Minnesota DHIA News
A PUBLICATION OF MINNESOTA DHIA   Volume 4,  Issue 9	September  2004

Summary data and benchmark numbers have been developed by Minnesota DHIA using the Dairy Comp 305 cowfiles sent in by your Field Rep each sample day. The new reports are included in this packet and are on yellow paper near the front of the packet.

One of the reports is a Management Herd Summary showing a variety of summaries available every day to Dairy Comp 305 and Scout users.

The other report grabs one of those boxes of data, enlarges it, explains it, and provides benchmarks so you can measure your herd. Depending on the data presented, we will list averages, and may include the average from the top 25% of all herds.

We have developed 9 different reports that highlight one box of data. These will be rotated through the next year, with no more than one report per sample day.

The goal for these reports is to provide you with additional management information (and not the same data every month), to give Dairy Comp 305 and Scout users (one of every 6 DHIA herds) some new ideas and insights on the reports they access daily, and to provide the comparison data.

There is no charge for the reports at the present time. We encourage you to look them over, and if you like them, you can ask your Field Rep to provide them for future sample days, or you might want to consider renting or purchasing the software. We install the software on your farm and spend several hours working with you on its use.

• It takes 12 pounds of milk to make 1 gallon of ice cream. That's about 7 quarts of milk.

• It takes 21.2 pounds of whole milk to make a pound of butter.

• It takes 7-1/4 pounds of skim milk to make a pound of cottage cheese.
• The first dairy cattle arrived from Europe in 1624 at Plymouth Colony.
• Each year, U.S. dairy farmers provide the milk for more than 1 billion pounds of butter, 7 billion pounds of cheese and 1 billion gallons of ice cream.

• The Midwest states produce 32% of the nation's milk supply. (source: National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2002)
• In 2002, nearly 38% of all milk was made into cheese. (source: National Agricultural Statistics Service)
• The top five dairy states in 2002 were California, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania and Minnesota. They produced 52% of the nation's milk supply. (source: National Agricultural Statistics Service

• Milk supplies 73 percent of the calcium in the U.S. food supply.

• The United States' largest market for cheese exports is Latin America, eating up 40 percent of U.S. cheese exports.

• 64 million gallons of milk are consumed each year with Oreo Cookies. (source: Dairy Managment, Inc.)

• To get the same amount of calcium provided by a quart of milk you would have to eat 3-1/2 pounds of peas, 27 oranges, 50 tomatoes or 50 slices of whole wheat bread.

• There are approximately 340 to 350 squirts in a gallon of milk. Thank goodness milking machines were invented in 1865.

• If all ice cream consumed in one year was put into cones and stacked up, the tower would reach twice as far as the moon.

• Thomas Jefferson was the first "Big Cheese." The phrase was coined when a cheesemaker gave a 1,235-pound cheese wheel to President Jefferson in 1801. Passers-by were amazed by the spectacle and dubbed it "the big cheese." 

Consider these maintenance items that could save your life as well.

• Stick a new SMV emblem over the old faded ones so motorists can see you better on the road. It's cheaper than defending yourself in a lawsuit if a car runs into your unmarked equipment.
• Apply the reflective markers that outline the extremities of your equipment.
• Repair any lights that are not working on your tractor, combine or drawn equipment.
• Check all guards and shields for proper function and replace any that are bent, broken or missing. Lubricate PTO spinner shields according to the owner's manual so they will telescope and spin freely.
• Starting a tractor while standing on the ground kills a farmer nearly every year.
• Order a ROPS kit and seat belts for your older tractors that don't have them. (Tractor roll-over is the number one killer of farmers—without a ROPS you have a 20% chance of survival; with a ROPS and fastened seat belt you have better than a 99% chance of walking away.)
• Install a fire extinguisher on your tractors and combine. A first aid kit is a good—and inexpensive—idea too. Consider providing a means for two-way communication (a cell phone, CB, or business radio) so you can call for assistance from the field if needed.

Some think of preventive maintenance as a way to save time and money. Think of it also as a way to save the farm—and the lives of those that live and work on it. ©2004 NYCAMH.

Leading Commodities for farm cash receipts

1/ Receipts includes value of cull dairy cows, dairy beef and veal

Number of commercial dairy farms in the US: 70,410

Total number of dairy cows in the US: 9,084,000

Average number of cows per farm: 129

Average pounds of milk produced per cow per year: 18,749

(Approximately 37,500 glasses of milk or 1,875 pounds of cheese)

Minnesota DHIA policy for the 2004 testing year requires herds have 11 tests during calendar 2004 in order for herd data to be published in the Minnesota DHIA Annual Summary information