LANCASTER DHIA HISTORY

Beginnings

Lancaster DHIA began as an outgrowth of Red Rose DHIA, a county organization of Pennsylvania DHIA. In the changing DHIA environment of the early 1990’s which included removing state lines as boundaries, the Red Rose DHIA Board of Directors looked closely at whether there might be an advantage to becoming an independent organization with the power to make their own decisions and determine their own future.

After intense research and travel that included visiting the major processing centers, the decision was made in late 1992 to form Lancaster DHIA.

Lancaster DHIA was admitted as a member of the Raleigh Processing Center ---which is now known as “Dairy Records Management Systems” or simply “DRMS”.  We contracted lab services and DHIA certification with the former Mid-East DHIA and hired former lead technician Jay Mylin as manager.

With the drive to improve by providing better results turnaround time for dairy farmers, LDHIA decided to establish its own lab in 1994. 

It was at that time that the Board considered the need to rent space for the lab. The result was Jay Mylin renovating an old chicken house on his property and renting lab and office space to LDHIA. There were many remodels over the years to support growth and it continues to be our main facility. 

To serve dairy customers and their trusted advisors in more ways, the Microbiology Lab was started in 2005 and the Forage Analysis Lab in 2011.   

In 2012, Vermont DHIA joined Lancaster DHIA.  Our service areas were adjacent and our values were similar. It was realized that our two organizations could become stronger as one. This meant maintaining and growing field services in our respective regions and directing all lab services and most administrative/management functions to the Lancaster area.