Offaly woman Ann Hanrahan has 35 years’ experience running a contracting business alongside her husband, Ger. Based outside Birr, Ann was bitten by the machinery bug at a young age and helped build the contracting business G and A Hanrahan Ltd from the ground up.

In later years, their son Keith joined the business. Today, the company employs seven full-time staff and far more during the busy summer months.

Busy organising staff who were sowing corn and spreading slurry, Ann took a break to tell us a little bit about her contracting career.

Role

“I always enjoyed the buzz of contracting and I suppose I was never afraid to get stuck in. Over the years, I worked in every part of the business. In recent years, my role has developed largely into two aspects, driving the harvester for the silage season and looking after the office work. We issue invoices for work carried out within a month of completion. Card payment and bank transfer now account for 80% of our payment.

Ann Hanrahan.

“Down through the years, I would have carried out jobs related to tractor driving, and I would have done a lot of mechanical work. The way I look at it is that if you’re driving a machine, you need to know how and be able to fix it.

“I never trained as a mechanic, but grew up on a farm and I always had a feel for it. I never feared tackling into any mechanical problems. Nowadays, I just look after a share of the mechanical work on the harvesters.

“As of recently, I have begun working a day and a half each week with the Association of Farm & Forestry Contractors (FCI), mainly collecting membership. I find the association to be a great support to contractors. A problem shared is a problem halved.”

The fleet

“We run a fleet of 10 Case and New Holland tractors. We try to keep the tractors updated on a regular basis, and maybe buy one tractor each year.

“With new tractor costs having effectively doubled over the past 10 years, we often upgrade to fresh used tractors to avoid the initial depreciation costs. We only use ball-and-spoon hitches on all tractors, and we think they are a very safe job.

“Over 35 years ago, we started off with a drag harvester, and later moved into a New Holland 1900 self-propelled harvester.

“We continuously upgraded over the years, but always stuck with New Holland. We ran several 2200 models and FXs, and today run an FR700, with two FXs as backup machines. We run a Volvo L90E on the pit.”

Opportunities and threats

“Ourselves, like all contractors, are facing several major issues at present. Diesel cost and supply is the biggest issue. Its cost is a serious worry. The fluctuations in prices are making it impossible to set rates for work for the upcoming silage season. AdBlue prices have tripled. Last year, we were buying 1,000l IBC tanks at €340. Today, the same tank is over €1,000.

"I never feared tackling into any mechanical problems."

“There’s also a concern around parts, with the huge jump in cost and with many dealers saying there could be a supply issue on the cards as we get into the summer months.

“I think staff training down the line will also be an issue for the industry if something isn’t done about it soon. I think education in the sector is needed to bring it forward as a whole.

“The only opportunities I can see for existing contractors is that perhaps there will be less contractors out there going forward with the way costs are going.”