Samco’s managing director told the Irish Farmers Journal last year that there was a “big push” on maize in Ireland, with farmers increasing planting area by 50% to 100%.

Financial accounts for the company for the 12 months ended June 2023 show that big push helped drive a significant increase in business for the Limerick-based agri-engineering firm.

Turnover jumped by more than €7m to €18.8m, an increase of 60%. However, profit for the financial year at the company dropped by half to €323,100 as the increase in business meant a significant increase in costs.

The average number of employees at Samco rose by 20% to 54, while interest costs on bank loans more than doubled.

Samco exports machinery to 25 countries around the world, which suggests that it wasn’t just the increase in maize in Ireland that drove the expansion in business.

The huge increase in costs of raw materials during the 12 months covered by these accounts would also have had a significant effect on turnover at the company.