A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 3, 1990 Complaints If We DICK BARTH General Manager PA DHIA We get about 400 telephone calls a month at the service center about all kinds of things. And while we make mistakes, probably too often, I think the DHIA staff goes out of its way to help members with their problems. When we do make mistakes, you can bet we will hear about that from someone, usually an angry member. Now and then I hear about a mistake directly from a member who calls and insists on talking to the general manager (why they insist on that is a mystery because everyone knows the general man ager doesn’t know anything!). A couple of weeks ago I got a call from a member who wanted to relate his displeasure about the board’s decision to rank herds on the basts of protein, not fat production. Even though the conversation was very cordial, I was baffled by his complaint. The evidence of the American public’s rejection of How Does Your Herd Compare? STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) —This data is pulled from Pennsylvania DHIA’s mainframe computer each week. It is a one-week summary representing approximately one-fourth of the herds on test, as they arc tested monthly. These data are valuable from a business man agement standpoint and can be used for compar ing your operations to the averages from almost 1,400 herds across the DHIA Averages for all herds processed between 10/15/90 and 10/22/90 Number of Herds Processed Number of Cows Processed Number of Cows Per Herd Milk Per Cow (Lbs) %-Fat Fat Per Cow (Lbs) %-Prolcin Protein Per Cow (Lbs) Average Days in Milk Per Cow .Value for CWT Milk(s) .Value for CWT Gram(S) .Value for CWT Hay(s) .Value for CWT Silage(S) .Value for Pasture Per Day(s) .Value for Milk Per Cow Per Year(S) .Feed Consumed Per Cow Per Ycar(Lbs) A: Gram B. Hay C- Silage D: Day Pasture .Feed Cost Per Cow Per Ycar(s) A- Grain B. Hay C' Silage D: Pasture .Total Feed Cost Per Cow Per Ycar(s) .Income Over Feed Costs Per Year(s) .Gram to Milk Ratio .Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(s) Avg Level For 1,159 SCC Herds If We Do, Don’t animal fat in their diet is over whelming. Even the USD A has stopped ranking AI bulls on fat and has switched to protein dollars. If anything, I thought DHIA’s change to protein ranking was behind .the times. I know the argument: no one in Pennsylvania (or practically no High-Volume Belt Conveying • 16-inch belt on concave open-pai convey up to 62 cu. ft. (or up to 2 feed per minute • 12-inch belt: 45 cu. ft. or 1,500 pounds per minute. • Smooth belt for horizontal conveying. • Textured belt for inclines up to 30 degrees • Lengths from 4to 120 ft. (8912) • Options include covers, hoppers, spouts, diverters and belt wipers. 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