Minnesota DHIA News
A PUBLICATION OF MINNESOTA DHIA   Volume 4,  Issue 12	December  2004

Do you know someone who would benefit from DHIA testing, but for some reason isn’t currently doing so? Here are some thoughts you might want to share with them:

Herds in Minnesota that are members of DHIA average about 5,000 pounds more milk per cow than those that are not on test. At $13.00 milk that is about $650.00 per cow per year!

Many DHIA members are part of a young sire program with an AI organization. The AI Studs have some requirements for participants, including a minimum number of tests per year. In return, they reimburse dairymen for calving and production information. This service is a benefit to all dairymen because it is the foundation of Bull proofs.

Dairymen who wanted accurate and useful information that could help them manage and improve the profitability of their dairy operation started DHIA many years ago as a non-profit organization. That continues to be the structure and main focus of Minnesota DHIA.

MNDHIA has a board of directors consisting of dairymen who are elected by their peers and represent different districts in our service area.

There are a variety of testing options from supervised multiple milkings to owner sampled. And dairymen may choose how much—if any, information they want disclosed to anyone about their herd.

So…if you know someone who might be interested you could pass along that information to your Field Representative, give them this number for Minnesota DHIA: 1-800-827-3442, or even call us for them. We would be happy to contact them and answer questions they might have. Field Rep names and telephone numbers are in the current issue of the Dairy Star.

A cardiologist claims that for every 10 people who read and remember this, one life will be saved.

Let's say you’ve had a hard day. You're really tired, upset and frustrated.  Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately, you don't

know if you'll be able to make it that far.

Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very

vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.  Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.