Mark Fuller is a 24-year-old agricultural contractor based in Co. Cavan. He is in the process of growing his own business and recently invested in a Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) umbilical system.
Agriland recently paid a visit to see this system in operation on the hills of the Lake county.
Mark said he got into agri-contracting simply from “one job leading to another”.
“I got my tractor licence and my Professional Pesticide Training certificate and I was doing a bit of spraying for a few farmers located nearby,” he said.
“I then bought a 600L sprayer and two years ago, I invested in a new 1,200L sprayer.
“I developed a good customer base of farmers and a few were asking me would I spread slurry for them.
“I then borrowed a 1,600 gallon slurry tank and started spreading slurry for a few neighbouring farmers and that’s how it progressed.
“I was spreading with a four-cylinder engine tractor and I knew I needed a larger tractor so I went and invested in a six-cylinder engine tractor and bought a New Holland TM-140.”
Now, Mark’s business, Fuller Agri Contractors, offers a range of services to farmers including spraying, slurry spreading, fertiliser spreading, and tedding-out grass.
“I started tedding grass with a second-hand six-rotor Lely grass tedder. Last year, I had an awful lot of tedding work on so I went out and bought a new six-rotor Malone tedder,” the young contractor said.
In quiet periods of the year, Mark works with Nigel McDowell at Cavan Tree Services where his tractors are put to work pulling low-loaders and dump trailers as well as drawing wood chip.
“It’s a great help because it keeps the tractors busy when there’s nothing else on in the winter,” Mark explained.
LESS umbilical slurry
Regarding his LESS umbilical slurry pipe, Mark said: “A couple of farmers wanted umbilical slurry spreading work done so and I saw an opportunity there and bought 600m of umbilical slurry pipe with a pump, reel and splash plate in 2018.”
Umbilical slurry spreading, or ‘the pipe system’ as it is commonly known, involves pumping slurry from a lagoon or tank using a high-pressure pump unit, via a pipeline, to a tractor-mounted applicator unit in the field.
With regulations surrounding LESS coming down the line, Mark then decided to invest in a dribble bar.
“I bought the dribble bar in February 2022 and it has gotten me a lot of extra customers. My work went up by about 50% since I got the dribble bar. Every year it’s getting busier,” he said.
Progress
Mark said that the dry weather and good ground conditions in February have been a tremendous help to getting his slurry work completed.
“All the slurry I spread in March of last year was out before the end of February this year,” he said.
“The weather has been brilliant and ground conditions are in great order.”
Challenges
Mark believes the ever-increasing costs faced by contractors is the most significant challenge facing the sector.
“Machinery, diesel and machinery parts are all very expensive and are not showing much signs of easing,” he said.
Goind forward, Mark is confident on continuing to develop his business. “I’ll keep at it and go where the work takes me,” he said.