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