RUSLAND Valley farmers Henry and John Watson have been honoured for a family milk producing pedigree dating back seven decades.

The brothers were presented with an engraved silver plate by National Milk Records (NMR) 'in recognition and appreciation of their continued loyalty'.

Their grandfather Henry bought the 141-acre New Close Farm in 1924, moving in with 30 shorthorns.

But it wasn’t long before he decided that Ayrshires would better suited on this farm and they have remained ever since. All the females lines trace back to the original nucleus animals their grandfather started with, although they are now having to use Scandinavian bulls to keep the bloodlines unrelated.

A spokesman for NMR said: "The Watsons have always found the milk recording helps them with the farm management. They have been working closely with their vets Farmgate, focusing on fertility and have now got their CI down from 420 to 397 - a great achievement."

The farm itself is still the original 141 acres but they now also rent 120 acres of summer grazing.

The brothers, who rear all their own heifers, impressed NMR by keeping milk records dating back to the 1940s.

Today, they sell to First Milk on a cheese contract, currently at 25p per litre, down from a high of 35p per litre before the milk price crash.

New Close Ayrshires are well known at the local shows and NMR her competitions as strong contenders who always have a large array of cups and trophies from various classes