AJCA PRODUCTION RECORDS PROGRAM -- 2000

Table of Data Collection Ratings Effective January 1, 2000, The American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) Board of Directors approved two new production records programs, Performance Records Plus and Performance Records Basic, to replace the DHIR and DHIA programs.

What are the new programs?

Click here to review the chart comparing the current performance programs with the new programs. 

The Performance Records Basic program replaces AJCA use of records labeled as DHIA and expands the production records program to include Owner Sampler lactations.  To participate in Basic, producers need to:

  1. enroll with the AJCA, and 
  2. sign up for either the Limited or Open disclosure option through their DHIA affiliate.

The Production Records Plus program replaces DHIR.  Herd owners wanting their lactations to be eligible for AJCA production awards and recognitions should enroll in the Plus program.  The production recognition programs affected are Hall of Fame, Honor Roll, National Class Leaders, President’s Trophy, Hilmar Cheese Award and Leading Living Lifetime production contest.  To participate in the Plus program, herds need to:

  1. enroll with the AJCA,
  2. sign up for Open disclosure with their DHIA affiliate, and
  3. agree the AJCA may request verification tests for their herds.

In the Plus program, only records with DCRs equal to or greater than 90 will be eligible for production honors.  This is a significant change from the current DHIR program because all DHIR records are considered to be eligible for the association’s production awards and recognition programs.

All REAP herds receive TPE as part of their REAP fees.  The TPE program will have two options; TPE Plus and TPE Basic.  Herds simply need to decide which production records program they want.  Regular TPE now includes DHIR lactations, and TPE-DHIA includes DHIA lactations.  TPE Plus will include the Plus production records program, and TPE Basic will include the Basic production records program. Enrollment forms for the new programs will be sent to current herds in December.

Data Collection Ratings (DCR)

The key component of these new programs is the Data Collection Rating (DCR) that will replace the labels “DHIR”, “DHIA” and “Owner Sampler” labels.  DCR is a numerical value that indicates the amount of information included in a production record, or its relative accuracy.  The DCR is affected by frequency of testing, percentage of milkings weighed and sampled, and the amount of supervision.  Click here to review the table of expected DCRs for different testing plans. 

The DCR formula is designed for the traditional, monthly testing plan that has all milkings weighed and component sampled to be equal to 100.  Testing plans with more than monthly milk weights and component samples will have DCRs greater than 100.  Testing plans with fewer milk weights and component samples will have DCRs less than 100.  Unsupervised test days are only weighted 75% as much as supervised test days in the DCR calculations.  The lower DCR values will differentiate unsupervised testing plans from supervised ones.

Lactations will have one DCR that combines milk and components.  For example, from the table, a 2x herd that records milk weights for all milkings each month and component samples one milking each month can expect DCRs of 100 for milk and 95 for components for completed lactations of 305 days.  The combined DCR will be 97.  These DCRs assume the herd tests every month and no test days are missed. 

An example of how production records will appear on pedigrees is given below:

2-10

305

2x

15450

4.8

742

3.7

572

97

(Age at Calving)

(Days in Milk)

(Times Milked)

(Lbs. Milk)

(% Fat)

(Lbs. Fat)

(% Protein)

(Lbs. Protein)

(Data Collection Rating)

What are my herd’s DCRs?

Herd owners currently using AJCA Performance Programs were mailed a Herd DCR Summary that showing their herd’s testing pattern for the past 10 months.  A herd average DCR was calculated and listed below the “Test Date” column.

Lactations received in September have had their DCRs added to the AJCA database.  These DCRs are printed on the lactation summary.  At the end of the lactation summary is an average of the lactations with 180 or more days in milk.  These are the lactations that are included in year-end herd averages.

Jersey producers need to work with their DHIA supervisor to set up a testing schedule that will allow their records to meet the DCR minimums.  All lactations completed in Plus herds will be included on pedigrees even if the DCRs are below the minimums to be eligible for production awards. 

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