Accuracy and Precision Required in Measuring Devices Used in Dairy Herd Improvement Association Recording

The transition from individual bucket milker units and conventional housing to pipe line systems and milking parlors has created a demand for new methods of weighing or measuring and sampling the production of individual cows. A number of devices have been manufactured and are being marketed for this purpose. For many years the Dairy Records Committee of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) has provided leadership for developing guidelines of acceptability for these devices and for certifying as to their accuracy. Because this group had no research support and no authority for approval, this activity has been severely limited. The Dairy Records Committee recommended that this activity become the responsibility of the National DHIA Coordinating Group. The Coordinating Group accepted this assignment and in September 1966 appointed a technical committee on testing, weighing, and sampling devices to conduct and coordinate research and to make recommendations in this area. This report contains results o studies made to determine the precision required in measuring devices to ac-~A contribution of the Technical Committee on Testing, Weighing, and S~mpl~ng Devices to the National DttIA Coordinating Group.