WHEN Tony O’Mahony was 14 years of age he started collecting his neighbours’ milk churns and bringing them to the creamery for them. 

After a while he started turning and baling hay, and then spreading fertiliser too. 

Today, he’s at the helm of the hugely successful business, Tony O’Mahony Agri, Plant Hire & Haulage, employing a large team of people and working alongside three of his sons. 

However, Tony (77) never had a grand plan and says it all happened ‘naturally’ ­– but not without hard work, and taking a few chances over the years .

“My father died when I was nine. We were milking cows, but the farm was relatively small so I started out very simple, collecting milk trying to make some extra money. Gradually over the years things expanded. One thing would lead to another – we’d plough a field and then we’d end up setting grass there too; we’d need a machine to do a particular job so we’d invest in it ourselves,” he said. 

“Now we do a bit of everything I suppose,” he said. 

That’s a modest take on his business that provides invaluable services to the agriculture, construction, industrial, commercial and haulage sectors. 

You’d be hard pressed to travel almost anywhere in the region and not see one of his extensive fleet of trucks or lorries on the road. 

On the agri side, they provide contracting services within a 20km radius of Bandon, taking in places like Clonakilty, Ballinhassig, Kilbrittain, Innishannon and Dunmanway.

Tony offers a one-stop-shop providing services that include slurry spreading, hedge cutting, ploughing, baling, lime spreading, precision chop silage, raking and more. 

A visit to their yard at Cripple Hill outside Bandon, where they recently invested in new offices, is a sight to behold – both because of the level of activity, and also the range of machinery. One quick glance confirms this is a serious operation. 

Agri equipment includes 18 tractors 12 New Holland (mostly T7.230s and T7.245s), four Fendts (720, 722 and 824), one JCB Fastrac and one Massey Ferguson 6480. 

The grass machinery consists of two CLAAS forage harvesters (980 and 880), a McHale Fusion baler, three Krone rakes (one four-rotor and two two-rotors), a Krone tedder and two Volvo loading shovels (L70H and L110H). The list goes on. 

The haulage operation is nationwide and the company has a waste management collection permit for specific wastes from agriculture, food processing, construction and demolition, and municipal wastes in Cork county and city and they also provide a septic tank cleaning service.

Among the haulage equipment is fleet of 10 tankers five of which are food grade tankers. There’s just too many vehicles to mention but suffice to say there’s vast amounts of top-of-the-range equipment.

Tony is known for being a trail blazer in the industry – he was one of the first to introduce the umbilical slurry system and the one-pass system. 

As his son Micheál said: “He’d have taken a good few risks over the years – some paid off, some didn’t, but he was never afraid to try. He never liked to say no, that wasn’t an option for him and that’s got the business to where it is today,” he said. 

“I suppose he was plucky and lucky.”

It might come as a surprise to many that he has just a basic education, and that’s not something he’s ashamed of, the opposite in fact. 

Common sense goes a long way, he added.  

“I’m not afraid of hard work but we’ve also been very lucky with loyal customers who we have good friendships with and that’s been vital to the business,” he said. 

More of Tony’s modesty but simply put: farmers in the region couldn’t operate properly if Tony wasn’t operating. 

It might look like just spreading dung but there’s a bit more to it – this is highly skilled work that supports the local economy, which must comply with growing with health and safety regulations. 

Tony also needs to be able to work quickly, respond to changing circumstances, predict the sector’s future needs, and make sure he has the gear to meet that, and pay everyone’s salaries. 

There’s no typical day in their line of work – the weather naturally dictates a lot. They featured in the recent series of ‘Contractors’ on TG4 which gave a glimpse into their everyday lives. It’s not for the fainthearted!

Work life balance is something that sometimes has to take a back seat, and 16 to 18 hour days aren’t uncommon depending on the time of the year. The family also have 50 cattle and grow grass and maize for themselves.  

“My wife Margaret and the boys’ wives are very understanding!” said Tony who said he’s delighted to win the monthly Southern Star farming award. 

“It’s nice recognition, I feel very proud of it,” he said. 

“My line of business can be hard sometimes, but West Cork has some of the most committed and professional farmers in the country and working with them always makes it enjoyable,” said Tony .

Family is important to him. 

Married to Margaret, he says she’s been the backbone of the business. They’re parents to Diarmuid, Sean and Micheál (who all work full time in the family business), Seamus (who works in Dairygold), and Marie and Mairead who help when needed.  

A grandfather of 13, he has no plans to retire, but he’d love to see the next generation getting involved. 

“That’s what it’s all about. Nothing would make me prouder.”