Taranaki’s Taunt Contracting has scaled back its agricultural services; taking the company back to the farm track maintenance from the family on-farm quarry that Les Taunt started out doing when the business started more than 50 years ago.
With son Barry leaving, Les and his other son Glen have decided to downscale their fleet of machinery and therefore the services offered by Taunt Contracting.
“We are still doing round baling of hay and silage, as well as producing various crushed metal products for farm races, laneways and tracks, and hardfill for building sites. We’ve still got our diggers, and we’re still doing drainage and excavation work on farms.”
Glen says the metal from the 100ha Stratford farm’s quarry is well suited to farm tracks as it packs itself down and is easy on cows’ feet.
Fifty years ago, the metal was dug out by hand, or by use of a hand auger and then a case of gelignite was put in. Metal was carted out by a horse and cart.
“They used to just go and purchase gelignite up in town. I missed out on all that,” Glen says. “Today it’s all hydraulic excavators, diggers, loaders, trucks, and crushers.”
Bulk cartage and metal cartage are still offered as part of Taunt Contracting’s suite of services, with Glen undertaking regular deliveries of metal to farms and fertiliser to air strips and farm bulk bins.
He carts metal from other quarries as well as from the Taunt farm.
Taunt Contracting’s ongoing commitment to best practice standards has afforded the company a strong local reputation for reliable and professional service in the rural sector. “Our focus is on delivering quality and doing the best we can every time,” Glen says.
There have now been five generations of the Taunt family on the home farm, which Glen says is pretty cool.
He and his wife Donna have recently built their own new home on the property, and are bringing up their two small children, Daniel and Sienna, there.
“They both come and buzz around the farm,” Glen says. “Daniel loves going out driving with dad.”
Glen and Les say they are fortunate to have such a family-focussed business, with Les’ wife Lyn and their daughter Kelly both working in the office, while Glen and Lyn’s son-in-law Adan Larsen takes care of all of the company’s building requirements.
Both Les and Lyn enjoy all nine of their grandchildren visiting and being out on the farm.
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Taunt Contracting Ltd
- Heavy Machinery
- Heavy Machinery Services Ltd
