The Griffin family name is synonymous with efficiency when to comes to agricultural contracting in Kerry. Kevin Griffin tells Irish Tractor & Agri how they benefit from over three decades of experience and an excellent reputation which is underlined by a high satisfaction rate amongst their local farming community.
Gerard Griffin & Sons Agri Contracting Ltd of Kerry is well-known in its local farming community for providing unrivalled service and reliability, not to mention quality workmanship. The family-run concern has the capacity to undertake a wide variety of works, with no job too small.
Gerard Griffin set up his own contracting outfit 35 years ago and today he is joined in the day-to-day running of the business by his sons, Kevin and Gerard junior, and they are proud to be carrying on a fine family tradition.
Operating within a 30-mile radius of their The Glen, Ballinskelling address, they have built up a loyal customer base down through the years and their dedication to satisfying the needs of those valued local farmers that pick up the phone to contact them has helped them to lay solid foundations.
If it’s silage, slurry, baling, reseeding, fertilizer spreading and spraying, lime spreading or plant hire with track machines that you require, look no further tha Gerard Griffin & Sons. Their services have proven to be a cost effective and useful alternative for many of their customers’ farming operations.
Speaking to Irish Tractor, 23-year-old Kevin Griffin recalled how he has learned the tricks of the trade from his father and mother Joan. “Dad started off hay baling with a square baler over 35 years ago and then got a second around 1992,” he revealed.
“In 1996, he went into round baling with a Claas round baler and he had added regularly to the fleet since them. He started pit silage back in the early 1990s.”
Kevin continued: “I’ve been working with him since I was 11. My mother, Joan, used to drive the tractor on the roads for me! Only for her we’d be lost. There’s myself, dad and brother, Gerard, working in the business along with two other employees, Michael, who has been with us from the start, and David who has been working with us for the last 12 years.”
Kevin and Gerard inherited their father’s passion for contracting work and he stressed how important it was to them that they complete every job they are trusted with to a very high standard. After all, it’s their reputation that is at stake and a lot of their work is generated by word of mouth.
“We pride ourselves on providing our loyal customers with a quality service at competitive rates,” he pointed out. “When our customers want something done, we’re there to get the job done. We do a lot of track machine work while we’d be known as the biggest contractor in the local area for silage.”
Attention to detail and a policy of continually updating their extensive fleet of tractors and associated machinery are other key ingredients in their successful formula.
With a modern fleet of tractors and vast array of up-to-date equipment, the Griffin’s can get to work as soon as possible to ensure those all-important deadlines are met. Their hands-on approach ensures that work is carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible.
*Kevin, could you send on a list of tractors & machinery so we can insert here, thanks*
They are also doing their bit for the environment in the process as eight vehicles in their fleet meet Tier 4 diesel engine standards which are the strictest EPA emissions requirement for off-highway diesel engines. This requirement regulates the amount of particulate matter (PM), or black soot, and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that can be emitted from an off-highway diesel engine.
The Griffin’s recently took possession of a 01 New Holland T7 210 from Buckley Agri. “We are always updating our fleet and buy a new tractor practically every year,” Kevin added.
Looking ahead to the future, Kevin is confident that Gerard Griffin & Sons Agri Contracting will continue to meet, and exceed, their customers’ expectations in the years ahead.
“The weather is always a challenge, especially at this time of year, but we’re optimistic about the future. We enjoy what we do and we’re lucky to have built up a lot of loyal customers. We’re very busy so I don’t see why we can’t keep going the way we are.”
If it’s a professional service you are looking for at competitive rates, contact the Griffin family for a quote or for any further questions you may have.
Committed to investing in their fleet of tractors and machinery, by utilising Gerard Griffin & Sons Agri Contracting Ltd’s services, farmers free up more time to concentrate on others areas of their farm and eliminate the need to invest large sums of money in equipment that they may only need a few times in a year.
Gerard Griffin & Sons Agri Contracting Ltd
The Glen
Ballinskelligs
Kerry
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 8 No 2, Summer 2020
Gerard Griffin & Sons Agri Contracting
