Technician Services
A trained Vermont DHIA technician can save you hassle and time on test-day. Technicians can enter test-day milkweight information and status (freshenings, breedings, dry-offs, vet-check information) and health information in either their computer or yours (using PCDART herd management software). Technicians will bring meters to your farm, take weights and samples (where applicable), complete test-day data entry, and ship your samples to our lab. Technician services result in the highest DCR value for your records, with a maximum DCR of 104.Owner-Sample Services
Owner-sampling is a lower-cost alternative to test-day than using full technician services, but provides more support than our Mail-In Owner-Sample option. A Vermont DHIA technician will bring meters and supplies to your farm prior to test-day, and pick-up your meters and mail your samples back to our lab afterwards. Recording of status information (freshening, breedings, dry-offs, vet-check information) as well as the actual sampling and recording of weights on test-day is done by you, the producer, or someone else on your farm. If you are using PCDART herd management software on your farm, you are also responsible for entering statuses and milkweights into the computer. For farms without PCDART, DHIA technicians will enter milkweight and status information into their computer. Owner-sampling can result in significantly lower DCR values for your records, with a maximum DCR of 75.Mail-In Owner-Sample (MIOS) Services
Mail-In Owner-Sampling is the lowest-cost alternative for collecting milkweights and samples on test-day. Equipment and supplies are mailed from our lab directly to the producer prior to testing. You, the producer, or an employee of your farm, will gather status information (freshening, breedings, dry-offs, vet-check information), record weights, and take samples on test-day and are responsible for mailing equipment and samples back to our lab afterwards. Farms with PCDART herd management software are responsible for entering status and milkweights into their own computer. Farms without PCDART mail their status and test-day information to our lab, along with their samples, where a Vermont DHIA staff member will enter it in their computer. DCR values for herds using MIOS are similar to those of regular Owner-Sampling, with a maximum DCR of 75.Member / Technician Responsibilities
Both the member and technician have certain responsibilities for each of these services levels which are designed to make test-day as fast, efficient, and accurate as possible. Please click here for more information.
