A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 20,1990
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Dairy Mirtl* I
ImpruumuU AssoualionN Call I ' BOO ‘ DHI ‘T EST for !em “ or ‘nfomuuon
Testing: What’s Good
For Dairyman Is Good
For Dairy Testing
808 ORMSBY
Pa. DHIA Director Member
Education
The AM/PM type testing plans
are not new to Pennsylvania
DHIA. Their popularity has
increased steadily since their
inception.
Briefly, AM/PM means that one
milking is not supervised during
the regular test day activities. All
milking times for that day are
recorded and a complex formula is
applied to the milk, fat and protein
data to represent the missed
milking.
Due largely to the tightening
dairy economy and increased
demand for time, DHIA members
across the state have adopted AM/
PM testing as the program of
choice.
Approximately 44 percent of the
6,100 herds on test in Pennsylvani
a are enrolled in one of the A/P
programs. Why is it growing in
popularity?
I can identify three reasons; it is
convenient, economical and
accurate.
CONVENIENT
Let’s lake a look at
convenience.
Each month, the supervisor
makes one visit to the farm and
“monitors” one milking. Milk
weighis, samples and other herd
management data are all collected
during the one milking visit. At the
conclusion of the milking, the
supervisor cleans up his equip
ment, packs up and is on his way,
leaving the dairyman free to get
back to his busy schedule.
Compare that to leaving the
equipment and reluming to moni
tor the next milking to record milk
wcights and collect samples from
the same cows.
The A/P factors can accurately
determine each cow’s production
from the one milking each month.
Many dairymen experience a
slower pace on test day because of
the “testing” routine and they have
welcomed the single visit
alternative.
With the factors calculated, the
members receive the same man
agement information as those who
purchase 2X DHI records.
For 3X herds, the A/P program
requires two visits to the farm by
the supervisor, still eliminating
one milking.
ECONOMICAL
Now for the economical advan-
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tage. That is fairly obvious.
Labor means wages. The super
visor fees are reduced to the mem
ber because of the one visit, but he
is freed to do another herd that day,
increasing the number of herds that
can be serviced.
Of course, there are programs
where the supervisor does not have
to stay at all, but for an "official”
A/P test he is required. That also
leaves the responsibilities of the
equipment and samples to the
supervisor, making him well worth
the wages.
The Pa. DHIA supervisor is a
trained professional and the
increased opportunity to test more
herds is a viable incentive for top
notch supervisors.
ACCURATE
The third point is accuracy,
Several research studies to
determine accuracy of A/P factor
ing have proven that the AM/PM
program is just as accurate as the
conventional 2X DHI herds.
Some of the studies were done
in herds where the cows were
milked with computerized equip
ment that recorded each cow’s pro
duction to the 10th of a pound,
every milking.
With 98 percent accuracy, under
these conditions, A/P testing is
indeed a reasonable alternative to
2X or 3X testing.
The key to the whole process is
the alternating of the monitored
milking from a morning milking
one month to an evening milking
the next.
In any given lactation, half of
the tests should represent evening
and the other half morning milk
ings. This is necessary to accomo
date herds that milk on something
different than a 12-hour schedule,
cows that vary from morning to
night and component tests that
vary.
While on accuracy, I must note
the quality of the milk sample.
With A/P testing, the vial is on
the farm once, filled completely,
and is representative of that
milking.
With 2X herds, it is difficult to
predict variations in the amount of
milk from one milking to another,
thus permitting the possibility of
not getting a proportionate sample
of the two milkings. This is alle
viated with the A/P program.
Also, the single milking sample
is refrigerated after milking and
stays there until tested at the lab.
How Does Your Herd Compare?
STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.)—This data is * Value for CWT Silage(s) 1.50
pulled from Pennsylvania DHIA’s mainframe * Value for Pasture Per Day(s) .30
computer each week. It is a one-week summary *Value for Milk Per Cow Per
representing approximately one-fourth of the Year(s) 2,523
herds on test, as they are tested monthly. «Feed Consumed Per Cow Per
These data are valuable from a business man- Year(Lbs)
agement standpoint and can be used for compar- A: Grain 6,855
ing your operations to the averages from almost £ ay 2,705
1,400 herds across the state. G: Silage 14,439
DHIA Averages for all herds processed between .Feed P Pr 68
10/24/90 and 10/08/90 * r Per Cow Per Year(s >
Number of Herds Processed „3’360 • 554
Number of Cows Processed 76,197 q. SU J 13 9
Number of Cows Per Herd • 217
Milk Per Cow (Lbs) 17.062 J* pasture 21
%-F a . ( ' 3.67 * Tolal p eed Cost Per Cow Per
Fat Per Cow (Lbs) 627 Year(s) 912
?iSein ' 3.19 °v» Feed Coata Per
Protein Per Cow (Lbs) 343 .Grain to Milk Ratio 1:2.4
SfeOTUM 14.78 .Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(J) 5.35
8 -° s iZt. L"r ■ scc HMds 351,966
~ . r ' 4 41 generated figures
★Value for CWT Hay(s)
This eliminates virtually all prob
lems that could possibly arise with
increased handling.
Pa. DHIA has an outstanding
record for sample quality, so that
should never be a factor in choos
ing a type of testing program. It
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AM/PM testing is official in the
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However, A/P is also incorpor
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