CAN you have stockjudging skills in your blood? The Boyd family certainly seem to.

The family, from Dechmont, near Cambuslang, have their name on several of the Royal Highland Show stockjudging cups, but they are the only family to have had a father and son double win on the big one – the Stockman of the Year trophy.

Jim Boyd took the top award in 1975 and was followed exactly 30 years later by his son, William, who triumphed in 2005.

Both members of East Kilbride Young Farmers Club, they both competed under the auspices of Lanarkshire team. However, they're the only father and son winners, and the are the only two overall winners to have come from EKYFC.

"I was 25 when I won it, so it was my last year of being able to take part," explained Jim.

"I had been through to the afternoon competition two or three times and had been third overall, but this was my last shot. It was dairy cattle that we had at home, but it was often the beef pairs that I took part in."

Jim's three sons all went on to do well in the Stocksman of the Year competition as well. Oldest son, Jim junior was runner up by a single point and youngest son Stuart won the Dairy Pairs. William went one step further and matched his dad's win in 2005.

He explained: "It was just something we all seemed to do. It wasn't intentionally a family affair, but it's the way it turned out. I did encourage the boys to take part and they all enjoyed being in the Young Farmers, but we certainly didn't force them into doing it. All three of the boys are still in farming, so they obviously enjoyed it.

"I would say that Young Farmers Stockjudging is a good way of seeing farms all over the country. If that's your interest, then it's a great way of seeing a good mix of farming."

Jim still farms at Dechmont, where they have 200 dairy cows, 400-head of sheep and 30 beef cattle.

"I was very proud to win it," he continued, "you kept trying to get there so in a lot of ways it was a relief to win it! It's a great competition."

Jim is heading to the show this year and undertaking judging duties in this years' competition.

William will also be heading to the show and he told The SF that it was nice to win it exactly 30 years after his dad had done it.

"I had been doing it for a few years but I had only actually been through to the afternoon once before. I had been in winning teams three times though, and had won the Dairy Pairs," explained.

"I was at the stage thought that I felt capable of doing well as by that point, in 2005, I had gathered up a lot of experience as both a junior and a senior."

William moved from the family farm at Dechmont to Overburns at Lammington, Biggar in 2014, where he runs 650 ewes, 40 pedigree Texels and 40 Aberdeen-Angus cross cows.

"I was over the moon to win it," admitted William, "it was an added bonus to come after dad and become the first father and son winners.

"It's a great feeling to win when you look at the calibre of competition that you're up against."

William explained that the Young Farmers Stockjudging programme opened his eyes to a lot of things.

He said: "It showed me so many different breeds, when you were out and about practicing up and down the country, and it showed you why so many breeds exist and what role they play. It showed me a lot more than just the lowland breeds that I was used to!"

He concluded: "A lot of it was about who you were competing with – a certain standard was set and you had to work hard to get to the stage of matching that. You had a lot of fun doing it though, I must admit!"