A CLEVELAND milk producer has capped more than 40 years of dairying with a national award.

Mr Denis Atherton, who is 74, was awarded a silver cup after gaining the most points for an Ayrshire herd in the National Milk Records competition, based on production, milk quality, health and management.

"I did not expect to win. It was presented at the Dairy Event at Stoneleigh," said Mr Atherton of Meeks Farm, Carlton-in-Cleveland. "It was very exciting; we went down specially and were presented with it in the Ayrshire cattle ring."

Mr Atherton's father, Alan, started farming in the Esk Valley, near Castleton, in the 1920s. He began with the traditional Dairy Shorthorn but switched to Ayrshires ten years later.

The family moved to Meeks Farm in 1943 and has stayed there ever since, with Mr Denis Atherton taking over total management of the dairy herd on his father's retirement.

He has always remained loyal to the Ayrshire breed even when many other milk producers switched to Friesians and Holsteins.

"They are very economical in terms of the milk yield and size and have fewer foot problems or mastitis than others," said Mr Atherton. "On average, they also have a longer production life."

Today the Carlton herd has 40 milking cows plus young stock and last year averaged 7,861 litres at 3.95pc fat and 3.33pc protein.

Mr Atherton has bred a lot of the cows and cow families himself, as well as using AI from the Ayrshire Cattle Society.

Some of the best cows include Carlton Snow, which gave 8,582kg of milk at 3.74pc fat and 3.09pc protein in her last 305-day lactation.

The best heifer this year is Carlton Brown Girl which, at 28 months, gave 8,646 litres over 305 days.

But the most prolific cow is the homebred Carlton Drip. Over eight lactations she has given a massive 84,000kg of milk. "She is anything but a drip," said Mr Atherton.

He puts his success down to attention to detail and treating each cow as an individual.

"It is a small herd and they are looked after extremely well," said Mr Atherton. "It really is down to treating them as individuals, each cow is different; if you treat them en bloc you do not get such good results."

Management is kept simple. The cows are milked twice daily and are not rushed. They are fed baled silage with a home grown mix and dairy cake.

"The mix is home grown barley, a bit of sugar beet, protein pellets and molasses, which we mix in the barn," said Mr Atherton.

The cows have begun to be taken in at night and will be indoors permanently in about two weeks until turn-out towards the end of April.

Mr Atherton still does much of the milking and day to day work and has one member of staff, Mr John Elliott, aged 21.

He began going to the farm for weekend work when he was 14 and joined it full-time on leaving school.

It has been a time of double celebration for Mr Atherton, who marked 40 years of marriage to his wife, Gene, last weekend