A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 15, 1995
DHU
National DHIA
Considers Rules Change
DAVID SLUSSER
General Manager
Pa.DHIA
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) The National DHIA Con
vention recently held in Burling
ton, Vermont was very informa
tive and well organized.
The highlight of the convention
was the passing of a resolution
supporting the development of the
Herd and Cow Profiles Program to
replace the Official Rules System.
Most of what used to be called
rules were standard operating pro
cedues effecting on-farm date col
lecting procedures.
These standard procedures are
essential and will be continued to
ensure the integrity of the national
dairy database, which includes
technician training, sample and
data collection and milk meter
calibration and operations.
Once development is finished,
the Herd and Cow Profiles will re
place the official rules.
This concept is a snapshot of in
formation pertaining to how re
cords are collected and developed.
The basic herd profile could be a
minimum for participation in
young sire sampling programs and
breed association programs. In or
der for a herd to participate in these
programs, they would have to
agree to “open disclosure” of the
information in the Herd and/or
Cow Profile. The only exception
would be “farm only” records.
The Herd Profile is designed to
present herd performance and des
criptive information. The profile
would be uniform throughout the
DHIA system.
The Herd Profile may
contain information on
rolling herd average,
average lactation curve,
bulk tank comparisons,
number of supervised
and unsupervised tests,
number of component
samplings, PTA distri
bution, M.E. distribu
tions, number of cows,
ID changes in last year,
percent usable records,
percent cows complet
ing lactation, and per
centn average USD A
weighting.
Possible and probable
outlier cows will be
identified on the PTA
and M.E. distribution
graphs.
these cows’ excep
tional production may
be due to 1) high genetic
merit 2) unintended en
vironmental bias, 3) er
rors in data collection or
4) intentional bias. The
method of resolving the
reasons for the outlier
cows will depend on the
users of this informa
tion.
The following are several iden
tified users of DHIA information
and how they might use the pro
gram.
1) Members not interested in
marketing cattle or participating in
industry programs. They could use
the Herd Profile information just
for management purposes and not
want verifications of outlier infor
mation.
2) Non-marketing herds that
would like to see their herd aver
ages or cow information listed.
Other producers could rely on the
reputation of members, or could
request additional verification for
a fee.
3) Local committees or local
DHIA may choose to publish veri
fied records only, underwriting the
cost of verification.
4) Herds actively marketing cat
tle may receive extra value from
verified outlier cattle. They would
pay for the cost of verification test
and benefit from the market place.
5) AI and breed organizations
may choose to verify specific ani
mals, and develop guidelines cov
ering the ordering and payment of
verification test
Research is still in progress on
this new system.
The resolution passed at the
convention indicated support for
continued development of the
Herd and Cow Profile Program.
Implementation of the program
will occur after research and devel
opment results are finished, and
the results indicate intended pur
poses are met
mWf
4 '
■■ Jk \
ited by:
Farmers
515 N. Franklin St.
Lancaster, PA
(717) 394*7'
Westfalia Certifies Pa.DHIA Personnel
DAVID BIGELOW
Training Coordinator
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.)—Westfalia Systemat recent
ly held a certification seminar on
March 7-9, for 20 Pa. DHIA
personnel.
The list of personnel who
received the Westfalia certifica
tion included 10 technicians, reg
ion managers, training coordina
tor, director of field operaftons,
and members of the processing
staff, as well as the help desk.
Receiving the Westfalia train
ing certification gives the particip
ants of the seminar the education
needed to provide advanced train
ing to the technicians and mem
bers of Pa. DHIA.
The seminar involved three
days of education on all aspects of
the Westfalia Dairy Plan. The
Westfalia Dairy Plan takes the
input from the Quick Bamsheet
program and creates a data base,
which allows the technician to
create basically any report the
dairymen may request.
Representing Westfalia Syste
mat and teaching the seminar were
Paul Bergstrom, programmer, and
Bob Turner and Rob Kolb, sales
representatives. This was a great
opportunity, to be taught from a
programmer’s point-of-view as
well as being taught from the sales
representative’s.
Basic data, such as adding a
cow to the system, entering feed
COW PROFILE
COW PROFILE
SAMMON FARMS
PON
Tom Sammen
Addraaa
Fret % 3.3 3.2 3.3 34 3.3 31 3.S 34 3.3 3.4 3.S
Fat% 3.8 34 34 3.4 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 XI
▲ A
A
120 j
100 |
i"
£ A
i” 7
, ■ Aotusl Milk Weights
9 SO 80 120 180 180 810 240 270 300 330 380
NUHSmOFCO »- 118
ID CHAMOIS (La IS nm) - S 3
usAStimcom (ia/M)> n%
OOWSCOMPLEI IQ LACT. -84 K
AVQ.MDAWB6 UNO ■ 82%
ADOmONAL SICONO STANOANO
VAWABLIB TO 81 SHOWN HSHK
Pa.DHIA personnel participate in a Westfalia systems
certification seminar in order to help members get the infor
mation they need the way they need it.
amounts and entering monthly
milk data was covered in - the
beginning of the seminar.
The proper way to enter Vet
Action Entries was covered next
on the seminar agenda. Vet Action
Entries include Cow Calving,
Heat Observation, Insemination,
Pregnancy check entries and a Vet
Checklist.
The highlight of the seminar
was the participants being taught
how to design a quick report, as
well as create graphs. In this pro
cess, it was made clear how to
•HUFMMSmvIm MbataMA
COW # 247
ExpveiMl Contemporary
Average
DAYS IN MUX
PtMAMCNTID -12348818
ID CHANOB OCCUIIKID • Ym
NOLUNO HMD AVQ - 21488 fta.
AVQ. ACT. MILK SHIPPED - 1004%
change report limits, sorting, col
umns and headings.
At Pa. DHIA, we feel that these
reports can give our members
another tool in the management of
dairy records, in today’s fast
paced dairy industry.
Westfalia Daii y Plan reports are
available on test day from your Pa.
DHIA technician.
Ask your technician or region
manager about Westfalia Dairy
Plan Reports. Also, feel free to
contact Dean Amick at
1-800-344-8378, if you have any
questions.
HERD PROFILE
iRO PROFILE ,
PON 1
om Sammon
kddrata
SAMMON FARMS
OMapMatf
ROLLING HERO
AVERAGE
kttktf
KraMir 0 "■
JFMtMJJISOND
MESSAGE TO OWNER
C»w 07 1 l» »h*wti •• ■ ptfefeafeto
•Ulll*r *n th* MX ItatrifeUMn. Y*u
m»y fMUMt NrilltMal wrtAmiton fey
l —Mm i^OQ.— •mam.
NUMBER Of COWV • 111
16 CHANBES (LaM 12 irmJ ■ 23 |
USABLE RECORDS (12/SJ) • 71%
COWS COMPLETING LAST ■ *4% !
AVB UIDA WEIGHTING ■ tS% I
RTA DISTRIBUTION
"I
1I«HI
mjm
•LB. MIX
KJM
M.K. distribution
i~ i +1
jIIAM
M jm
MAC. MIX
NM
OHtt Him emu
AVERAGE
LACTATION CURVE
DAYS IN MILK
BULK TANK
COMPARISON
■ • IB
JPMAMJJASONO
231 11» | 137|
Its n | 7B ||lJ7|