Vermont DHIA

Vermont DHIA provides many lab services, both in-house and in conjunction with partner organizations, to offer reliable, accurate milk testing to dairy producers throughout the New England and New York. Our turn-around time is among the best in the country and our dedicated lab staff, with an average 18 years of experience between them, provide prompt, accurate results. In-house services include milk component analysis (butterfat and protein content) as well as somatic cell counts (SCC). Partner services include MUN analysis, Johne's and Leukosis testing, and bacterial testing.

Butterfat, Protein, Somatic Cell Counts

We provide milk component testing of butterfat and protein as well as somatic cell counts (SCC) through our own, QCS-certified, milk laboratory in White River Junction, VT. Members and non-members alike can send in samples with the option of testing for butterfat and protein content, SCC, or both. We pride ourselves on accurate results and fast turn-around time. In-state samples sent via US Mail usually arrive in our lab the following day and samples shipped from out of state via UPS, FedEx, or DHL often arrive in 2-3 days.

All producers who send samples to our lab receive our Vermont DHIA "hotsheet", which indicates lab results for each sampled animal. For those herds tested for SCC, the hotsheet also contains a list of all animals ranked (high to low) by contribution to the bulk-tank, making it easy to see which are the high somatic-cell contributors in your herd.

The hotsheet is available on paper, sent via US Mail, or can be faxed or e-mailed. At the request of a producer, duplicate copies an also be sent to consultants they are working with.

MUN Analysis

Through a partnership with Lancaster DHIA, we provide partial-herd or whole-herd MUN testing. For whole-herd analysis, your samples are sent directly to Lancaster DHIA's lab in Manheim, PA. For partial-herd MUN testing, duplicate samples for those animals to be analyzed for MUN are taken on test-day, either by you or your DHIA technician and mailed directly to Lancaster DHIA's lab.  The rest of your herd is mailed to our lab for butterfat/protein and/or SCC testing as necessary. This system provides you the information you need with the quickest possible turn-around. For more information about Lancaster DHIA, visit their website at http://www.lancasterdhia.com.

Johne's and Leukosis Testing

AntelBio, a division of Northstar Cooperative, provides both Johne's and Leukosis milk ELISA testing. Tests can be run either on a whole-herd or partial-herd basis. Once samples have been tested at our lab, the remaining milk sample for animals needing these additional tests are shipped directly to Antel-Bio's lab in Michigan. These tests are provided at-cost (with the producer paying shipping) as an additional service to our members. For more information on AntelBio, visit their website at http://www.antelbio.com.

Bacterial Testing

Through partnership with Dairy Bacterial Testing, dairy producers can send samples directly to their lab to be tested for total bacterial and coliform counts as well as identification of mastitis and food pathogens. Samples to be tested for both bacterial counts and for somatic cell counts are shipped to Dairy Bacterial Testing where they are split.  Each lab will then run appropriate tests on the split samples. Since regular DHIA samples vials are not sterilized prior to use (they do not need to be for milk component analysis) and use a preservative to maintain milk quality during shipping, samples cannot be sent for bacterial analysis following testing in our lab. Please visit Dairy Bacterial Testing's website at http://dairybacterialtesting.com for more information.