Congratulations to all of you on the progress you have made in improving milk quality over the last year! We now have recorded 11 consecutive months where SCC has declined over the same month one year earlier. The May average of 361,000 is the lowest May in 5 years by over 40,000, and trails only January for calendar year 2004. 200 herds were at 150,000 or lower for May. The median SCC was 321,000 (as many herds above 321,000 as below 321,000).

I have heard many excuses why SCC is dropping, such as high cull prices, and better weather. Many items may play a role in your progress. Do not discount the importance of your attitude and your efforts to improve. Our neighboring states share the same weather and cull prices, but have not made nearly the progress that you have.

So, we double our salute to Dairy Producers in June. Thank you for all the work you do and for the wonderful product you produce. AND, thank you for doing an even better job in the last year. The consumers of the world will notice, and those of us working in the dairy industry are proud of you!

Reminder for Cow Pages: They are available with many different options. 1. As cows dry up or are sold 2. For Fresh heifers as well as the animals in #1 3. For Sold cows only 4. Whole Herd for use as dispersal slips at sale time (Barn Cards are good for this as well) Please let your field rep know which option you prefer on your next sample day.

Dan Ellering -- -- Outstanding Field Rep

MN DHIA recently recognized Field Representative, Dan Ellering for his exceptional performance by being named one of the Minnesota DHIA Outstanding Field Representatives for 2003.

Dan Ellering, from Sauk Centre, has been a Field Representative for Stearns County DHIA since August, 1979. Currently, Dan provides service to 72 herds, which 11 are active users of on-farm software programs. This past year Dan attended the Quality Counts meetings hosted by the University of Minnesota last summer to assist his customers on lowering their Somatic Cell Counts.

In his spare time, Dan enjoys the sport of hunting deer, bear and pheasant.

Thank you Dan for the excellent service that you provide to our customers.

Dairy Comp 305 Online Training Classes Offered

July 5 – September 5, 2004

July 5 – September 5, 2004

There are different ways to look at a herd’s calving interval. The most reliable is from calving date to calving date. Another way to find the same information is through the Minimum calving interval & Management calving interval.

• Minimum calving interval = (average days since calving at last breeding +280)/ 30.4 (the average days in a month). This is the calving interval if all cows are pregnant to the latest breeding.
• Management calving interval estimates the average calving interval without using breeding information. The variables used are Annual Average DIM from the averaging the test-day DIM in the Production Averages section, and the Average Days Dry from the Dry Period Summary.

The calculation is: (2 * DIM + Days Dry)/ 30.4

In this sample herd the Minimum calving interval is 15.2 and Management calving interval is 15.1

DIM= 188; Days Dry=84

[(2*188+ 84)/30.4]

• Percent Cull Rate is the number of animals that left the herd divided by the number of animals in the herd plus the number of animals that left the herd. If 30 cows left your herd in the last year, and you have 100 left, then the Cull Rate is the 30 culls divided by the 100 cows in your herd plus the 30 that have left. In affect, there were 130 cows in your herd in the last year that you could have culled, and you actually culled 30 of that 130. Your Cull Rate would be 23% (30/130). The Herd Summary lists the breakdown by lactation group as well as for the herd.
• Annual Turnover Rate uses the number of Cows that left the herd divided by the herd size. The Turnover Rate in the example above would be 30%.

For DHIA Scholarship Applications, please call 800-827-3442 or visit www.dhia.org, and pick the "about us" icon. Last year there were 15 Scholarships of $500 each awarded to MnDHIA members, their children, or children of DHIA employees. The deadline is October 1.