February 2003

Your 2003 DHIA District Meetings Notice


All members are welcome to attend the District Meeting. If you are a member, you are eligible to vote. Agenda items will include a review of the audit for 2002, election of delegates to the Annual Meeting scheduled for March 27, election of directors for 3-year terms in districts noted below, and new and old business.

Tuesday February 25 South Central @ Digger's in Kasson
Wednesday February 26 South East @ Loon Cafe in Lewiston *
Thursday February 27 North West @ Shooting Star in Mahnomen
Monday March 3 South West @ Karl's in Essig
Tuesday March 4 Metro @ Kubes in Norwood *
Thursday March 6 Barron WI
Friday March 7 North East @ Embers in Milaca
Wednesday March 12 West Central @ Holiday Inn in Alexandria
Thursday March 13  Central@ Lab in Sauk Centre
* elections

All district meetings begin with registration at 11:15 with the meeting beginning at 11:30 Lunch is provided for members. The Barron Washburn meeting is also the local annual meetings, so please refer to that notice for details.
Call 800-827-3442 for answers, or to make a reservation.*


Somatic Cell Counts less than 100,000!


Congratulations to the following 37 members - your January Somatic Cell Counts were under 100,000. We also had another 120 herds with 150,000 or less. Thank you for your quality to the dairy industry!

ROLLING GREEN HOLSTEINS 34,000 OAKLAND

     |     

SILENT ACRES 83,000 VILLARD
ROBERT SLATER 35,000 MAHTOWA

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NORBERT BROWN 84,000 GREY EAGLE
JOHN KLEHR 47,000 WINTHROP

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|THOMAS & RITA WOLBECK 84,000 WAUBUN
BEVENDALE FARMS 2 51,000 GREENISLE

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SELKE FARMS  86,000 DAKOTA
ROBERT + FAWN STAUB 54,000 MAZEPPA

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ROGER A GRUBER  87,000 CANNON FALLS
GATEWOOD FARM 64,000 WILLMAR

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PAUL & MARY ZIMMERMAN 87,000 BROOTEN
ROGER + WENDY SORENSON 70,000 EAGLE BEND

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ROBERT SWYTER 87,000 RENVILLE
STEVE AND SANDY SIEGLE 72,000 COLOGNE

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MERTON + TRUDY NELSON 2  88,000 ELLENDALE
CLYDE R JOHNSON  76,000 GROVE CITY

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STEVE + LORRIE HELLMANN  91,000 HOLDINGFORD
MIKE MARTIN 77,000 HAYWARD,WI

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DONALD + DARLENE MATROS  92,000 PIERZ
DAN MICHAELIS  77,000 WINONA

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CURT & KARLA BAER  93,000 RUSHFORD
WAYNE AND WADE ATHEY 80,000 GRACEVILLE

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RONALD+BRIDGET AUSMUS  94,000 HINCKLEY
JON WINTER 80,000 HOFFMAN

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STEVEN ASHER  95,000 PINE CITY
JOHN AND STACI SCHERBER 80,000 ROGERS

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PAUL NIBBE  96,000 ZUMBROTA
JEFF BLENKER   81,000 ALBANY

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RANDY DRINKALL-HOL 98,000 RUSHFORD
BILL + MERRI POST  81,000 CHANDLER

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LARRY BRAEM 98,000 SACRED HEART
K + A DAIRY 82,000 SEBEKA

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JOHNSON TURKEY DAIRY  99,000 PELICAN RAPIDS
CIRCLE DRIVE HOLSTEINS  82,000 HUTCHINSON

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BRYCE ANDERSON  100,000 BARRETT
HILLVIEW-SHORTHORN  83,000 FERGUS FALLS

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2002 Averages


For the calendar year 2002, here are the averages of all herds processed at ATA.
This data includes owner samplers and herds from other states are using our system.

Production     

       

Milk

19,511#

up 73 pounds from 2001
  Fat

3.8%

no change for years
Protein

3.10%

MLM

67#

Peak Lact 1

69#

  Peak Lact>1

88#

Lactation One 
  % of herd

36%

  Age at fresh

27 months

  Sire PTA

$ 290

Reproduction 
Waiting Period

64 days

Days Open

178 days

  Management Calving Interval  15 months
  % SCC Positive

37%

SCC Count

415,000


Keys to Success in Your Dairy Business: People Considerations -
Are you Managing Your Time or Is Your Time Managing You?
by
Chuck Schwartau, University of Minnesota Extension Service, Dairy Systems, Red Wing
Lee Gross, University of Minnesota Extension Service, Farm Business Management, St. Cloud
Margo Rudstrom, West Central and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris

Have you ever taken a close look at your daily routine in the dairy? What time do you get in the morning? What time do you get stared on chores? Who else is getting things started in the morning? Who is doing what in the dairy? Do eat meals with your family? When was the last time you were able to attend a child's school activity in the evening?

A close and honest examination of those questions is part of a study that dairy operators should conduct themselves. The results may not only give you more personal living time for yourself, your family and your community, but they may also help you find out where small amounts (or maybe even large amounts) of dairy management time are slipping away from you.

"Diary Your Dairy"
* Keep a diary of your routine for a time period to see what you are really doing.
* Invite someone else, like a diary profitability team member, to watch parts of your work routine to help identify things that might be done differently.
* Don't forget the minutia.

Examine Your Dairy Diary and Organize Your Work
* What is being done?
* Who is doing it?
* Is it a routine job done daily? Weekly? Monthly?
* Does it have a regular place on the schedule?
* Where does the job fall on the priority list?
* What are the implications to yourself and the dairy if the job doesn't get done in a specific time, or at all?
* Is health or safety compromised during any tasks?

Chart the Work on Your Farm
* Are there jobs that routinely get put off of don't get done at all?
* Is the most appropriate person on the farm doing the job?
* Is there a specific time set-aside for "managing"?
* Are there jobs that take more labor time than they should?
* Are there gaps in the day when one or more persons involved in the dairy are significantly under-employed?
* Are key people in the operation spending too much time on mundane jobs?
* Is there time on the chart devoted to management?
* Consider how the chart could be reorganized to better utilize the people and time available.
* Do a time allocation chart based on your diary and what is believed to be appropriate time for the work to be done, or establish priority lists of work.

End of the Day
* Look at what didn't get done
* Why didn't it get done?
* Does in need to get done yet today?
* Can it wait until tomorrow?
* Does it need to be done at all?
* Did not getting something done really make a difference?

Remember to congratulate yourself for the accomplishments of the day rather than dwell on the what didn't get done.

Multi-tasking may look like good time management, but the real goal should be better use of the time you have.

Learn to manage your time so you have time to manage the business and your quality of life for yourself, your family and your community.*

* The above information was presented at the recent Minnesota Dairy Days meetings.


Wisconsin Jaycees recognizes Son-Bow Farms Inc. of Spring Valley, WI


Congratulations to members Jay and Kristi Richardson of Son-Bow Farms Inc. of Spring Valley, WI. They have been awarded the honor of 2003 Wisconsin Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer. Jay and Kristi milk 650 cows, farm 2,110 acres and custom harvest 7,500 acres. They have 2 sons.

The Wisconsin Outstanding Young Farmer (OYF) is a program of the Wisconsin Jaycees, and has been held for 48 years, since 1954. The Wisconsin Jaycees, United States Jaycees, and JC International comprise the greatest young person's leadership development organization in the world, using public service projects to train leaders for tomorrow. The Jaycees, and their OYF honorees, have networked, shared ideas, and gained public recognition for farmers and ranchers form all facets of agriculture.

The Goals of the Program:
* Fostering better urban-rural relations through the understanding of farmers' challenges, as well as their contributions and achievements.
* Building interest in farmers and their business.
* Advancing awareness of the farmers' importance and impact on America's economy

Congratulations again to Jay and Kristi Richardson and all you have done with the dairy industry.*


Cows for Sale


For Sale: 80-cow Holstein herd, 19 springing heifers - (due now - May 1st), 92 open heifers. All AI herd. 21,000 RHA on official test, 300,000 SCC. Located in Morristown.
If interested please call Jeff Voegel 507.685.4404 (2/6/03)

Entire herd for sale. Located in Lindstrom.
Please call Pat Eichten at 651.257.6777 (1/23/03)

Wanted to Buy: Open & PG Holstein heifers. Grade-ID-REG.
Please call Bill Eustice @ 888.656.7832. (1/23/03)

Cows For Sale is a service of Minnesota DHIA. Members can advertise for just $2.50 per animal with a maximum of $50 per herd (good for 60 days).
For more information, talk to your Field Rep on sample day or call us at 800.827.3442.*


Lower the count


For the third time in six years, the National Mastitis Council will submit a proposal to the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) this spring to lower the national somatic cell count limit. (NCIMS meets every other year.) This time, NMC is proposing to gradually lower the count to 400,000 over eight years. The first drop would be to 650,000 SCC on January 1, 2005. The proposal then incrementally lowers the count every two years, until the 400,000 SCC level is reached on Jan. 1, 2011.*