THERE can be no doubting the fact all farming sectors are struggling to produce year-end figures in the black, however, the very best of suckled calf producers - to include Morayshire hill farmer, Michael Robertson and his family - have probably fared better than most.

Over the past year, father Billy Robertson, who still helps out on the farm, Michael, his partner Ellie, sons Scott and Mark, step-son Dan and step-daughter Sarah Balfour, have witnessed increased margins from both their commercial and pedigree herd of Limousins based at Fodderletter, Tomintoul, Banffshire.

No strangers to the prize rosettes, this 1000-acre hill unit is a regular winner at Aberdeen and Northern Marts' suckled calf sales at Thainstone and only last October produced the champion winners two weeks on the trot with 10-12-month-old Limousin cross calves.

That month, their heifer and bullock calves averaged 250p per kg or £1025 per head, with an average weight of 414kg. Top price was 420p per kg or £1220, for a 412kg Limousin cross heifer calf that stood champion at the pre-sale show.

Furthermore, their similarly aged calves sold earlier in the year from the autumn calving herd also averaged out at roughly 250p.

Notably, most were sired by Cawfields Dylan - a stockbull that has bred numerous top show and sale winning commercial calves and which cost just £1400 as a calf.

On the more glamorous side of the equation, the team has bred pedigree Limousins from their herd of just 20 cows, to win every agricultural show in the North-east.

A regular winner in the Scottish herds competitions too, this up and coming unit also boasts some top prices to match, with bulls selling to 10,000gns and 8000gns and heifers in demand privately.

"The Limousin breed has done us a lot of good over the years," said Michael.

"The bulls we have used have produced easy calving cows and consistently good shapey calves which appear to go on to do well for people as we have a number of regular buyers."

Such is the superior shape and quality of Fodderletter calves that many are bought for further showing too.

And, backed up with an abundance of meat to go with the shape - it was a Limousin cross bred by the Robertsons and sold to Euan Fettes, that was the overall champion at the Marks and Spencers carcase competition at Bridge of Allan, in November last year.

But it's not just the breed's terminal sire attributes that are proving their weight in gold here - the beefy, milky Limousin cross females also more than pay their way.

"The Limousin really is a multi-purpose breed for today's market, breeding the type of calves that will finish to the correct weight and spec and with the best grades to attract the premium prices.

"And, with the females having the shape and the milk, without being too big, they are easier kept than some breeds and crosses whilst adding to the quality of the calf sold at any age," Michael added.

In previous years, Billy and Michael relied upon 60 plus Hereford and Angus cross cows which were bulled to a Charolais, with the resultant progeny sold as suckled calves.

However in a bid to improve ease of calving, and the quality of calves produced, Michael looked to the Limousin breed which he had been admiring from a distance for a number of years.

Initially, Limousin AI sires were experimented with on heifers, which was such a huge success, that the duo went on to buy their first Limousin bull, Muirhouses McCoist for 6000gns. He proved a huge hit breeding numerous show winning calves, and both his daughters and grand-daughters are now some of the best commercial cows in the herd which now numbers 100 plus.

Cawfields Dylan, is another stock bull which made such an impression on the commercial herd that a home-bred son has been retained to add to more recent bull purchases.

In addition, the 6800gns Spittalton Gold bought at Stirling, is also breeding well with his first pedigree son standing overall champion at the last year's Thainstone Christmas Classic.

The most recent purchase was Homebyres Inch, which stood junior champion at United Auctions Stirling Bull Sales, was acquired for 7800gns and his calves are only just on the ground.

Michael added: "We always look to buy bulls with good tops, shoulder, length, and, bulls that are good on their legs. We'd always look for bulls with a good big back end, but they've got to have the tops and length to produce good females as well. I would never ever look at their EBV figures."

Backing up these statements, Sarah who spends all her spare time from her full-time job working for the SRUC, with the cattle, said: "You can see quality stock easily enough without using figures. We have never recorded our pedigree cattle and unless we're forced into it, we don't intend too.

"We can sell our bulls easily without figures, which are only supposed to be used as a guide anyway - you should be able to see a good animal without having to rely on figures," she added.

Michael pointed out: "Real stockmen can see quality cattle without having to use figures and those who rely on figures don't realise how much they can be manipulated."

By ignoring figures the family has, to date, been able to buy the type of bulls that have produced the best of progeny at reasonable prices too.

Able to calve at two years of age, the commercial policy at Fodderletter for the past few years has been to calve heifers to an Aberdeen Angus the first year and from there on in to a Limousin. And to date, their system is bearing fruit, with few if any caesarians. Most, to include the heifers, calve completely unassisted.

Easy kept, all breeding females are wintered on a TMR feed comprising an arable silage, grass silage and straw mixture dependant on cow condition.

Most of the autumn calvers are calved outside before coming inside to straw-bedded courts in November, while the spring calvers calve inside from March onwards.

Autumn-born calves receive creep feed only inside during the winter only before going to the grass with their mothers in the spring. Speant inside for a week in August, they then have access to concentrates until sold.

The best of the spring-born calves are sold straight off their mothers with the remainder in wintered on a TMR ration and concentrates and sold the following March and April.

Outwith the commercial herd, the pedigree herd was established with the private purchase of the maiden heifer, Eden Margaret, a Shire Cyclone daughter, bred by Andy Holliday in Cumbria.

One if the best if not the best ever female acquired, her first son, by Broadmeadows Cannon, made 6200gns at Perth Bull Sales, while her daughters have all proved star performers.

At present, she has three daughters in the herd, to include Fodderletter Vicky - the mother of the 10,000gns Fodderletter Gatuso and last year's overall Thainstone Christmas Classic champion. It was another Margaret daughter that also bred the 8000gns Fodderletter bull. She also has three grand-daughters in the herd.

Other foundation females include Eden Ophelia, bought as a maiden heifer which went on to breed the show cow, Fodderletter Sarah and a Crownhead cow bought at the Crownhead dispersal.

With a further 330 Lairg-type Cheviots, most of which are crossed to a Suffolk and a Cheviot to breed store lambs and home-bred replacements, there is never a dull moment at Fodderletter and that's with both Sarah (26) and Mark (23), who is a bricklayer in Dufftown, helping out at weekends and during the evenings.

Scott (27), on the other hand, is a self-employed joiner in Dufftown, while Dan (20) is an apprentice builder, Ellie works full-time too - as a classroom assistant at the local school.

Unfortunately, the team does not have any entries for the forth coming breed sale at United Auctions. But, dedicated to the ease of calving and management of the Limousin breed not to mention the superior shapey butchers' calves they produce, Michael will certainly be keeping his eye open for a new stock bull at the sale.