The days in milk beyond 305 are now used to reject a subsequent calving date before the termination of the current lactation, and to more accurately determine when the lactation number should be increased by more than 1 because of the length of the apparent dry period.
Goat yield records are subjected to edits similar to cow data. Individual test day and lactation yields can be viewed through a web query.
Following the May 1, 2000 implementation of true protein, programs were adjusted so that historical protein percentages were adjusted to true protein before being used in the best prediction procedure to calculate lactation records. Best prediction also uses herd averages to provide information for the days in the lactation that are not test days. A recent investigation found incorrect lactation protein percentages due to the herd averages not having been adjusted. The program was fixed so the adjustment is done as the averages are used. For averages before May 1, 2000, a full adjustment is applied. For those between May 2000 and May 2001, a declining adjustment is applied because the averages cover 12 months. The database contains the data as reported.
It has been discovered that at least one lab did not switch to true protein for several months. The lactation protein yields will be recalculated using the actual conversion date for all lactations from the affected herds just before the data are extracted for use in the evaluations. The database is not being corrected because crude protein data may still be submitted by the DRPC for some lactations.
Crossbred cows are excluded from genetic evaluations unless part of a breed association upgrading program. The Brown Swiss Association requested that more of the crossbred cows in their upgrading programs be included in genetic evaluations. The registry status that was implemented with the American ID has been used to determine which cows should be considered. Because an animal may have multiple ID's, the appropriate registry status might not be associated with her preferred ID. The system was changed to search through all a cow's ID's if her preferred ID is an American ID to determine if she has a 36 or 37 prefix ID, or a registry status associated with one of her other ID's.