Periodically the FTMTA executive council presents a gold award to a person who has given a long or outstanding service to the association or the agricultural machinery industry. This award is open to all working FTMTA member firms and its staff.

Brothers Padraic and Martin McHale received FTMTA Gold Award from Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed and FTMTA Chief Executive Gary Ryan and President Jimmy Butler at the recent FMTA farm machinery show.

The award presentation was pictured on McHale's Facebook page

McHale Engineering was founded by Padraic and Martin McHale in the mid-1980s.Before he started manufacturing, Padraic sold used tractors and machinery from 1976.He was later joined by his younger brother Martin.

Coming from a farming background and the sales experience gained from farmer and contactors was a valuable asset to their manufacturing business. In the early days Padraic looked after product design and manufacturing while Martin looked after sales and marketing.

Grass crops are heavier and wetter in Ireland than in most other countries so this impacts heavily on forage machinery designed for lighter and drier crops found in Britain and elsewhere.

The McHale brothers knew this, valued feedback from their customers and designed their machinery to cope with the more difficult Irish weather. This in turn ensured a longer working and trouble free life for their machinery on other more benign markets.

Their first machine manufactured in 1982 was a Silage Block cutter which they tested on their own home farm while improving it. This was followed by a range of slurry pumping equipment.

In 1987, the McHale brothers manufactured their first round bale wrapper. Martin travelled to Britain to develop a dealer network which now numbers 70 dealers, many of whom have been with McHale for over 30 years. Outside of Britain, one of the first exports markets targeted was Australia in 1994.

The grass season in Australia started in August or September each year when the European season was coming to a close so they could keep their factory busy all year round. Nowadays their best markets also include New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, China, South Africa and Chile.”

In 1995, McHale’s participated at the Agritechnica Show and secured new distributors across Europe. McHale achieved ISO certification for its quality standards in 1997. Over the years they have also received awards for export and performance including the AIB export award and the Wang export company award.

By 1999, McHale was exporting machinery to 25 countries and they relocated their manufacturing plant to a 20ac Greenfield site in Ballinrobe, building a 100,000 square foot manufacturing premises. Since then the plant has expanded and is now 320,000 square feet (8ac of roofed area).

In 2005 the McHale design team received the prestigious Royal Agricultural Society of England’s (RASE) Gold Medal award at the Royal Show for their Fusion bale wrapper. The judges chose the McHale Fusion Integrated Baler Wrapper for its economy of operation, compact dimensions, its ability to work well on sloping land, high output and the company reputation.

In 2009, McHale launched the V660 variable chamber or belt baler which was designed for drier climates and where there was demand for larger bales. Due to its success, in 2007 a non-chopper baler, the F540, and a fully automatic baler, the F560, were also added to the range.

The Fusion 3 Plus was launched in 2013 and the Innovative film binding results in better silage quality and easier to feed out bales. In 2015 McHale moved into the mower market with their Pro Glide front, rear and combination mowers.

At the 2017 Irish Ploughing Championships McHale unveiled two models in its centre delivery rake range – the R62-72 & R68-78.Today, McHale is one of the largest employers in Co. Mayo, with exports accounting for 90% of sales. Their machinery can be seen working around the world in 55 countries.