Impact of dairy herd improvement association on milk production efficiency

If milk prices had increased in proportion to wages since 1950, California consumers would have been paying 57 per cent more than the prevailing prices in 1968—or about 75 cents per half-gallon in Los Angeles and 82 cents in San Francisco. The consumer's milk bill in California would have totaled almost $330,000,000 more, based on the 2.3 billion quarts of fluid milk bought in 1968. This savings is a direct result of increased production and efficiency, attributable in large part to improved record keeping and management techniques developed in herds of Dairy Herd Improvement Association members. Average production per cow on DHlA test in 1968 was 13,536 Ibs, as compared with 9,767 lbs for those not in the DHIA program (a 39 per cent increase). The total milk supply in California has increased approximately 50 per cent since 1950 with only a slight increase in cow numbers. About half of the cows in the state are now on DHIA test and these cows produce about 58 per cent of the state's fluid milk.