814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 7, 1991
A History And Perspective Of The Pennsylvania DHIA Program
(Continued from Page A 1)
Section 2
Cow Testing Associations, The Early History and
Development
In 190 S Helmer Rabild, a Danish immigrant, was an
inspector for the Michigan Dairy and Food Commis
sion. He organized a meeting of dairymen to discuss
the formation of a cow testing association. In 1906, as a
result of his plan. 31 herds with 239 cows made up the
first cow testing association in the United States. In
1908 Rabild joined theUSDA, Division of Dairying, to
develop and extend organized cow testing on a nation
wide basis. Maine and New York started associations
in 1908, Vermont, lowa, California, Wisconsin and
Nebraska in 1909, and by 1929 all states had cow test
ing associations.
Pennsylvania began organizing in 1910 when a
group of 20 dairymen in Chester County started the
Brandywine testing association. In 1913 Bradford
County organized, in 1914 Washington County, and in
1915 Lycoming, Susquehanna, Warren, Allegheny,
Mercer, and Cumberland Counties. In some counties
where cow numbers were not as great, milk testing
clubs of six or eight dairymen were formed. They
weighed the milk, kept daily records, and once each
month took a sample from each cow to a Farm Bureau
office or other designated location and had it tested for
fat content.
In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act established Coopera
tive Extemion. County Agents, State Extension Spe
cialists, Federal Extemion. along with interested dairy
men gave the records program local control and nation
al exposure, as well as increased stability and
uniformity. In 1924 the Dairy Records Committee of
American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) stimu
lated active interest in formulating rules and proce
dures to promote greater uniformity and effectiveness
of testing throughout the United States. In 1925 a set of
uniform rules for cow testing was adopted by ADSA.
In 1926 it was recognized that the name Cow Testing
Association did not adequately define the full function
of the organization. ADSA suggested the name of
Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA), which
was officially adopted in 1927. At the same time the
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committee urged that employees be referred to as
DHIA Supervisors rather than cow testers.
From 1910 to 1920 many counties in Pcnmylvania
formed cow testing clubs and association!. Early Dairy
Specialists E. B. Fitts and Roscoe Welch, along with
County Agents, were involved in promoting produc
tion testing, and their efforts and results are docu
mented in die County Extension Annual Reports from
that period. In 1921 Penn State intensified its effort to
build a stronger educational program by hiring a full
time person to summarize production and feed records
of dairymen whose herds were on test
Iver Oleson Sidelmann. a Danish immigrant
schooled at the Royal Agricultural College in Copen
hagen, had worked at developing cow testing programs
in Denmark. He saw an announcement in the paper for
a person to go to Poland to organize and conduct dairy
testing. He left college and went to Poland, and from
there he moved on to Russia, Finland, Sweden, Eng
land, Scotland, Iceland, and Holland. He had, by this
time, become involved in marketing dairy cattle.
World War I effectively shut down his marketing busi
ness, and he came to the United States hoping to carry
on his enterprise. The advent of Hoof and Mouth dis
ease in Europe destroyed his import business plans, and
he rekindled his first interest in dairy testing. While at
Penn State he remained involved at the international
level as an interpreter for the Worlds Dairy Congress.
He spoke 9 different languages and dialects. From
1921 until his retirement in 1946, his sole responsibili
ty was to summarize production records. He traced
Pennsylvania records back to the year 1910, which pro
vided a yearly summary of DHIA since its beginning.
In 1923 Charles Gearhart became the first Extension
Dairy Specialist in PA to devote full time to an educa
tional program utilizing records from DHIA. He
assisted County Agents and dairymen in organizing
and managing new association!. Gearhart was very per
sonable and a master educator, and his presence at Penn
State brought a burst of energy and direction to the
DHIA program. His appointment coincided with die
1924 efforts by ADS A and the National Dairy Records
Committee to give more visibility to the value of
records as a management tool for dairymen.
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Section 1 Introduction
Section 2 Cow Testing Associations, The Early
History and Development
Scction3 The Structuring of DHIA in Pennsylvania
Section 4 County Agents, Dairy Extension, and
DHIA
Section S Penn State University and DHIA
Section 6 Artificial Breeding Cooperatives and
DHIA
Section 7 The Pennsylvania Dairymens Associa
tion and DHIA
Section 8 ADS A, USDA. and DHIA
Section 9 The DHIA Supervisor
Section 10 Selected Highlights from Minutes of
State DHIA
Section 11 Summary of Highlights and Dates of
DHIA Activity
Section 12 Past Presidents of State DHIA3S
Section 13 PA Dairymen serving as President
NDHIA
Section 14 DHIA General Managers
Section IS State Management Districts/Areas for
Fieldmen
Section 16 Summary Comments
The goal of producing accurate production records
and feed data was very important to DHIA. The success
of this effort depended largely on the DHIA Supervi
sors. Finding supervisors was a problem, and retaining
them an even larger problem. To solve these problems
Gearhart started a two week shortcourse at Penn State.
Supervisors were taught how to weigh and sample
milk, run the Babcock Test, keep the herd books, and
they learned the rules and regulations affecting records
and herd tests. Upon successfully completing the short
course, the student was given a certificate of approval
to conduct a testing program.
Six shortcourses were held each year, over a period
of many years. Up to 30 supervisors would attend each
shortcourse. A list of homes in State College with
rooms to rent was provided to each student Room,
(Turn to Page B 15)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS