Farm safety message:

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

n       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.

n       Apply the reflective markers that outline the extremities of your equipment.

n       Repair any lights that are not working on your tractor, combine or drawn equipment.

n       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.

n       Starting a tractor while standing on the ground kills a farmer nearly every year.

n       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.)

n       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.

 

Year-end calf report coming

We ask that you please report the outcome of calvings to your DHIA Field Rep.  Was it a bull or heifer, or twins, alive or dead?  We plan to summarize this data for you in a new report we have developed, providing you with your data, and enabling you to see the averages for DHIA.  There is a place on the Barn Notes or in your on-farm software to report this information. You may also wish to consider tagging your bull calves and entering them into your DHIA records, especially if you plan to feed those animals out yourself.  It appears there may be added value at slaughter if you can verify a farm of origin and a birthdate.  Field Rep and on-farm versions of software allow the option of “bull calf add to cowfile” and allow a tag to be recorded for these animals, and allow separate inventory.  Note that there is no charge for handling youngstock data in DHIA.

 

 

Congratulations to September Milk Quality Leaders

	scc	cows			scc	cows
FRANK/PATRICK	54	60		DUANE CAROL DENNIS/HAIBY	112	81
ZUMBRO VIEW FARMS LLC	63	49		LARRY/BRAEM	113	39
DAN AND JOLENE/SCHLANGEN	64	55		ROBERT + FAWN/STAUB	114	30
REUBEN AND JANICE/STOMMES	70	67		RANDY/FRIESE	114	31
WAYNE & KATHERINE/VOTH	73	107		STEVE AND SANDY/SIEGLE	114	54
ROGER + WENDY/SORENSON	75	27		HERB+SHARON/WIELENBERG	115	34
ART AND JANE/STUMPF	75	47		SCOTT/FELDHACKER	116	58
LONNIE & CINDY/HOIUM	76	48		OAK GLEN/JOHNS	117	31
PRAHL DAIRY	77	28		MAAS FARMS/	117	40
SELKE FARMS/	77	126		DONALD + DARLENE/MATROS	118	67
DAVE/SCHROEDER	78	33		STEVE H/REMIGER	119	60
ROBERT/SLATER	79	20		SONNEK FARMS/	119	66
JIM/KULINSKI	79	51		JAMES M/TESSMER	120	43
SCHEFERS BROS/	80	75		HAPPKE HOLSTEIN FARM	120	60
DAVID/SMITH	81	32		TONY AND STEVE/WITT	121	45
PHILIP/HAUGE	82	39		WALLACE + ROGER/BRADLEY	122	35
NORBERT/BROWN	83	47		FRED/VIERE	122	78
DEAN + ELIZABETH/JOHNSON	84	74		FJEL-MAR DAIRY	122	107
JOHN+MARY/RADEMACHER	90	82		DALE AND JULIE/SCHWARTZ	123	85
KEVIN/ANDERSON	93	45		JON & MARLIS/STEHR	124	34
KB HILLSIDE DAIRY/	95	50		RON AMY SHAWN/BEMBOOM	124	87
PETERMARK/HENDRICKSON	96	67		GARY AND KARISSA WINGERT	125	62
RICK/HEUER	96	73		GREG/PAULUS	127	48
SCHREIBER BROS/	96	82		JOHN AND STACI/SCHERBER	129	49
VON WAHLDE DAIRY	97	87		VALLEY VIEW FARM 1/	131	102
JIM + GERI/WIEBUSCH	98	34		MICHAEL/BRUCE	131	102
PATRICK/BRODEEN	98	47		BLUEMOUND DAIRY FARM	131	795
WAYNE/KOEPP	98	157		RONALD/FIELD	132	31
GATEWOOD FARM/	99	67		DENNIS/BOYENGA	132	37
MATT-LARRY/BORST	99	133		RIVERVIEW ENTERPRISES	132	81
KEVIN & CARAL/SCHAFER	100	31		JOPPS CENTURY FARMS	132	97
AIMEE/FINLEY	100	88		SWENSON DAIRY	133	48
JOHN/NATHE	101	228		LUX-URY HOLSTEINS INC.	134	120
KENNETH/ANDERSON	103	27		JASON/WOOD	135	62
DAVID/BUCK	103	66		WILFRED+JUDY/BLONIGEN	135	71
WAYNE AND WADE/ATHEY	105	42		DEAN/OELTJEN	135	74
BOB & TERRI/KETCHUM	105	114		PHIL/SUESS	136	49
JASON + NANCY/BACHMANN	106	28		MICHAEL/REDALEN	136	109
STACY & JULIE/MILLER	107	62		GILMAN/HALBAKKEN	137	71
WALLY W/WIESE	108	24		RANDY/LINGEN	137	147
STAN/WURTZBERGER	108	35		L & D DAIRY	137	305
MIKE/KUGATH	109	50		JASON & JOHN/SCHROEDER	138	54
RON+BRAD/AUSMUS	109	53		TONY/STAEBLER	138	55
DARREL + LISA/MAUS	109	66		DONALD + PETER/SETTERGREN	138	69
JAMES AND PAUL/GREGORY	109	101		SCHERPING FARM/	138	84
PAUL AND TIM/KRUEGER	109	130		BREEZY WILLOWS DAIRY	139	27
BRUCE/RUNDHAUG	111	61		SANFORD AND LYNN/STAUPE	140	13
KIMM'S DAIRY	111	85		MIKE + ROSIE/ZEIG	141	32
DAVE CORBETT	112	33		BRAD & JANET/DALCHOW	141	37
DEAN/RAUSCH	112	59		GARY/BECKMAN	141	69
FOLTZ DAIRY FARM INC.	112	79		JEFF + RUTH/LEE	141	104

 

 

Dairy takes leadership role in Animal ID

Press Release By Dairy Herd staff (Friday, October 07, 2005)

Not content to wait on others, six national dairy organizations have joined together to facilitate and expedite progress in animal ID. IDairy was unveiled at World Dairy Expo yesterday.

So why is IDairy needed?

Because it’s not your father’s dairy industry anymore. In fact, Greg Marrs, Fort Lupton, Colo., dairy producer and member board of directors for National DHIA, says because of the changes in the dairy industry – animals that move to new locations several times during their life, a constant stream of traffic in and out of the dairy and even agroterrorism – make the risks faced today much different from the risks faced by his grandfather and father while dairying. And it is those risks that add up to “substantial financial and public perception risk,” he explains. Animal ID with traceback is the tool that allows one to manage that risk. And “we need to get started on it right now,” Marrs says.

Founding members of IDairy include National Milk Producers Federation, National DHIA,  National Association of Animal Breeders, , Holstein Association, USA, Inc, Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association and American Jersey Cattle Association.

 “I’m excited to see these six organizations who have come together to do what’s right for our industry,” says Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of NMPF. In the past, the industry has been fragmented and that makes it difficult to progress. But “we’re not willing to wait until there is a train wreck,” says Kozak. “It is time to take action.”

IDairy hopes to have all dairy cows identified prior to the 2009 goal set by USDA. In order to accomplish this, IDairy has three phases that correspond to the National Animal ID System. They include:

1. Register your premises.
2. Individual identification of all animals.
3. Record the information in a national database.

To help facilitate that first step, IDairy has developed a Web site that not only offers information on IDairy but also animal ID programs in general, including how to register your premises. To access, go to www.idairy.org and then click on “Where to register your animals” on the left.

The tags

At this point, RFID technology has been selected for individual animal ID in cattle. Currently, ear tags that incorporate RFID are the ID tool of choice. However, USDA has said they will only set minimum technology standards. That’s where the coalition can help, explains Jay Mattison, CEO and administrator, National DHIA.

To gain acceptance, the RFID tags, as well as animal ID in general, must not interrupt cow flow, must work with on-farm management systems and software and meet the ISO standards and performances standards needed on farm to make this work. In addition, says Mattison, those standards need to be something “that tag manufacturers can live with and that are cost-effective for producers.”

Dairy producer Marrs can envision the day when RFID will deliver huge management value to dairies. On-farm uses he hopes to see come to fruition within the next five to 10 years include:

• RFID tags that interface with his electronic milk meters and parlor management software.
• A RFID reader that he could use to download information from his herd management software program to and then walk down a row of cows in headlocks. The process would also include a wand that would identify all the cows for breeding, or those scheduled for BST shots that day and allow him to record the data right there.
• The ability to ID a calf, scan the dam’s tag, the calf’s tag and upload that information to his herd management software – all without a paper record.

These applications with RFID tags may not be here yet, but they are under development and some are in testing.  Marrs believes it is only a matter of time before RFID tags become an integral part of cow management.

 

Wisconsin Premise Registration Deadline Approaching

The Wisconsin Premises Registration Act is effective November 1, 2005. The rule requires anyone with livestock not currently licensed by the Department of Agriculture to register by January 1, 2006. Those entities currently licensed by the department (most dairy farms) must register by their license renewal date.

At the present time, registration is free.  Logon to www.wiid.org to register, or you may register at your local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.

 

Minnesota DHIA starts implementation of NAIS

We have long been involved in the development of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).  It was our view early that the current DHIA data system could handle everything a dairy needs to do to comply with the NAIS, and that the only change that needs to be made for DHIA herds is that the herdowner needs to tag calves with the RFID tag instead of the steel tags widely used in DHIA today.  Our efforts over the last couple of years have been dedicated to that proposition, as well as to efforts to make the RFID tag useful in management, as long as it needs to be in the animal’s ear anyway.  We plan to roll out our tag offerings and explain our system in the December issue of this newsletter.  We are currently working with several dairies that use our RFID tags, with our vendors for software and tags, and with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health to put a working system together.

 

Minnesota DHIA Anniversaries

Our sincere congratulations go out to our hard working Minnesota DHIA employees.  This month, Zumbrota Lab Manager, Muril Neibuhr is celebrating his 25^th year of service, Field Rep Rosalie Egge from Cannon Falls is celebrating 20 years of service and Field Rep Pat Maciej from Holdingford is celebrating his 15^th year of service.   Please join us in extending our thanks to them for all the good work they do for our organization.