In Britain the Limousin is the most popular terminal sire, but Carole says Australia's beef producers seem more reluctant to break from the tradition of using British Breeds sires such as Angus and Hereford.

"We liked the look of them of course and we knew the European breeds had completely taken over in England as terminal sires, Limousin in particular, and thought the same would happen here," Carole said.

"They make far more use of heterosis in other countries and it is mainly F1 females used for breeding."

In 1989 the Burdens emigrated to Australia and have become successful vealer producers with their steers and cull heifers sought-after by a number of Adelaide butchers or sold over the hooks to Hardwick Meats at Kyneton, Victoria.

It has been the muscle content and weight-for-age which has really impressed them about the terminal cross with some of their Limousin-Angus steers above 600 kilograms at 15 months, and 450kg at 10 months.

Selling over hooks enables them to maximise their returns. They dress-out at 60 per cent in pure Limousin steers and 57pc for Limousin crosses.

Carole is confident that as more Limousin females are bred they will become a breed of choice, with cull cows making up to $1200 and their longevity ensuring many of their cows are still productive at 15 years and beyond.

Emigrating to Australia was a big step for the Burdens, originally from Birmingham, where Frank served as an RAF officer and Carole a laboratory technician.

But with very high land prices, it was tough to fulfil their dream of owning a farm.

They started small with a few hectare sat Gumeracha and established their Graffoe Limousin stud in 1990 with just two females from Maryvale stud at Kapunda.

The Burdens quickly outgrew the farmlet and moved to an 80-hectare property at Mount Pleasant, before buying the 850ha Camden Park between Keith and Tintinara.

* Extract from a full report in Stock Journal, November 27 issue.