A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 8, 1990 VERNON ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Fanning Staff SMOKETOWN (Lancaster Co.) Lancaster County’s Red Rose Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) is 50 years old and continues to show growth, officials said Tuesday during the group’s annual banquet. Statistics from DHIA show that while the number of cows in Lan caster County dropped by 6,000 from 1989, at the same time the number of cows on test increased by 2,000. Statewide statistics show a simi lar trend the number of cows decreased while the number of cows on test increased by 5,200. Officials said part of the reason for that is the sendees offered by Pa.DHIA, but also the human ele ment that goes along with it. Lancaster County’s DHIA man ager Jay Mylin received the top award in the state for a member the Superior Service Award and was also recognized for his 20 years of service. Also part of the exceptional group that forms the Red Rose program is new member Deborah Ebersolc. She was presented the Rookie of the Year Award, also a statewide honor. About 400 people attended the banquet, held at Good ’N Plenty Restaurant. Clifford Blank, presi dent of the association, reported that “Everything is running smoothly. “We have very little agenda at most meetings and very few reports of any problems and we are staying in line with costs. We to tope to hold the line on costs,” Blank said. He said that the next goal for the Red Rose DHIA is to find out what the effect of the proposed re organization of the Pennsylvania DHIA will have on Red Rose. The re-organization the combining of all county services under one state agency is to take effect in coming months. Blank also reported that the county has 1,119 herds on test, as of September. He said that number of herds represents an increase of 25 herds on test in Lancaster Coun ty since September 1989. Of those herds on test, 233 arc on twice-daily tests, 422 are on the AM-PM test program and 464 ( arc on owner-sampler testing. Blank commended the work of the county DHIA supervisors and also urged each member present to talk to neighbors and to get others to put their herds on test. County agent Glenn Shirk lauded the merits of testing, espe cially with milk prices dropping drastically. “As we look ahead to a tighten ing of belts, many of you will say, ‘Do I need this (DHIA testing)? Can I afford this?’ “I say you can’t afford to not have it,” Shirk said, adding that DHIA testing is one of the most valuable management tools avail able and the lack of proper man agement is especially significant when budgets are tight. Norman Hershey, a state direc tor for Lancaster County who serves on the Pa.DHIA finance committee, said that as of Jan. 1, the DHIA membership rate is to MILK. FT DOES A BODY good; Red Rose DHIA Conti increase to about 8 cents a cow on test. According to Hcrshey, 1 cent has been added to cover additional costs for sample pickup; 2 cents to build up state reserves; 1 cent for a future building fund; and the remaining 4 cents to reflect general increases in maintenance and labor. Also announced during the meeting were the results of an elec tion of directors for the county. Rclccted to director were John Howard in Association No.B and P. Robert Wenger in Association N 0.5. New directors are Larry Aaron in Association No.ll; Kenneth Miller in Association N 0.2; Joseph Graybcal in Association No. 14; and John P. Lapp in Association N 0.9. In other business, Nelson Kreid cr received the district-level Dis tinguished Service Award. Other Years of Service Awards went to J. Wilbur Houser, with 35 years service and Jay M. Risscr with 35 years of service. Red Rose Performance Awards were presented to 10 supervisors who were judged to have done out standing jobs during the past year. Those receiving performance awards were Rebecca Hershey, J. Wilbur Houser, Patti Johnson, Nelson Krcidcr, James Lehman, Harold Probst, Joan Probst, Harold Lindccamp, Jay Risser, Maurice Welk. In production awards, protein production was valued above all else during the past year, a Change from butterfat emphasis, to reflect market trends. The top protein herd in Lancas ter County is owned by Robert and Linda Scnscnig. Their herd pro duced an average 22,981 pounds of milk and 753 pounds of protein. The award for the top Holstein herd in Lancaster County went to Weaver Homestead, of New Hol land, whose herd averaged 24,692 pounds of milk and 739 pounds of protein. The award for the top Brown Swiss herd in the county went to Richard Wenger, Manheim, whose herd averaged 17,185 pounds of milk and 591 pounds of protein. The top Jersey herd in the coun ty is owned by Robert U Inch Jr., of Quarryville, with an average milk production of 14,187 pounds of milk and 551 pounds of protein. Warren A. Schmuck, of Peach Bottom, took home a production award for having the lop Ayrshire herd in the county. Schmuck’s herd showed a rolling average of 14,939 pounds of milk and 507 pounds of protein. Axel Linde and Mildred Wid mann, of Kirkwood, received an award for having the top producing Guernsey herd on test. The rolling herd average was 16,554 pounds of milk and 578 pounds of protein. Others recognized for having herds with a rolling herd average of 700 or more pounds of protein were John Howard, Willowstreet; Weaver Homestead Farm, New Holland; John Coleman Jr., Ronks; Spring Belle Farm, Lancaster; Elmer High, Lititz; Robert and Karen Gochenaur, Lancaster; Ammon Reiff, Lititz; and Mahlon King, Gap. Those Red Rose DHIA supervisors receiving special awards are, from left front, Nel son Kreider, Wilbur Houser and Rebecca Hershey. From the left in the back row are Harold Probst, Joan Probst, James Lehman and Jay Risser. Not shown are Patti John son, Harold Lindecamp and Maurice Welk. Elected directors of the Red Rose DHIA are, from left, John Lapp, Larry Aaron, P. Robert Wenger, John Howard, and Ken Miller.