For Fonda Darter, helping producers make informed decisions starts with something fundamental: accurate, timely, and secure data they can trust.
Behind the Data Producers Trust
Fonda Darter has spent nearly three decades helping ensure dairy producers have access to accurate, timely information they can trust.
Growing up on her family's cattle ranch in southern Missouri and later working as a DHI technician, Fonda developed a firsthand appreciation for the role accurate records play in herd management. That experience continues to shape her work today as DRMS Operations Manager.
In her role, Fonda oversees the systems and processes that transform dairy records into the information producers use to manage their herds. While much of that work happens behind the scenes, she understands the impact it has on farms every day.
"Our data comes in from our technicians through our Dart program and other software," Fonda said. "We standardize that data by processing our test days. We incorporate data from CDCB and other industry partners so that the data we provide to our producers is a complete picture."
That complete picture includes reproductive, production, genetic, and genomic information that producers can use to make informed decisions about their herds.
For Fonda, accuracy begins long before a report reaches a producer. It starts with quality records collected on the farm.
"Using Dart gives the technicians and the dairy producers the opportunity to capture accurate data using modern software and mobile devices," she said. "That creates good quality data to bring into the processing center."
Once records enter the system, her team works to process and return information as quickly as possible so producers have access to the information they need when they need it.
"By having a quick turnaround of our processing software, we can provide dairy producers with accurate data so they can make decisions about reproductive events, culling, somatic cell count issues, and other management decisions that affect productivity on the farm," Fonda said.
For Fonda, accuracy and security go hand in hand. Both are essential to ensuring producers have dependable information when they need it most.
"My team and I work hard every day to make sure that our DRMS data is stored securely in a modern data center," she said. "At the end of the day, that's the most important part to me, is that our data is secure."
Whether it is processing records, integrating industry data, or maintaining secure systems, Fonda's work helps ensure producers have dependable information available when important decisions need to be made.