DAVE SLUSSER
General Manager
As I ponder this broad question,
many things come to mind. Our
board and staff has given much
thought and action recently on
controlling cost, yet maintaining
quality service to our members.
We have cut back on staff, conso
lidated our office space, all to our
Orchard Road Lab, and converted
our lab technicians from universi
ty employees to PA DHIA
employees. Yet in spite of this, we
have maintained top scores in all
facets of our service in our Quality
Certification scores with National
DHIA.
Now the next question! How
can we maintain quality employ
ees in the field, in our lab and in
our processing center, and at the
same time control or lower cost to
our members? Some people say
that cannot be done, however that
Changes In
Larry W. Specht
Professor of Dairy Science
Pa DHIA has up
graded the reporting of genetic
evaluations for cows and
heifers on the Herd Summary
II and Individual Cow Page
reports as well as on the Young
Stock Listing (report of recent
calvings and identification of
calves) and on the Hcilcr
Listed from left to right starting in front row.
Front row* Neal McCulloch, District 10; Frank
Orner, President, District 5; John Castrogiovanni,
District 16.
Second row- Marian Butler, District 4; Brooks Smith,
District 11; Norman Hershey, Treasurer, District 18;
Lane Solienberger, Secretary, District 9.
Third row- John Wilcox, District 13; John Brod/.ina,
District 7; Steve Mowry, District 8; Ralph (iilkinson,
District I; Dale Hoover, District 15; Luke Rebuck,
District 12; William Jackson, Vice-President, District
3.
Missing from photo- George Cudoc, District 2; Joe
Lyons, District 14; Donald Duncan, District 17; Andy
Meier, District 6.
Lancaster Farming, Pages E-8 To E-10 June 4, 1994 Issue
Where Are We Headed On DHIA Testing Costs?
is not true. It can be done, but
those steps involves our members
expectations of service. I would
like to answer these questions in
three ways:
1.) What can members do now?
2.) What changes in National
DHIA rules can be made for the
future?
3.) Can we work together as
brothers and sisters for the overall
good of our dairy industry?
What Can Members Do Now?
Have you thought of A.M.-P.M.
testing. Research has shown that
the accuracy of this testing prog
ram is really good. I have yet to
talk to a member who is on
A.M.-P.M. who wants to go back
to 2x testing. It saves the members
time on test day and it allows the
technicians to do two herds in one
day. According to the cost analys
is figures in front of me, 75% of
your testing cost is personnel and
travel time to the farm. At our
DHIA Genetic Information
Management report. In many data. This is not always
cases, information on the possible and it is logical to
Predicted Transmitting Ability
(PTA)ot individual animals is
not known. This can he due to
errors or omissions in the
identification of an animal and/
or one or both of its parents.
The best solution is to supply
the correct identification and
resubmit the animal production
1994 Board of Directors
A NEWSLETTER FOR MEMBERS & CUSTOMERS
Dixie L. Burris, Membership Development
Call 1-800-DHI-TEST For Information
Pennsylvania Dairy Herd Improvement Association
r v DHIA Service Center
I > Orchard Road, University Park, PA 16802
April board meeting, the board
instructed management to move
toward a uniform method of pric
ing throughout the territory. The
cost of service must be more accu
rately expressed. Labor efficient
records with electric ID, also
spreawds the cost of personnel out
over more cows, yet still main
tains official record status.
If you are not concerned about
official records, we can provide
many different programs such as
Owner Sampler that will keep
your cost down, yet give accurate
management information.
All of the above suggestions
will lower the cost to the member,
yet can improve the income of our
personnel.
What National DHIA Rules Can
Be Changed?
Keep in mind the following
suggestions are my own, and
depend on National Rules
(Turn to Pag* E 9)
Vol 9 No. I
changes. What about offering a 45
day testing program in 2x or
A.M.-P.M.? What about schedul
ing test day in your herd like yo do
herd health checks? Can you see
management benefits to you? I
believe that we need to develop
programs for the members to
improve their management deci
sions. We need to spend less time
and money on enforcing DHIA
rules. Legal fees are too high for
the membership to bear just
because of a very few people.
Can We Work Together?
As you know the state bounda
ries are down, and states as well as
counties within states are compet
ing against each other. I know
there are benefits to members,
however I would like to share with
you what is really happening. Dif
ferent DHIA associations are
working hard at stealing members
from each other. The percentage
of cows on test still remains about
50% of the cow population. This
effort cost time and money, how
ever it is not really putting more
cows on test. If we could put more
cows on test, our overhead cost
per cow would decrease.
Two weeks ago, I spent two
days visiting dairy herds in Craw
ford County. I traveled with Jane
Kashner, our technician in that
area. We didn’t take any herds
from Crawford County DHIA, but
we talked several herds into test
ing. One morning we got three
herds in a row to test their cows on
A.M.-P.M. test. DHIA didn’t
stand still those two days, we
grew.
I believe that 60% of the cows
could be on a DHIA testing prog
ram with very little effort, if that
was our goal. The time and money
spent trying to take members from
each other is costing the dairy far
mer mdney. Let’s spend this time
and money to enroll new herds.
This change would take us from a
loss situation to a winning one. I
believe that Pennsylvanian’s need
to get back together again. I ask
you as a dairy farmer to encourage
your DHIA leadership to look at
ways to work together.
Where Are We Headed On
DHIA Testing Costs?
I believe we will get together
again. I believe that we will enroll
more cows on a testing program
and provide a quality program at a
reasonable, competitive cost well
into the future. Will you help
make this happen?