluxes in prices can have on long- and short-term profitability. It is a situation that has influenced their approach to returning a profit from the land in their care.
Over the years the brothers have dramatically expanded their parents’ original tillage farm near Mallow through renting other land in the district. Sugar beet was once a major crop, but, since the factory in Mallow closed, it is solely cereals that are grown in the rotation. Wheat, barley and oats are sown as both winter and spring varieties with broad-leaved crops being very much consigned to the past. “Just growing cereals allows us to concentrate on one type of crop,” notes Tim.
The 607ha represent a sizeable area to look after and it takes a good deal of professional organisation to do so, especially as it is widely distributed within a 40km radius of the main farm yard. Given these circumstances, it would be fair to expect an expansive collection of modern tractors and machinery to be doing the work. However, the Sheahans have taken a different route altogether.
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