CentralStar Cooperative is expanding its Dairy Herd Information (DHI) and milk-analysis services following a unanimous merger vote by Heart of America (HOA) DHIA members. With the merger of the Lincoln, Neb.,-based DHI taking effect on March 3, 2025, CentralStar will extend its reach across Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, expanding service to more than 2,070 farms and 700,000 cows in 15 states.
“Our board and senior management team recently worked together on a strategic vision for CentralStar. This merger aligns with that vision and reinforces our ongoing commitment to supporting dairy producers and the industry,” said CentralStar Board President Paul Trierweiler. “We really appreciate the trust and confidence of the HOA members and look forward to serving them as part of CentralStar.”
HOA members can expect a smooth transition to CentralStar DHI Services. Both HOA and CentralStar process records through Dairy Records Management Systems (DRMS), so there will be no change in the way producers receive reports or the type of reports they rely on. Milk-sample processing will gradually shift to CentralStar’s state-of-the-art laboratory in Kaukauna, Wis., which processes more than 4.2 million samples annually. The transition will maintain efficiency and reliability, with turnaround times comparable to current service levels. Built in 2017, the lab utilizes advanced techniques such as infrared spectroscopy, flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to analyze milk samples for key components, including butterfat, protein, somatic cell count, solids-non-fat, milk urea nitrogen, Johne’s disease, bovine viral diarrhea, mastitis, and pregnancy.
CentralStar began providing DHI Services in 2000 with the mergers of Michigan DHIA and Fox Valley DHI. Since that time, the cooperative has become the largest DHI affiliate in the United States, the largest member of DRMS, and scores among the best for turnaround time of sample results for like-sized laboratories. CentralStar pioneered the development of milk diagnostics on DHI samples. In 2000, the cooperative began providing diagnostic services with the development of the Johne’s milk ELISA. In 2011, CentralStar worked in collaboration with IDEXX to validate the milk-pregnancy test, which is now performed on millions of samples, annually. More recently, CentralStar researchers have developed novel diagnostic tests for bovine leukosis virus, A2, and mastitis organisms.
“The successful vote to merge ensures long-term support for dairy producers in this region,” said CentralStar Director of DHI Services Kevin Haase. “We appreciate the dairy producers’ trust in this decision and are excited about the expanded services and support CentralStar will be able to provide.”