SUCKLING contentedly in a South Lakeland cow shed this week are these two twin Swedish Red heifers.

The double birth on Friday was a pleasant surprise for Richard Park of the organic operation Low Sizergh Farm, near Kendal, which had just imported their mother.

It boosts his breeding programme to cross his Holstein dairy herd with Swedish Reds, which have been bred for health traits and have better resistance to common ailments like mastitis.

"Prevention is better than cure and, as an organic farm, it is important for us to reduce use of things like antibiotics," explained Mr Park. "It's quite unusual for a heifer to have twins with it being a first calve. We were thrilled to bits and to have two more pure-bred animals is fantastic."