PERIODICA! ;; DIVISION
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
—. W 209 PATTI.! LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY PARK PA 16802-1002
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Vol. 39 No. 34
No Such Thing As ( A Day In The Life Of A DHIA Technician ’
York County DHIA technician Abbe Gore relocates her portable office, a tabletop,
after wrapping up another teat day on her herd circuit. Gore represents ail DHIA tech*
nicians who work on the farm. Experiences are many and varied.
Ag Protests "FSe Impositions, Supports Management Effort
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) A number of people rep
resenting various segments of the
state’s agricultural segment on
Tuesday voiced opposition to a
proposal by the Susquehanna Riv
er Basin Commission that would
initiate a fee structure for relatively
high levels of water use.
At the same time, the majority
Poet Hill Genuine Risk received championship honors
for Susan Means of New Albany last week at the Pennsylva
nia Dairy Goat Association show. See story on Page A 32.
016192 1279
604 Per Copy
of those testifying also offered
comments of support in the com
mission’s effort to manage the
wate~ supply for the
commonwealth.
The SRBC an autonomous
agency formed by a compact
between Pennsylvania, Maryland,
New York and the United States in
December 1970 to oversee water
use within the basin of the Susque
hanna River has proposed a
Lancaster Fanning. Saturday. Jufr2. i^fl^^^statc
revision and addition to its regula
tions, and its staff is in the process
of holding public hearings on the
proposal.
Justin Good, left, clinched county swine champion at the 32nd annual Lancaster
County FFA Hog Show and Sale at the Manheim Farm Show grounds last week. Hat
field Quality Meats, represented by Kenton Good, right, purchased the hog for $l.BO
per pound.
Genetics Key Championship
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
Justin Good understands the adage
well enough to interpret it himself:
‘‘lf it’s going good, don’t change
anything."
Justin’s efforts to ensure the
same type of hog market genetics
for his show animals, obtained
from a Canadian source that gar
nered a championship at the New
Holland Swine Show last October.
JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Somewhere across the
state, at almost any hour of the day
or night, a Pennsylvania Dairy
Herd Improvement Association
(DHIA) technician is on the job.
Or, as Centre County technician
Anne Brooks puts it: “I set the
alarm clock for a different time
every day.”
It’s an observation that is prob
ably echoed by nearly every one
of the nearly 200 Pennsylvania
DHIA technicians offering dairy
herd testing to the common
wealth’s thousands of dairy far
mers. Pennsylvania DHIA, head
quartered on Orchard Road, pro
vides a range of herd testing and
cow record-keeping information
and services.
Anne Brooks, Bellefonte R 3, is
a senior technician for the state’s
milk production records and test
ing cooperative. Her job responsi
bilities include monthly weighing
and sampling milk on client dairy
herds and gathering data for com
prehensive herd record informa
Perhaps (he most significant
changes to the regulations are
proposals that would include agri
culture and community water sup-
clinched county swine champion
at the 32nd annual Lancaster
County FFA Hog Show and Sale at
the Manheim Farm Show grounds
last week.
Celebrate July 4
To celebrate the 4th of July, Lancaster Farming’s office
will be closed on Monday, July 4. Our offices will open again
at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, July 5. Have a good day!
Four Sections
tion on production, feeding/and
breeding. As a senior technician,
she also helps train new techni
cians and does fill-in testing
around the state as needed.
What technicians do, she sum
marizes, is gather information that
"gives the farmer a record of a
cow’s production to help deter
mine if she is paying her way.”
“Every day is different,” adds
this 15-year-veteran DHIA
employee “I like the job because I
get to meet new farmers and see
new herds across the state.”
Average size of the 30 herds
which Brooks tests is about 60
cows, with more than 2,000 cows
total on her circuit. Two of her
herds each number 175 head in the
milking string.
“Some technicians last a very
short time, because they, or their
families, can’t adapt to the sche
dule,” admits this mother of two
grown children. Brooks got her
job when the technician at the
farm where she was helping to
milk cows decided to quit - and
asked if she might be interested in
(Turn to Pago A 33)
pliers as having to abide by the reg
ulations, especially the
consumptive-use regulations,
(Turn to Pag* A 27)
His 230-pound “4-Way” hog
combining the preferred gene
tics of a Hampshire, Duroc, York,
and Landrace won lightweight
(Turn to Pago A 23)
$21.00 Per Year