A2O-Lancast«r Farming, Saturday, Dacambar 13,1986
Lancaster County DHIA
SMOKETOWN - A major
organizational change in the
Pennsylvania DHIA program is
necessary if the association is to
grow and meet the needs of current
and potential members, DHIA
General Manager Richard Barth
told Lancaster dairymen this
week.
Barth was speaking to Lancaster
County DHIA members attending
their annual meeting at Good ’N
Plenty restaurant in Smoketown
Wednesday.
“We have no marketing ability
in the organization with the
program we have,” he said.
Supervisors do not have the time to
sell the association to potential
members.
In the past, Barth noted, changes
in DHIA have occured in 15-year
intervals, with the first major
improvement coming in 1956, when
the first computer was installed at
Penn State to calculate cow
records.
The next change came around
1970, when a centralized testing lab
was opened in State College. In
1986, another change this time in
organizational technology is
brewing.
Two major reasons for change,
Barth suggested, are lack of
marketing ability under the
current system and an inability to
adequately police the ranks. The
integrity of records hangs on the
association’s ability to enforce the
rules, he stressed.
But while Barth called for
organizational change at the state
level, he applauded Lancaster
DHIA members for the quality of
their program, noting that two
state directors and one national
director hail from the county.
In many ways, the state
association is also strong, Barth
noted. The number of cows
enrolled in the program is up
almost 7,000 from 1985; however,
the number of herds has
Lancaster County dairymen honored for having herds with
somatic cell counts under 100,000 included, from left,
Nathan Stoitzfus and Kerry Boyd.
jpervisors honored Tuesday with the Supervisor Performance wai were, om
left, Harold Lindecamp, Tom Garrett, Wilbur Houser, Jim Lehman, and Harold Prrbst.
decreased, indicating an
escalation in average herd size, he
added.
Financially, the state
organization is strong and
members can expect to pay the
same rates in the coming year.
Nevertheless, rates may be in
creased in 1988, he said.
The percent participation of
cows has remained nearly the
same and lab usage has been
peaking at about 62 percent, he
reported.
Barth said his biggest disap
pointment for the year has been
the lack of participation in the
AM/PM program. The goal for
1986 was to raise participation by 5
percent to the 25 percent level. But
as of the end of November, par
ticipation has increased only about
1.5 percent, despite the Holstein
Association’s commitment to the
program. “That’s a real disap
pointment for me,” he said.
For 1987, Barth said, he would
like to see DHIA achieve ex
cellence in service, integrity,
reliabilty and innovation. To
achieve that goal, the association
will need to diversify-service,
improve record integrity, improve
the supervisor force and employ
new technology, he said.
The immediate objectives of
DHIA, Barth said, are to control
costs while diversifying services,
and to increase enrollment to
defray fixed expenses.
In the more distant future, DHIA
members can expect a new
nutrition system, a herd health
system, and a young stock
program.
“The center section is splitting,”
Robert Damm said. The director of
field service and marketing for
Pennsylvania DHIA noted that in
Pennsylvania two farm sizes are
increasing below 50 cows and
over 100 cows.
“DHIA has aimed programs at
the middle section,” Damm said.
Honors Top Members , Supervisors
He suggested to the Tuesday group
that DHIA will have to develop
programs to meet the needs of the
larger and smaller herds.
Lancaster County DHIA will see
changes in field services and the
entire program. Solutions to
Lancaster County’s problems will
have a ripple effect to areas out
side the county with similar
problems, he added.
Last year Lancaster County
added 71 herds to its ranks and
dropped 51 herds for a net gain of
20 herds. This raises the number of
herds on test in the county to 1,066,
according to Jay Mylin, county
manager. However,' in spite of the
increase in herds, the county
association posted a deficit of
(9,366.60.
Norm Hershey, Lancaster DHIA
president, noted that net margin
does not reflect the true financial
picture of the program. “The
county portion of the DHIA fees
hasn’t increased in sometime and
the association has a healthy
savings account,” he said. The
will address this issue at
their upcoming winter meetings,
he noted.
Robert Kindig, state DHIA
president, congratulated Lan
caster members on a very good
year. New enrollments equaled or
outpaced by a few the number of
cows lost to the buyout program.
Another bright spot, he noted, is
the decreased turn around time
(period between the time a herd is
tested and the time test resluts are
mailed) accomplished with the
new mainframe computer.
Two New Holland farms shared
the top production awards in the
county. Weaver Homestead Farm
received the award for high fat
production herd. On 127 cows, the
Weavers averaged 22,545 pounds of
milk, 847 pounds of fat and 675
pounds of protein.
Lapp Valley Farm registered the
high milk production with an
average of 23,308 pounds of milk,
812 pounds of fat and 725 pounds of
protein on 71 cows. This average
qualified for the top milk
production award for the Holstein
breed.
The top milk production award
for the Ayrshire breed went to
Harold Shelly, Manheim. He
completed a herd average of 15,346
pounds of milk, 610 pounds of fat
and 498 pounds of protein on 27
cows. Warren Schmuck owned the
top Ayrshire for fat. His 3 year old
produced a record of 20,276 pounds
of milk, 804 pounds of fat and 639
pounds of protein.
Richard Wenger garnered the
Brown Swiss high milk production
award with an average of 16,862
pounds of milk, 673 pounds of fat
and 564 pounds of protein on 103
cows. His 5 year old lead the
county for fat production with a
record of 24,516 pounds of milk,
Millie Linde was honored for the high Guernsey herd.
Weaver Homestead, represented here by Don and Nelson
Weaver, was honored for having the high fat production herd
Honored Wednesday for top milk produciton herds were,
from left, Martin Herr, Holtwood; Harold Shelly, Manheim;
and Richard Wenger, Manheim
1,048 pounds of fat and 816 pounds
of protein.
Guernsey honors went to Axel
and Mildred Linde’s herd of 68
cows. During the 1985-1986 testing
year the herd averaged 15,172
pound of milk, 715 pounds of fat
and 538 pounds of protein.
“Dolly,” a 4 year old owned by
Kenneth Garber, topped the breed
for fat production. Her 305 day
record stands at 19,746 pounds of
milk, 1,069 pounds of fat and 708
pounds of protein.
In the Jersey breed, Marvin
Herr produced the highest milk
production. His herd of 60 cows
averaged 14,222 pounds of milk, 666
pounds of fat and 541 pounds of
protein.
Robert Ulrich Jr. owned the high
Jersey cow for fat production.
“Fancy” completed a record of
19,003 pounds of milk, 970 pounds of
fat and 740 pounds of milk for the
title
An average of 13,929 pounds of
milk, 555 pounds of fat and 456
pounds of protein on 20 cows
secured the high milk production
award of the Milking Shorthorn
breed for J. Douglas Marsh,
Nottingham. His 6 year old lead the
ranks with a production of 19,123
milk and 809 fat.
Kirkwood dairyman Karl Herr
Receiving the Supervisor Performance Award for out
standing service on Wednesday were, from left, Maurice
Welk, Jay Risser and Floyd Zook.
claimed the top production award
in the Red and White category. His
herd of 45 cows averaged 16,233
pounds of milk, 573 pounds of fat
and 505 pounds of protein.
High fat cow honors for the Red
and White breed went to Indian
View Farms’ cow with a record of
19,302 pounds of milk, 781 pounds of
fat and 623 pounds of protein.
G.M. Weaver of New Holland
copped the top production award
for the mixed breeds with an
average of 19,270 pounds of milk,
681 pounds of fat and 591 pounds of
protein on 49 cows.
A cow owned by Pequea
Meadows Farm lead the Holsteins.
This 4 year old produced 29,023
pounds of milk, 1,207 pounds of fat
and 837 pounds of protein in her
most recent lactation.
Two Brown Swiss herds main
tained the lowest somatic cell
counts in the county. Kerry and
Deborah Boyd of Ephrata received
recognition for the lowest count at
76,000. Donald Trimble of Peach
Bottom produced the second
lowest count at 85,000.
Other herds producing an SCC
under 100,000 include: David
Stoltzfus, 87,000; Roy Sensenig,
87,000; Curtis Akers, 88,000; John
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