Diary Herd Improvement Associations, commonly called DHIAs, were first formed in the state of Washington in 1916, facilitated by the agricultural extension service.
The idea of a DHIA is keeping records of concerning milk production of dairy cows, tracking individual animals. A group of dairy farmers form an organization, subscribe to the service, employ a party called a tester, and support a small laboratory. Once or twice a month, the farmers weigh the milk produced by individual animals and collect small samples.. The tester conducts lab operations to determine the content of milk fat and other solids, and also assembles the numeric information and provides periodic reports. These "herd book" reports can be ordered so as to list the production of each animal, ranked from highest to lowest. This information guides the farm operator in the selection of which animals to cull and which to use as the parent stock. The process tends to select a high-producing strain. Over time the overall average production level should rise. Since 1916, production per cow has risen dramatically, five- or six-fold.
A DHIA report can also be used for other management purposes, of course.
Reports of county DHIAs include various statistics that show diary production, including averages. The reports also note those animals and herds with the highest production. Reports of the Goat Herd Improvement Association of Washington State are also included, along with two DHIA Herd Books which serve as samples of this type of document.
The annual reports are arranged in alphabetical order by county. Reports that cover the entire state follow these.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item Description] Washington State Dairy Herd Improvement Associations Annual Reports, 1932-1996 (Archives 260)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Annual Reports concerning the Washington State Dairy Herd Improvement Association were transferred to the Washington State University Libraries in Jan. 2004 from Extension Office of Yakima County.
This collection was processed by Michael Evans in April 2004.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.