DS-lmcaster Farming Saturday, June 28,1986
Brockett's Ag Advice
. IjM By John E. Brockett
V Farm Management Agent
Lewistown Extension Office
DHIA:
DHIA
DHIA has been part of the dairy
picture for well over 50 years. It is
difficult to picture how the dairy
industry would have become as
viable as it is without the use of
that valuable program. It started
as a management tool for
dairymen who were interested in
developing better cattle, doing a
more efficient job of feeding dairy
cattle, improving butterfat test,
and increasing per-cow produc
tion.
I can remember when it was first
computerized in Pennsylvania in
1956. That was the year I started in
Potter County as an assistant
county agent. The first day I
walked into the office the county
agent told me there are two
programs that are all yours. I do
not want you to bother me with
them. They are 4-H and DHIA. Of
course he also gave me a few other
responsibilities and jobs, but those
turned out to be the two plums that
helped me to progress in my job
with extension.
While I was part of the Potter
County staff, the county DHIA
program had it’s 50th birthday. It
was fun to go back over the records
and see what had happened to the
progress of the program. I also had
the privilege of interviewing two of
the first testers for the county
(Cleon Buck who became a
premier Holstein breeder and Phil
Thomas who became one of the
first managers of the local Farm
Credit Association). They had
several stories about the early
days of DHIA. When they started,
cars were scarce and the
prevailing method of tran
sportation was by way of horse and
buggy. Sometimes the horse and
buggy was loaded onto a train car
when the tester was traveling from
one part of the county to another.
In those days, the testers literally
lived with the families for whom
they worked. Even in the 50’s the
An Exciting Future
testers often roomed and ate with
their clients.
a change some of those
oldtimers would see if they became
testers for the modern program.
The one thing many of them would
say was missing would be the use
of the tester as. part of the
management team. This was one
of the items most of the early
testers, with whom I talked,
stressed. They said they, as
testers, often spent time with the
dairyman discussing bulls,
feeding, and culling. Of course
there were no computerized
reports or records. However,
reports were often completed and
left at the farm on test day.
They would also be amazed at
the way milk is tested today. No
more acid eaten clothes. No more
hauling around bulky centrifuges
or hand cranked calculators, in
themselves an improvement over
the original pencil and paper. No
more running samples in freezing
weather with fingers so cold they
could hardly hold a pencil. Today
all samples are run at a central lab
under controlled temperature
using electronics instead of acid.
In addition, the test provides fat,
protein, and milk sugar readings in
a matter of seconds rather than the
hours it used to take to just get fat
tests. Another machine reads the
somatic cell count. Up until
recently the technology of DHIA
has moved light years ahead of the
DHIA reports provided to the
farmers. The result has been a
program that was primarily a
production reporting tool.
Now, due to some forward
thinking dairymen who have
become DHIA directors, the state
as<snr'if)tinn bac hpcnin to dPVeIOD a
Deadline for Five-Acre Corn Club
UNIVERSITY PARK - Com
producers wishing to enter the
Five-Acre Corn Club, sponsored by
The Pennsylvania State University
Cooperative Extension Service and
the Pennsylvania Master Corn
Growers Association, should file
an official entry form at their
county extension office no later
than July 1.
Any farmer or farm operator
who is 18 years of age or older by
August 1,1986 is eligible to enroll.
“There is no charge for entering
the Corn Club,” says Dr. Joseph H.
Hauling grain to
the elevator?
Maybe you didn’t know
you’re losing big money.
Elevators cost plenty First there’s the hauling Then the unpleasant moisture dockage Then
the storage fee Not to mention all those frustrating hours waiting in line just when you really
need to be in the field Just think what having your own gram drying and storage could mean
for your operation
Beats other drying systems hands down.
Cuts energy costs 15% No high temperature expense with computer controlled fan-forced
air Reduced shrinkage Natural moisture removal means less shrink higher test weights and
more profit Better grain quality Your gram keeps more starch, sugar and valuable
nutrients Reliable computer technology Automatically monitors gram day and night for
optimum gram moisture content Farm proven from the Midwest to the East Coast the AeroDry
System can really add to your bottom line Call or mail the coupon for more information and
where to see the AeroDry System m action near you
4mm|
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AeroDry pays off.
reporting system to match its
technical program. If the reports
progress at the pace projected,
Pennsylvania dairymen will once
again have a superior
management tool that should help
them remain among the nations
most efficient and progressive
dairy business men and women.
The future of the program in
Pennsylvania appears to be bright
and exciting. It should be as
valuable for the completely
commercial operator as for the
registered breeder. Future reports
may feature a management page
that will include such goodies as a
feed program nucleus (more
specific feed programs could be
built from it), a projection of
return above feed cost such as the
present projected 305 day
production level, a health report, a
McGahen, extension agronomist at
Penn State. However, farmers are
encouraged to become members of
the Pennsylvania Master Corn
Growers Association. Only one
entry is allowed per farmer or
farm operator.
To qualify, a field must be five
acres or more and a complete
Penn State soil test must have been
taken within the last two years. A
current-year soil test must be
dated on or before May 1. If the
corn is grown in contour strips, two
to three strips on the same slope
COMPUTERIZED GRAIN MANAGEMENT^EEs^^^^
Manufactured by ADVANCED AG SYSTEMS INC
RD#2 Box 159 Elverson PA 19520
■ □ Send more information J
I □ Contact me for free Energy Audit I
1 N tmt
I f\ If Iff tS
j t itv-
I bldlM.
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For the representative nearest you call 215-286-0301
breeding report, and a culling
guide. This could help a dairyman
make some major management
decisions.
There will be other features that
will be valuable, such as instant
results. That means reports on test
day instead of several days later.
For a farmer with an on-farm
computer, the results could be
stored in the main frame under a
code and retrieved by the on-farm
computer at any time for any
puipose. The possibilities for the
dairyman interested in
management are beyond the
imagination of most dairymen
today. With the forward thinking of
most modern dairymen, the
change in DHIA technology and
use in the next five years will be as
great as it has been in the last 50
years. What about information via
satellite?
Signup is July 1
may be used as long as the com
bined acreage is five acres or
more. A cost-of-production budget
will be available as an option for
club members.
“The entire acreage must be
planted in one variety of corn,”
says McGahen. Irrigated fields
can be entered in the new irrigated
class.
More information on the Five-
Acre Corn Club is available from
your county extension office.
Phone