MR ERIC Mason has stuck with tradition with his dairy herd - and it has paid off with his commercial Limousin beef enterprise.

While he does not get as much milk from his British Friesian milkers, he can breed quality Limousin cross replacements for his suckler herd, which are then put back to the Limousin.

Mr Mason farms 500 acres at Bank Farm, Unthank, near Penrith, with his son, George, and nephew, Richard. They run 110 Friesians and 60 Limousin-Friesian cross suckler cows as one business.

The cattle are home-bred with half of the all-grass farm, which runs from 640ft to 1,000ft above sea level, in the Less Favoured Area.

"We have always kept the pure Friesian because we can easily sell our Limousin X Friesian heifers," said Mr Mason. "Because we are producing a better conformation heifer, suckler men are prepared to give us a bonus.

"We don't get as much milk as if we used the Holstein - we're averaging 6,000 litres - but in the end I reckon we'll be making as much as the Holstein breeders as we get another three or four lactations out of our cattle, and have the benefits for the suckler herd."

The commercial Friesian herd is virtually maintenance-free, as are the Limousin sucklers. About 60pc of the dairy herd is put to the Friesian, with the rest going to the Limousin. Cross-bred heifers are kept as suckler herd replacements.

Most surplus heifers are sold privately, but four sold through the ring recently peaked at £680 and another two made more than £600.

"We first began using the Limousin in 1980 when we started the suckler herd. We used the Galloway before that," said Mr Mason.

The first bull, Gorton Oman, bred by Mr John Shapcott of Devon, was bought for 2,000gns. He served 80 cows a year and retired when he was 12 years old. He still has daughters in the suckler herd.

Shire Appendix, bred by Mr Doug Edgar, of Ousby, Penrith, followed, producing good calves. More recently, the 1992-born Muirhouse Huista, bred by G Anderson of Wishaw, left his mark.

The latest stock bull is the five-year-old Shire Loneranger, by Shire Handsome. All the heifers now go to him because of his easy calving, fast growth traits and good conformation.

For the first time this year, seven of the suckler herd's older cows have been taken out. "They were our original cows and have had 15 calves," said Mr Mason. "They calved every year without any hassle and just kept on going. The cows are quiet because they are hand-reared and have plenty of milk."

The dairy herd calves virtually all year round, avoiding only December and January. The sucklers calve between March and September. Both dairy and beef cattle are put to the bull at two years old.

"There is nothing to compare with the Limousin; it is miles better than any other breed. It's easy calving, easy to handle. We've never had a difficult one," said Mr Mason.

"When the Limousin calves are born they tend to be smaller and so are easily calved. The Limousin has the conformation and can produce a carcase weight of 350kg, both of which are what the abattoirs want."

Up to 150 cattle a year are finished at Bank Farm. All cattle, with the exception of cross-bred heifers, are finished off the farm, but none is pushed.

Calves are left to grow naturally and receive no creep feed. They receive only barley, home-grown on 50 acres with some bought in, and a blend or, more recently, a protein pellet, when they get to the finishing stage at about 18 months old. They also get ad-lib silage.

Cattle are fed no more than 5kg of concentrate a day.

The second subsidy is claimed on crossbred and -bred bullocks while heifers are sold at 18 to 20 months old and half bred heifers at two years old, between 290 and 350kg deadweight.

Cattle are sold through the new Fellbred deadweight scheme operated by Penrith Farmers' and Kidd's.

Mr Mason weighs cattle at Penrith before they go for slaughter, which is three hours after collection. He believes the best Limousin bullocks kill out at up to 64pc and the best heifers at up to 63 pc. Half-bred bullocks kill out at up to 58pc.

Until cattle were sold on the new scheme, bullocks were regularly among the top prices in the live ring. Bullocks of R classification have averaged 180p deadweight through the scheme. Up to 80pc of the finished cattle are now sold this way, with the cattle grading as Us and Rs and the Friesian crosses as O+