One-On-One with DHIA tester, Tracie Vikla

Nine years with Dairy Herd Improvement Association
Lonsdale, Minnesota
Tests for 39 farms
75,000 samples taken in 2024

What is a typical day in your life? I have a supervised herd to test every morning during the weekdays. I wake up between 2-5 a.m., depending on where I’m going. I try to double up on farms based on the timing of their milking schedule to make my morning worthwhile. Then, I pick up or drop off meters and samples for herds doing their own sampling.

My afternoons consist of getting samples numbered for upcoming herds, making phone calls and answering emails. Also, I ship off any samples through Spee-Dee Delivery Service Inc. Once that’s done, I go to my parents’ dairy farm and help them with chores.

With a short break in between, it’s time to pick up my two kids from daycare. I test herds at night about two nights a week. I try to pick farms that get done earlier so I can spend time with my family.

What attracted you to this role? I started at a young age, keeping records of cows for my dad. As I got older, I enjoyed helping keep on top of cows that needed to be bred, dried off, etc.

I attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where I majored in dairy science. I always knew I wanted to do something hands-on associated with dairy cows, specifically the management side. The opening for a Dairy Herd Improvement Association tester became available in my home county a couple of months from graduating. I gave it a shot, and here I am nine years later, still loving it.

How do you balance being a mom and working as a DHIA tester? Balancing can be tricky at times. The nights I work, I don’t get to see my kids sometimes because they are in bed when I get home. That’s why I try to work only two nights a week. Any more than that, I can really tell how much they miss me. When I am home, we spend a lot of time together playing, baking and going on walks.

What is a favorite memory you have of working this job? All the different people I have met. I have done a lot of relief work for other testers in different areas of the state, and meeting those farmers and learning about the way they run their farm has always been so interesting to me. No farm is ever really the same.

How did you adjust to the variable testing times of dairy farmers? It took me a little while to get adjusted to an abnormal sleep schedule. Those very early morning herds usually require some caffeine. The best thing you can do is know your limits and listen to your body.

What are three aspects of your job that you really enjoy? I really enjoy making my own schedule. That way, I can coordinate to get all my herds done when it works best for me. Typically, I like to schedule for me to come back for the next month before leaving a farm.

I enjoy the people. The farmers and employees are some of the hardest working people. They all have dedication to the dairy industry and are constantly trying to improve to have the best quality product. Not as many people anymore can say that they work 365 days a year.

I enjoy knowing the services I provide are going to benefit the dairy. We provide them with so much information. Typically, with the SCC being an important indicator of udder health and milk quality. Also by monitoring milk components of butter fat and protein can help identify health and nutritional issues in cows.. We even provide pregnancy, Johne’s disease, leukosis and DNA mastitis culture testing.

Tell us about the most unique experience you’ve had in your role with DHIA. I have had my fair share of helping farmers corral animals back in. One time, I had just arrived at a farm on a foggy morning. As I was getting out of my car, the herd bull had gotten into the barn, and then he ran out of the sliding doors at me. He was not aggressive; he just looked at me and ran the other way.

Another time, I was traveling to southeast Minnesota to help with a larger herd when it had been snowing all night and the roads were slippery. They usually keep the roads cleared on U.S. Highway 52, but on that morning heading southbound, a semi started to lose control, and I ended up going into the ditch between the north and southbound lanes. I did a 360 and ended up on the northbound lane side. I needed a tow truck to pull me out, but I still made it to the farm to complete testing.

What is a lesson you have learned from the dairy farmers you test for? They are the most resilient people. The lowest milk price or loss of a favorite cow has not made it easy for them over the years.

I have also learned patience. Farming doesn’t go as planned, things break or there’s an unexpected down cow. Then, I end up being at that farm longer, but that’s the way it goes.

What has been one of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in this role? The driving. It is not unusual for me to drive 200-300 miles each week. Farms are getting farther apart and farther from where I live.

How have you seen the benefits of DHIA testing manifest themselves in the herds you work with? Having the farms know the SCC from month to month is a benefit. If they have a cow go several months with a high SCC, she is put on the chronic cow list and a do not breed/breed to a beef sire list. The breeders heavily rely on our data to know the genomics of an animal. Also, nutritionists rely on the results of the components of fat and protein so they can adjust the ration.

For herds doing pregnancy testing on their cows, they are saving the step and cost of a vet. Also, by using Johne’s disease and leukosis testing, farmers can cull that disease out.

What issues and opportunities do you see in the future for the dairy industry as a whole? A lot of farmers are getting to the point where they want to retire and there is no one to take over. I see a lot of farms selling out in the next five years. That is scary when so many businesses rely on these dairies.

More veterinarians don’t want to do large animals anymore because there are not enough farms to make it worthwhile. The farms left have a hard time getting a vet out if they have after-hour emergencies.

More farms are putting in robotic milking machines as it’s getting harder to find reliable help. Farmers are resorting to putting these in to take milking off their chores.

What changes have you seen in the industry? Technology has been the biggest change. More farms are incorporating some type of technology, like using programs such as DairyComp or PCDart for management of their herd. Also, more farms are putting in robotic milking machines.

I have also seen farmers having the best components of fat and protein while still producing above-average milk production. The change in feed quality and the advanced sires being used have played a part, along with being able to do genomics and DHIA testing to quickly weed out the poorest cows.

What training did you receive? For about a week, you go with another tester to farms and learn the basics. The biggest thing is learning how to do everything for DairyComp. We are also required to do class work and take a test. We learn the proper way to mix and pour samples. Making sure we mix the samples before pouring them into a sample bottle is important because dairy cows have the most fat at the end of their milking. We learn to care for and wash the meters we use on farms; they get calibrated once a year. Twice a year, we attend conferences to learn what is new and stay certified testers.

What is a common misconception about your job? That having a DHIA tester come is a requirement for dairy farmers by the state. We are hired to provide a service and to help give them information to make management decisions about their cows.

Tell us about yourself and your family. I have been married to my husband, Travis, for seven years. We have two children: Mary, who is almost 4 years old, and Marvin, who is 17 months. My husband is a full-time beekeeper  with about 150 hives. We grow vegetables, melons and strawberries that we sell at the local farmers’ markets. Travis also farms corn and soybeans with his dad. Travis’ parents own a greenhouse business called Vikla Farm & Greenhouse. The time to start plants is right around the corner. My parents, Joe and Karen Korbel, have a 40-cow dairy about two miles away from me. I help often with chores or milking along with my two brothers, Steve and Kevin.