Dl2-Lancaster Farming Saturday, December 15,1990
Q: I have heard that DHIA
offers a program called ARIS,
what exactly is ARIS?
A: ARIS, Agricutural Records
Information Service, is a compu
ter access system available to peo
ple with personal computers.
ARIS is an on-line system, which
means users must dial through a
modem and connect to the main
frame computer at the DHIA Ser
vice Center to access their records.
Any desired data can be viewed or
printed at the touch of a key.
Authorized users can run reports
located in menus created by DHIA
programmers. Or, custom reports
and inquiries that are exactly tail-
State DHIA
Effective January 1, 1992 the
Pennsylvania DHIA will begin
charging other organizations in
the dairy industry for cow produc
tion records. That decision was
made by the PA DHIA board at
the July 1990 meeting by adoption
of a joint resolution which had
already been adopted by the
Northeast DHIA board at their
meeting in March 1990.
The decision was made in order
to prompt action on resolutions
adopted by the state delegates at
the last two National DHIA con
ventions in March 1989 and
March 1990. Those resolutions
were less specific than the NE-PA
resolution.
In adopting their resolution, the
Northeast and Pennsylvania
boards put the rest of the dairy
industry on notice that using
DHIA cow records for AI bull
proofs, breed association pedi
grees, pharmaceutical research
and other activities will cost those
organizations for access to the
records.
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ored to individual needs and tastes
can be created.
Q; Who can use the ARIS
system?
A: The service is available to
dairymen, veterinarians, and agri
business consultants who have
been authorized to have access to
DHIA records via personal com
puter. To limit the use of the main
frame to approved users, pass-
words are assigned by the DRPC
manager and must be entered
before access into ARIS is allow-
ed. Users may change their pass
word at any time to maintain
privacy.
Q: Do users have access to
To Charge For Records
In making the decision, the
boards pointed out that substantial
value is gained by other organiza
tions and non-DHIA producers,
both in the U.S. and abroad, with
out adequate return to the DHIA
members whose records are used.
As an example, non-DHI produc
ers have access to Al-proven sire
semen with the same genetic value
and purchase price as that paid by
DHIA members whose records
were used to establish the bull’s
value.
Both boards have stated that
they hope this decision will bring
additional income to their organi
zations to help offset the increas
ing cost of data collection on the
farm.
The resolution has been dis
cussed at three of the four Nation
al DHIA caucuses already this
fall. The last caucus meeting was
in Minneapolis on December 1,
1990. In presenting the issue to
DHIA member representatives
from other parts of the country it is
hoped that a concensus will deve
lop at the national level and a for
um established to discuss and
agree on record pricing.
1. Herds in County
2. Herds on Test
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REGION 1
David Bigelow
P.O. Box 246
Madera, PA 16661
814-378-7887
REGIONAL MAP AND REGIONAL MANAGERS
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REGION 2 REGION 3 REGION 4 LANCASTER
Larry Hay Don Birchard II Harry Fritz Jay Mylin
R.D. #3, Box 39-A R.D. #5, Box 1308 4090 Umar Road 1592 Old Line Rd.
Berlin, PA 15530 Montrose, PA 18801 Mercenburg, PA 17726 Maahcim, PA 17545
814-267-4754 717?934-2800 717-328-9159 717-665-5960
Is ARIS?
everyone’s DHIA records?
A: No, dairymen are given
access only to the records for their
own herds. Veterinarians and agri
business consultants must submit
release forms signed by herd own
ers before gaining access to any
records. The system is designed to
prohibit alteration of DHIA data.
The data is updated when a herd is
processed after each test.
Q: What are the computer
hardware requirements for use
of the ARIS program?
A: To access the ARIS system,
you must have a computer, mod
em and a usable phone line. The
computer must be IBM or 100%
In a related action, the Wiscon
sin DHIC board adopted a posi
tion very similar to the joint NE
PA resolution. It stopped short of
setting a date to begin charging,
but does indicate that users of
records who do not pay for DHIA
services need to pay for access to
records.
And in response to the actions
by all three DHIA’s, the NAAB
delegates, who represent the AI
organizations, acknowledged at
their annual meeting last August
that a problem exists, and that they
want to work with DHIA to deve
lop an equitable solution.
A meeting of DHIA representa
tives is scheduled in Minneapolis
in early December to begin plan
ning for discussions with NAAB
and PDCA members.
If a successful solution can be
found, DHIA members stand to
gain income from the use of their
records that was never before pos
sible. That income could go a long
way toward offsetting the increas
ing cost of DHIA services and
help insure that high quality ser
vices and new service develop
ment continue in the future.
Cows in County
Cows on Test
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Questions And Answers
IBM compatible with at least 256
K memory. The modem must be
Hayes or Hayes compatible, with
1200 or 2400 baud rates. Because
the difference in price is slight and
the line speed is twice as fast,
2400 baud is recommended. A
hard disk is not necessary, but is
also recommended. I’ll explain
the meanings of these terms in
future columns. But if you already
own a computer or you’re shop
ping for one, you may want to
keep these specifications in mind.
Q; How can the ARIS prog
ram benefit me?
A: With the ARIS information
facility, you are able to make man
agement decisions that require
immediate action the day your
herd processes. The program
gives the user the ability to list
cows in a variety of ways, such as
last test milk, fat, or protein, fat
corrected milk, sire, lactation, and
SCC. Limits can be placed on the
data, for example, a report can be
run which lists just first calf heif
ers in group one.
Consultants can run analysis
reports which give averages for
cows in different lactation and
days in milk groups. The informa
tion printed on a report such as
Operations Comparisons
Operations performance for PA DHIA in general continues to
improve as reflected in the following statistics:
1985
Herds Enrolled 6,044
Prime Herds NA
% AM - PM Herds 22.5
ARIS Users NA
% Herds with Errors 16.64
% Samples Untestable 0.59
Turn around (Days) 4.96
% SCC Herds 60.7
New Supervisors
Verification Tests
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this can be used to make feed
recommendations, and to trouble
shoot problem areas. Samples of
two such reports accompany this
article.
ARIS is designed to be used
effectively as a management tool
to improve herd performance. The
ARIS program is versatile, easy to
use and well supported.
Q: If I subscribe to ARIS,
how will I learn to use the
program.?
A: Anyone living in or near
Pennsylvania who subscribes to
ARIS, will receive a visit from an
ARIS representative. This rep
resentative will install the soft
ware, test your modem and phone
line to make sure the connections
are good, and give about a two
hour training session. After the
visit, you will get fifteen days of
free service in which time you
should practice using the program
and become familiar with what
ARIS has to offer.
Q: How can I find out more
about the ARIS program?
A: Call the state DHIA office at
University Park,
1-800-DHI-ARIS. A representa
tive will be more than happy to
answer your questions.
1987 1988
6,062 5,947
12 22
26.6 29.1
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17.3 15.5
0.55 0.45
4.86 4.10
68.7 74.2
53 34
138 160
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Thru
October
1989 1990
5,989 6,095
111 197
42.2 44.3
129 159
17.9 15.3
0.11 0.12
4.27 3.48
81.6 83.3
51 44
122 181
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