Tom Dirom
Agricultural contracting - with a passion
Chris Berry talks with Tom Dirom
» ONE OF THE JOYS OF having written about agriculture for the past 25 years is having seen others build their farming businesses . Without doubt , those who succeed in the longterm are those who put in the effort , the graft , the hours - and Tom Dirom is no exception . I first met him when he arrived in Yorkshire from Cumbria in 2007 . He ’ d taken the plunge to start his own agricultural contracting business and had picked up work reinstating land after new gas pipes had been laid .
Today he runs Tom Dirom Agricultural Contractors Ltd ., servicing the needs of farms across thousands of acres from Ripon to Wakefield , Pontefract , Ferrybridge , Doncaster , Goole and York . He has a massive fleet of farm machinery from tractors to combine harvesters , forage harvesters and hedge cutters keeping his loyal and professional team busy throughout the year .
“ We ’ ve grown continually and I ’ ve just added two more tractors to the fleet this season . Do I want to get any bigger ? Well , I never say no to the work . This business is my passion . I buzz and as everyone who knows me understands there are not many who work the hours we do . There are bigger agricultural contractors but I like to think we ’ re well up with the game . I certainly don ’ t need to advertise very much as the phone never stops ringing . We ’ re involved with some very good contracts and it ’ s an honour to do the work . Getting recognised for the quality of what we provide is important to me .
PASSIONATE ABOUT QUALITY & RELIABILITY
“ I work on farms as though they are my own and that means everything has to be top quality and the machinery has to be reliable . That ’ s why everything I buy is covered by long warranty and our dealer backup is second to none . I ’ m passionate about having the right kit and I like to be one step ahead of the competition . I invest heavily in new farm machinery every year . My Claas Jaguar forage harvester is brand new this year and I will change it every three years . We ’ re getting increasingly involved with the anaerobic digester market and for that a fine chop quality is required . The Jaguar achieves that . Farmers also want the right chop length for the health of their animals . It achieves that too .
TOP TECHNOLOGY “ We now run two full specification John Deere Hillmaster combine harvesters with 25ft headers that are all set up with GPS for precision farming . As I pull out of fields it sends all the data back to my computer . Farmers can receive the information immediately or have it loaded on a USB stick . In our game you have to be top of the tree
or you ’ re nowhere . Today it is vital to us as agricultural contractors not just do the job of harvesting , cutting , baling , spraying and cultivating but to use new technology as it saves the farmer in the long run . It ’ s all about accuracy . We ’ re also starting to do more traffic down tramlines in fields as compaction is another big thing . Six of our tractors are kitted out with GPS currently . Farmers can save a vast amount on fertiliser and seed rates if they use precision technology . It ’ s a learning curve every day . I have always been able to steer and drive straight but once you get into GPS it is the only way forward for our business and farmers .”
10 Aug / Sep 2016 www . farmers-mart . co . uk