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February 2009
Pennsylvania Dairy
Stakeholders awarded Lancaster DHIA
The “Pacesetters
Award”

Lancaster DHIA was recognized for its courage and
vision in meeting the changing needs of Pennsylvania’s dairymen when
it was created in 1992, an outgrowth of the Red Rose DHIA. Today it
serves more than 207,000 cows in an area that includes most of
Pennsylvania and many surrounding areas.
Among the first to
break from the parent state of DHIA, their leadership served as a
catalyst for forward thinkers, inspiring others to support dairy
producers far beyond “milk testing.”
With a vision of a
profitable, successful dairy industry, Lancaster DHIA’s board of
directors is pro-active in seeking out new technologies which will
help dairymen be more effective managers and increase their
productivity. With 85 employees, the Lancaster DHIA team maintains
a “listening ear,” always being willing to provide greater value to
their customers.
One innovation which
provides dairy producers with valuable herd data is PCDART, a herd
management software program with pre-loaded management reports,
offering quick access to individual cow information and easy input
procedures. A companion hand held pocket management program, Pocket
Dairy, allows all the necessary information to be accessed cowside.
Lancaster DHIA was instrumental in developing Pocket Dairy, piloting
the program before it was introduced more widely. It is now being
used nationwide.
Leaders in Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID), Lancaster DHIA introduced this
technology for cow identification in Lancaster County. With a
button ear tag in place, RFID allows easy and accurate
identification and the ability to enter precise data into the
management systems.
Lancaster DHIA
compliments the tradition milk testing with a wide array of other
testing possibilities, recently expanded with the opening of their
microbiology lab which features a culture lab. This
state-of-the–art technology offers expanded services including ELISA
testing for Johne’s and the ability to perform milk evaluations on
specific cows or bulk tank samples.
The expansion of
their services is aimed exclusively at providing value to their
customers, whether large herds or small. From a small organization
which broke away from the state of DHIA, Lancaster DHIA has grown to
be well respected throughout the nation, providing leadership within
national DHIA and serving as a catalyst for others who seek to
support a thriving dairy industry.

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