A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 26, W 93 LANCASTER DHIA EVERETT NEWSWANGER Managing Editor LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) —All dairy farmers who are members of Lancaster DHIA now have access to reports generated on test day by lap top computer. According to Jay Mylin, a lot of credit for this advanced service goes to the supervisors who all have picked up on the opportunity to let the computer do some of the work. For Moses Martin, Ephrata, and his wife Vera, the change was not easy but has become rewarding. “The first day Moses was ready to change jobs,” laughs Vera. “We spent a day and a half getting one herd uploaded. We walked through the program several times with the people at Raleigh, and no one could figure out what was wrong. Finally when we did get the job done, we found that at one point we had used a capital D instead of a lower case d. Since that time it has gone well.” “I was apprehensive about the change to Raleigh,” Moses said. “When the directors, our bosses, were talking about the move. Jay Mylin said it was something you would never want to go through in your lifetime again. And I wouldn’t want to. I spent a lot of extra time the first months explain ing reports to farmers. But it was a good move, and farmers like the additional reports we generated George and Nancy Book say their lap top computer helps cut down on errors in their Lancaster OHIA reports. Reports: Jay Mylin, manager Phone: (717) 665-5960 right here. And I like to work with the computer.” Moses and his son Keith each have a circuit, and Vera does a lot of the computer work at home. They think the computer has some what increased the workload for the supervisor, but it has also given some efficiencies in short cuts that don’t require the supervisor to fill out every detail. Also time in pack aging and numbering samples has been reduced. Cow index numbers are supplied to the owner/sampler herds and the farmers put the num bers on the botties. Many of Martin’s herds are small Amish herds, and taking the lap top to the bam has not been practical from their point of view The time it takes to unhook the computer at the house and set it up in the dairy farmer’s bam is not advantageous. By collecting the milk weights on bam charts and keeping the computer at home allows Vera to work records into the computer while the men are out to pick up samples from the farms. The Martins say that their far mers like the next day reports generated by their lap top compu ter. And after 36 years on the job, Moses marvels at the change tech nololgy has brought. During this interview he brought out from the bottom of the desk drawer the old DHIA computation tables that tes ters used to figure monthly milk production. In the early days the V I « Lancaster DHIA Supervisors All Use Computers Now tester did all the figuring of records and transferred the numbers into the owner’s record book by hand quite a contrast from a lap top com puter sending information through a modem to a master computer three states away. Moses started testing milk in 1W service in New Jersey. Later he came back, took a milk testing cir cuit in southern Lancaster County. After 14 months the circuit around Ephrata opened up, and since Moses and Vera were both from this area, they came back home and have been testing milk here since that time. Keith just recently took on a circuit in the home area too. For George and Nancy Book, Paradise, another husband/wife milk testing team, the switch to computers was a new way of life too. But they have adjusted well. And like the Martins, most of the 115 herds they service are small, so the lap top computer stays home, and information is fed to Raleigh from the kitchen table. Both George and Nancy like working with the computer. “I was looking for a reason to get a com puter six years ago,” George said. “In our DHIA work, I feel I have more control over what goes on.” “Also,” Nancy adds, “the prog ram helps eliminate errors because it asks you to fill in any data you may have missed.” The Books have been testing milk for 13 years, the last seven in Lancaster County, after milking cows and testing milk in Juniata County. They enjoy the work. All the supervisors in Lancaster DHIA enter the information in their computer and send it over the phone line to the dairy records pro cessing center in Raleigh, North Carolina. This allows supervisors to create management reports for the dairyman to make decisions Pease Family To Be Honored (Continued from Page Al) ionship Show in State College. Matthew, who is in his first year of 4-H, showed his calf “Shan non” to several Jr. Champion ships, as well as Honorable Men tion Jr. All Pennsylvania Fall Calf. Heather was Reserve Jr. Champ ion with her calf at the county show. Lloyd and Denise are also involved in many other agricultur al and civic organizations. Lloyd is Executive Commiteee member, and member of the Per sonnel Committee for the Pen nsylvania State Holstein Associa tion. He is also Sale Committee Chairperson for the Susquehanna County Holstein Club. Denise is a member of the Youth Committee for the Pa. State Holstein Association, along with being the Secretary, and Chairper son of the Youth Committee, and a member of the Sales Committee for the Susquehanna County Hols tein Club. She also holds the posi tion of President and Show Chair person of the Susquehanna Coun ty Dairy Leaders. Lloyd and Denise are both members of the state and National Holstein Associations, and are Chairpersons for Commercial Exhibits for the 1995 National Convention. The Peases are very heavily involved in 4-H, being Dairy Leaders and coaches for the Sus quehanna County Dairy Judging. Their team has been first five times out of the last six contests in Pennsylvania. They have sent three kids to the Nationals in Moses, Keith, and Vera Martin say their Lancaster DHIA farmers like the next-day reports generated on their lap top computer. before the reports return from the processing center. The most popu lar report is the cows by test day milk. This report allows the dairy man to: 1. Change feed charts right after test day to feed amount called for with new milk weights. 2. See at a glance how much each animal deviates from last month’s production. 3. Check factors which may have caused deviation-lactation number, days in milk, date due etc. Madison, Wisconsin, and one girl became the highest individual in 1991. Their son Matthew was third overall in the state last year in Dairy Judging, and was second overall in the state this year. The team won the spring contest. Some of the Peases’ other accomplishments include, as members of the Susquehanna County DHIA, they received, the Herd Management Award, 1992, Highest Herd Average for Milk, 1992, and Highest Herd Average for Protein, 1992. They also won the Pennsylvania Holstein Associ ation Young Breeder Award, which made them eligible for the award at the National level. Beef Council Accepts Program Proposals HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) In preparation for the develop ment of their annual marketing plan, the Pennsylvania Beef Council (PBC) is accepting out side program funding proposals for the Council's 1993-1994 (October 1 - September 30) fiscal year. Outside funding requests will be reviewed by the Beef Council's Planning Committee, and each proposal will be evaluated on its ability to increase consumer demand for beef and veal products. The PBC board of directors has established the following topics as program priorities for checkoff funding: retail promotions, food- 4. Compare the average produc tion for the herd on test day with the days in milk. “This is just one sample of the reports our dairy farmers can choose from,” Mylin said. “For more information about other reports our supervisors are doing for their farmers, ask your supervi sor or call our v office at (717) 665-5960. These reports are created as a management tool for you and are produced free as a ser vice to you.” As for the community responsi bilities, Lloyd, Denise and their family are members of the Jack son Baptist Church, being AWA NA leaders, and Denise being treasurer for the Church building fund. Along with all of her other duties, Denise works for Semex, selling semen in seven counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania. With a list of accomplishments such as this, it is easy to see why Lloyd and Denise won the Distin guished Young Holstein Breeder Award, they are well deserving of it, putting all of their heart into helping children, their community and the Holstein breed. service promotions, health profes sion education programs, consum er promotions (stressing conveni ence and versatility), veal advertising, sports advertising, industry relations (Meat Export Federation and Beef Industry Council membership and issues management activities), and school nutrition education programs. Parties seeking checkoff fund ing must submit a completed authorization request form to the PBC office by July 20. Authoriza tion request forms and a more detailed program priority listing may be obtained by calling the Pennsylvania Beef Council office at (717) 545-6000.
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