2010 Scholarship Application now Available The 2010 National DHIA Scholarship Application is now available online at www.dhia.org. Applications must be submitted via email to jdsattler@dhia.org by October 15, 2009. Eligibility is defined as a family member or employee of a herd on DHI test, or a family member of an employee, or employee of a DHI affiliate. The DHI affiliate for the herd or affiliate employee must be a member of National DHIA. All scholarships are $500. Previous National DHIA scholarship recipients are not eligible. By applying for the National DHIA scholarship you are automatically applying for the Minnesota DHIA scholarship. If you have questions, call Robyn at 1.800.827.3442, ext 19. New Horizon’s Johne’s Disease Workshop Johne's is a long-term challenge for dairy and livestock producers that never seems to go away; however, research is finding new tools and refining old ones to help deal more effectively with the disease. Make plans to join us for the 2nd New Horizons in Johne's Disease Control workshop that will explore ways to deal most effectively with the disease at the farm level. The workshop will be held on Monday August 10, 2009 in Wiley Hall on the University of Minnesota campus with Registration and coffee beginning at 8 AM. The workshop will include a look at the importance of Johne's to you, including human health concerns, and then move to sessions that address management strategies for youngstock and mature animals as well as tools to reduce shedding in infected animals, wrapping up with case studies that help "put it all together." Some of the speakers include: Mike Collins (UW-Madison), William Chamberlin, MD (Texas Tech), Ian Gardner (UC-Davis), Sandra Godden (U of Mn), Beth Patton (WI DATCP) and Scott Wells (U of MN). Participation in the opening session and reception on Sunday evening is included with the workshop registration of $85. The opening session includes a "discussion" of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis relative to public health concerns. This event will be of particular interest to medical scientists, researchers and decision makers, but it is important to producers and veterinarians as well. Presenters for the session are Dr. Tim Bull and Dr. Herb Van Kruiningen. For more information call Dr. Ken Olson at 630-842-5334 or visit the website at http://www.cvm.umn.edu/outreach/events/icp/NewHorizonsWorkshop/index.htm. Outstanding Years Of Service We would like to recognize 2 Field Reps who are celebrating anniversaries in the month of July. Pat Clark, from Austin is celebrating 30 years of dedicated service. Pat provides service to 6 herds in Mower County. Congratulations also go out to Keith Meyer of Watertown, SD celebrating 20 years of dedicated service. Please extend your congratulations to them on their next visit to your farms. Keep on Keepin’ On Field staff tested 2,183 herds and 272,105 cows in June. That is an increase of 16,000 cows from May and nearly 7,000 more than January. It is also an increase of 23 herds tested. We have started 5 or 6 new herds every month this year, showing that as times get tough, folks understand the need for useful information. The number of days between DHIA supervised tests for the average herd was 32.9 days from May to June, which is the most regular test interval recorded for any June. The average DHIA cow in milk in June gave 73.4 pounds of milk on sample day with an SCC of 286,423. SCC is 45,000 lower than a year ago and is the all time lowest SCC for June. It is 100,000 lower than June of 2004. Thanks for hanging in there to produce a quality and healthy food for our world. Congratulations on your good work! |