WITH Scotland's recent summers and winters proving wetter than ever and a remote location providing increased costs in taking stock to market, getting the most out of your store cattle is more important than ever, and for the Semple family it's the Charolais breed that provides the goods.

Set on the outskirts of the small village of Carradale, in Kintyre, Dippen Farm has been in the Semple family since 1867, making Duncan the fifth generation to farm the 1200 acres which runs from sea level right up to 1500 feet of what he describes as "high, hard hills with rocks and heather and nothing but good views."

And good views they certainly are looking across to the Isle of Arran and as far as Stranraer on a good day.

It's here that the Semples - Duncan and his wife Judy, together with mother and father, Una and Wum (formally William), while children, Sarah, 23, and William, 21, are both away from home and 17-year-old Charlotte will to head to university after the summer - run some 85 suckler cows, of which 70 are Limousin cross commercial females and the remaining 15 are pedigree Charolais.

It's true that Limousin-sired commercial females provide the backbone of the herd, but it's the Charolais that really proves its worth as a terminal sire when used on both the pedigree and commercial herds.

"No animal will go from birth to slaughter quicker than a Charolais, and so nothing will make you money in the store ring like a Charolais can," pointed out Duncan.

"Despite the tough conditions in Kintyre, they don't cope any differently to any other breeds we would consider as, at the end of the day, they have to be fed regardless and nothing will respond or put on weight like a Charolais store calf."

The running of the farm has changed somewhat in the last 30 years as what was once home to 30 Ayrshire cows producing milk for a home delivery service, is now home to the spring and autumn-calving herds run at Dippen and the neighbouring Rhonadale following the introduction of the pasteurisation legislation in 1983.

"We were, at one point, up at around 110 cows but were forced to cut back with the amount of rain we've been getting during the last couple years.

"This winter we've had 56 inches of rain in just four months from November to January - which is equivalent to 5500 tonnes of water per acre! - compared to 80 inches in an average year, but rainfall has been increasing in the space of a generation as 50-55 inches a year were once the norm," Duncan explained, adding that, last year, the cows went out to grass for the summer on May 14 but were brought back in a mere two weeks later as the ground was simply too wet.

The majority of the commercial herd were bought as heifers with calves at foot which have already proven their breeding worth, but the Charolais enterprise all began with a sole female - Balfron Rowan, a privately purchased maiden heifer that set the foundations for the herd.

Duncan added: "And we've only bought one bull in 40 years - Westcarse Ernie - simply because we bred his father, Carradale Adrenalin.

"We've got two stock bulls at the minute, the Rumsden Udimore-sired Carradale Felix and Carradale Husky, by Lowerffrydd Benhurr, both of which were bred out of the same cow, the Maerdy Orateur-sired Carradale Tipsy that bred some fantastic bulls for us.

"Both of them throw tremendous shape and size onto their calves even though neither of them are all that big themselves, and there's great consistency in their calves too."

When looking at potential new additions, for Duncan it's not necessarily the best bull or female on offer that grabs the eye, nor the figures that go with a bull, but the way it will fit in with and improve his current herds.

"I don't pay much attention to figures but instead pick a bull that I think will compliment my cows, but most importantly they need to be naturally muscled and fleshed," said Duncan.

"We've very big cows here but I'd rather a larger, plainer cow and a small, muscular bull to help avoid problems at calving as these tend to occur when the cow is too muscular.

"But our aim is to produce butchers' cattle with Charolais genetics, ideally selling to finishers at suckler sales who will in turn feed on for the butcher market. Anything with that extra bit of shape that might do well at shows is just a bonus but it acts as a good window for any young bulls we might have for sale at home."

Doing well at shows is something Duncan has perfected over the years, taking home a total of 17 trophies last year from Kintyre and Mid Argyll Shows as well as show and sales at livestock markets. Dippen store cattle have picked up the cattle championship at Kintyre Show a whopping 21 times since 1986, with a similar record at the show and sale of suckled calves at United Auctions' Dalmally mart, which Duncan always likes to support since the sale of store cattle moved to Dalmally from the Tarbert Fair in 1996.

He's holding his own among the 'big guns' too as entries at Caledonian Marts' Premier show and sale have lifted the red, white and blue rosettes, topped the sale and gone on to do well at the winter prime shows.

One of these, Thunder Thighs, set a record of £4000 when sold back in 1995 while Golden Promise sold for £5000 back in 2010.

And Dizzie Rascal, which was bred out of a pure Charolais cow and sold to Wendy Hunter back in 2006, went on to stand reserve champion at the Winter Fair that same year.

Admittedly, these high prices are the cherry on top but it's a steady store trade that's the bread and butter of the business, providing a large chunk of the annual income alongside the sales of prime lambs from the 400 Blackface and Mule ewes at Dippen.

Last year, a 49-strong batch of autumn-born calves sold between Dalmally in July and Stirling, UA, in September to average £1189 and 440kg at roughly 11 months of age, while 24 spring-born calves sold through Stirling in October and Oban in December to level at £930 with an average weight of 350kg at roughly seven months of age.

But while these may be at the top-end of the store cattle trade, it's important to remember the costs Duncan incurs when taking stock on what can be a 260-mile round trip as calves amount to £95 when taking into account haulage and weight loss during transit, while lambs can cost £11 - some £3 for haulage and a further £7 when you take the 4kg weight loss into consideration.

It is, perhaps, for this reason that Duncan believes the store cattle price per kg report needs to be scrapped, and instead a price per month of age would be more accurate - and this is the section the Charolais would definitely rule supreme.

And changes to abattoir specifications could be detrimental to the Charolais breed if finishers don't adapt their systems.

Duncan explained: "The recent call from abattoirs to reduce carcase weight to the 450kg deadweight mark is not helping the Charolais store calf. But finishers need to stop growing their cattle on and, instead, finish them quicker at 16-17 months instead of 22-24 - which a Charolais is more than capable of doing."

Farming in Kintyre during these increasingly wetter years may provide plenty of challenges for the Semple family and the estimated 30% reduction of their Single Farm Payment surely won't help matters either, but the Charolais is certainly paving the way for a stable future.