No Such Thing As ‘A Day In The Life Of A DHIA Technician ’ (Continued from Pago A 33) “I asked for the job, because I didn’t want to leave working with cows,” she explains. Though she began with 36 herds, she now averages just over 30, most with between 35 to 45 head. Kashner and other technicians agree that the biggest change in recent years is the move in herd records processing “from pencil to computer.” Children at some of the herds where she tests are espe cially interested in learning how the computer works. Another improvement, she believes, has been in the area of test quality, after the plastic bags once used for holding the milk samples were replaced with more durable plastic vials. One major benefit of her DHIA job, according to Jane Kashner. is that it does allow some flexibility. “I can adapt it to my own way of life a little, like testing a smaller herd on a day when something else is going on,” she explains. A chart near her phone, listing all her herds and pertinent information about them, helps her keep track of scheduling. .y ,y :es ! 15’ Cut; 540 or 1000 RPM; Cat. 5 Main Driveline: Cat. 4 or 5 Wing Drivelines; 180 HP Divider Gearbox; 140 HP Center and Wing Gear boxes; Pan Blade Carries; 6” Blade Overlap; Mechanical Level-Lift Axle; 10-Gauge Deck; 'A ” x 10 -A " Side Skirts; Heavy-Duty Clevis Hitch; Replaceable Skid Shoes; Wing Operation 90° Up and 20° Down; Rated for 2” Diameter Material; Fully-Shielded Drivelines; Safety Deflectors Standard. See The Servis-Rhino De “Some days a farmer just doesn’t need one more person there or another thing to do.” Jane acknowledges, with the under standing that DHIA testing may sometimes be inconvenient. “We ask our farmers to call several days ahead if they have a wed ding, a graduation, a vacation coming up. I have had very few refusals over the years; they tell me if there is a problem and we work it out. “I’ve enjoyed it all,” she reflects of her job. “You share a part of people’s lives. I’ve tested when there was a death. And I’ve tested on a morning when a farmer practically floated around the bam because he was to bring his wife home from the hospital with a new baby. One farmer I used to test raised peacocks. I’ve seen hot air balloons. Things you see going to a farm, the sunrises, the sunsets, the wildlife, are enjoyable. I just like the farm and the farm way of life, and this job has helped me continue being close to that” It’s Five A.M. - Do You Know Where Your Technician Is? Servis-Rhino Ken Mowty didn’t. Scheduled for DHIA testing, the Mowty herd was ready and waiting early one morning during last winter’s bitter cold spell. But Angelique McDo nald, one of two technicians on the team that tests the large Roaring Spring herd, had not shown up on the farm. A call to her home sent the whole family out on a search. “I had car trouble on the Route 220 by-pass. There are three ways to get to the Mowrys from our home farm; the way I went was the last way anyone looked,” recalls Angelique. It was Ken Mowry who finally found her, for tunately before she had begun a long walk through sub-zero temperatures. A four-year DHIA technician, Angelique grew up on the Galen and Sonja McDonald family’s Guernsey farm at Imler, and like many of her testing peers, had a broad background in dairying. She learned the finer details of the job, however, from a friend who was a technician. “I like working with dairy far mers; I consider them family and friends,” says this former county “Some things are just built tougher than others.” irmance and Durability for Larger Acreages! and 144” Cut; 120 HP Center Gearbox; 100 HP Outboard ixes; Pan Blade Carriers; Updraft Blades; Cat. 4 Driveline lip Clutch Protection; 540 or 1000 RPM; Lift or Pull-Type; ige Deck; 1/4” x 10” Side Skirts; Replaceable Skid Shoes; for 2” Diameter Material; Safety Deflectors Standard. An Alamo Group Company P.O. Box 712, Seguin, Texas 78156 er Nearest You: dairy princess and Guernsey queen. Average size of her 26-herd Bedford County circuit is 60-70 head in the milking strins. Angelique also helps substitute in surrounding counties, and is part of a three technician-team which monthly spends eight hours test ing the 1400-head Evergreen Farms in Huntingdon County. Angelique is enthusiastic about the switch to computerization, even though the hardware once failed before she returned home from testing a herd, and she lost all her data. She returned to the farm and re-entered all the infor mation from the worksheets with a computer borrowed from another technician. At 23, Angelique’s youthful ness has not been a problem in her work with dairy families, who often share with her their joys and concerns and seek her opinions. One farmer in another county where she substitute-tested did comment on her first visit that he had never heard of a “lady tester;” he was reassured after she explained how many technicians are women. TWI2O/144 m Servls-Rhino® 210-372-3080 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July % 19M-A35 She also takes considerable teasing from her testing clients and jokes that she would be rich if she had a dollar for every time they ask her about when she is get ting married. In fact, Angelique met her boyfriend while substitute testing in Blair County. They began dating after the farm wife at the herd she was working intro duced her to one of their part-time employees. Testing 36 herds in Indiana and Westmoreland counties and get ting to see his nine-year-old son play ball in Little League game sometimes takes some juggling by technician Bob Edwards. 1 “I really appreciate my job. You can’t find a better class of people than farmers,” states Edwards, who marked his first year anniver sary as a DHIA technician on June 18. A former dairy farmer, Edwards used DHIA for his own herd and was familiar with the testing services available. He sees a lot of potential for the program’s expansion in his testing area and often visits with farmers who might be interested in the cooperative’s services. “I can offer my time and knowledge to a dairy farmer; and I always try to remember before I leave a herd after testing to ask the dairyman if there are any questions that haven’t been answered,” says Edwards. PA PEALEBS BINKLEY & HURST BROS. MG. Lititz, PA CB HOOBER& SON INC. Intercourse, PA C.H. WALTZ & SONS, INC. Logan State, PA CHARLES SIEPIELA Honesdale, PA COLUMBIA CROSSROADS EQUIP. MC. Columbia Crossroads, PA D&E EQUIPMENT Bloomsburg, PA DUGAN TRACTOR Ulysses, PA ECKROTHBROS FARM EQUIP. INC. New Rinngold, PA ERB & HENRY EQUIP. INC. New Berlinville, PA LIENARD’S FARM EQUIP. Scenery Hill, PA O.C. RICE INC. Biglerville, PA R&W EQUIPMENT CO. Carlisle, PA MD DEALERS CERESVILLE FNH, INC Frederick, MD RIO DEL MAR ENTERPRISES LTD. Easton, MD NJ DEALERS MID STATE EQUIP. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers