Lancaster Farming, Pages C 7 to CIO DAVE SLUSSER General Manager STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) —Pa. DHIA had a productive year, in finances, strategic long range planning, laboratory testing, MUN, protein testing, dairy records processing and internal management procedures. All of this has resulted in better management information for our members that no other DHIA can In front of their house at Meadow Springs Farm, Nelson Sensenig holds the halter of cow N 0.34, an 85-point daughter of Russeldale Promise, while his wife Susan sits at the picnic table with their children: then 1-year-old son Darren, Marla in front, Joel sit ting on the table, and Daryl on the opposite seat. The photo was taken in 1994. They now have another child, 10-month-old Krysta. Sensenigs Win Top Herd Management Award VERNON ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Fanning Staff NEWMANSTOWN (Lebanon Co.) Winning the 1996 top title for herd management among mem bers of the Pennsylvania Dairy Hod Improvement Association is recognition of die business approach that Nelson and Susan Sensenig, of Newmans town, have applied to their dairy operation since getting started on their own in 1987. - The couple, owners of Meadow Springs Farm, was featured by Lancaster Fanning in April 1994 for a variety of reasons, not die least of which was the fact that the 1993 average production by their 94-head milking siring was above 30,000 pounds of milk. It was the top producing herd per-cow in Lebanon County that year, and one of the highest in the state. They woe really featured, however, because of their management practices. To Nelson and Susan, farming is a business to support a wholesome way of life to raise a family, and successful dairy Business means management. Last year. Meadow Springs Farm was the top aver- >1 /> 0 c US / A NEWSLETTER FOR MEMBERS & CUSTOMERS r^Pir hr — David A. Bigelow, Training Coordinator /a || Call 1-800-DHI-TEST, FAX (814) 865-3924 I I ■ I [ W Web Site http://www.dhia.psu.edu Pennsylvania Dairy Herd Improvement Association C > DHIA Service Center I > Orchard Road, University Park, PA 16802 Pa. DHIA Moves Forward offer and that our members needlo make their herds profitable. Our cooperative association has completed a year that will approach $200,000 profit as a result of cost-cutting steps taken in 1994, good internal management, and business growth. The changes made in 1994 resulted in our total operation being more efficient and competitive. Finances aging herd for milk and protein. The 94 Holsteihs made an average of 30,758 pounds of milk, 961 pounds of fat, and 980 pounds of protein. This year again, it is the highest averaging herd for milk and protein with 33,329 pounds of milk, 1,085 pounds of butterfat, and 1,044 pounds of protein. This year also, the Meadow Springs herd had five of the top 10 producing cows for protein production, including the top producer, cow No. 123. Stie made 1,416 pounds protein, 44,470 pounds milk, and 1,033 pounds of fat. The Sensenigs also had four of the top 10 milk producing cows, with his No. 65 cow being second in the stole with 47,293 pounds milk, 3-percent protein and 3.7 percent fat. Cow 65’s fat production ranked it tenth in Pa.DHIA. An increase in average herd production is a signif icant part of the formula used to determine points in making the herd management award, but other con siderations in management are also given substantial weight December 21, 1996 Issue Vol 11 No, 2 With the introduction of new services like MUN (Milk Urea Nit rogen) testing and the nation’s first MUN Herd Summary Report, bus iness grew throughout Pennsylva nia and New York state. ■ All employees have been put on a standardized pay and benefit program that is fair and allows for personal growth. We are constantly analyzing the entire cooperative for efficient (Turn to Page CIO) On All Fronts productivity. New Product And Services MUN testing and the MUN Herd Summary Report introduced Oct. 1, 1995 by Pa. DHIA has resulted in 312,005 MUN samples tested in 1,731 herds over a 12-month period. These numbers are unprecedented in America and most of the world. This data has been stored in our mainframe computer and is being used by research institutions across the country for dairy nutri tion research. No one has this kind of information in such a large volume. ■ % The result of this research will enhance our knowledge of MUN and how better to use it in the future, and help our members more profitably feed their cows. To enhance MUN values, we are introducing true protein sum mary information cm the MUN report. On PAT TORETTI Senior Programmer STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) Pennsylvania DHIA’s DRPC further solidified its posi tion as the nation’s No.l provider of Internet services for DHIA records and related information technology, recently adding a number of new services to its Inter net package. All of Pa. DHIA’s mainframe, lab, and processing services can now be obtained via Pa. DHIA’s web pages at: http:llwww.dhia.psu.edu The page provides access to online records for registered users of the DHIA ARIS system, as well as personnel contact lists, e-mail, the latest resource material on MUN testing and reporting, gra phical benchmarks. DHIA research articles, sales and service information, and links-to agricul turally related sites all over the world. DHIA Downsizes Board Of Directors range planning, which has been undcrway-'for the last two years, the board voted at the October 1996 meeting on the proposal. The Planning Committee care fully studied every aspect of our board structure and governing pro cedures, before making a recom mendation to the board. Delegate elections arid the num ber of members per delegate will (Turn to Pago CB) STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) The board of directors of Pa. DHIA has voted to downsize itself from 18 directors to 11 directors. The new board will be elected at the district meetings set for Janu ary and February 1997. As a result of strategic long Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 21, 1996-07 The World Wide Web DAVE SLUSSER General Manager Pa. DHIA On The Internet During the spring, Pa. DHIA became the fust DHIA on the Internet. Members, veterinarians, nutri tionists, and farm consultants can now access herd management information, in whatever form they want, easily and more effi ciently through the Internet. Automatic downloads of reports to member personal computers, as soon as the herds are processed, are available in customized form. We can automatically download reports to your E-mail account from the Lab Bulletin Board for component results and SCC. This service is setting the pace for the whole DHIA system. Performance Economics Performance Economics in DHIA involves tracking produc tion cost and profits on individual (Turn to Page CIO) In addition. Pa. DHIA has added a number of capabilities to the front end of its lab operations. Sample analysis results for Offi cal, Unofficial, and Sample Only programs can now all be obtained via an Internet access to the lab bulletin board, or via electronic mail within minutes of herds being tested in the DHIA lab. Pa. DHIA has offered the access to dairy records for nearly a year. And die program has really taken off according to Jim Boyer, the Dairy Records Processing Center manager for Pennsylvania DHIA. “About 3S percent of our offline reports for ARIS - which is the bulk of our access by consultants - are now received by way of the Internet,” Boyer said. “Consul tants can retrieve information via FTP service or have test versions of most reports delivered direedy to their own electronic mail boxes. ARIS is a mature program, now going into its eleventh year, but we’ve added a number of Internet (Turn to Page CIO)
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