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Chronological summary of USDA-DHIA evaluation changes (1989–2013)  2013  |  2012  |  2011  |  2010   |  2009  |  2008  |  2007  |  2006  |  2005  |  2004  |  2003  |  2002  |  2001  |  2000  |  1999  |  1998  |  1997  |  1996  |  1995  |  1994  |  1993  |  1992  |  1991  |  1990  |  1989 |  Earlier history | Changes by topic  **Evaluation date**
**Changes in genetic evaluations and editing systems**August 2013
Evaluation system
New fertility and stillbirth haplotypes and changes in haplotype status
Version 2 of GeneSeek Genomic Profiler chip
Foreign and genomic information in parent averages
Six digit cow control numbersMay 2013
Evaluation system
Release rule changes
Additional variables added to XML files
Information on GP2 chipApril 2013
Evaluation system
Distribution and access to genomic evaluations
Use of a new chip with 76,867 markers
Ayrshire genomic evaluations
Weights used in genomic evaluations
Calving-ease format changeDecember 2012
Evaluation system
Correction and adjustment of health trait evaluations and reliabilities
PTA for days from calving to first insemination
Changes in HH1, HH3, and JH1 status
New reproductive status and culling annual reports
Automated processing of genotypesAugust 2012
Evaluation system
Revisions to heifer and cow conception rates
Specific cow adjustments by country of evaluation for Holsteins
Genomic and pedigree inbreeding match better
Mobility for Brown Swiss and additional traits for Milking Shorthorns
Additional Brown Swiss genotypes from Interbull
Updated Chromosomal PTA QueryApril 2012
Evaluation system
Adjustments to genomic evaluations and reliabilities
Data cutoff date for sire conception rate
Productive life field format
Sire-dam multitrait across-country evaluation (MACE)December 2011
Evaluation system
Genomic evaluations using 6,909 markers
Maternal grandsire detection and discoveryAugust 2011
Evaluation system
Inclusion of British and Italian Holstein genotypes
Reporting of haplotypes that affect fertility
Changes in marker editsApril 2011
Evaluation system
Adjustment of yield evaluations for all cows
Improved imputation
Chip type and genomic inbreeding in formats 38 and 105
Multitrait heifer and cow conception rates
Genomic reliability discountDecember 2010
Evaluation system
Evaluations using 2,900 markers
Data sources for sire conception rate evaluationsNovember 2010
Estimated 2010 Genetic Base Changes for Goats–Production and Type Traits[AIPL Supplemental Report (07-10)]August 2010
Evaluation system
Mexican cow records
Validation of genomic evaluations
Improvements to imputed dam genotypes
Preliminary evaluations using 3,000 markers
Conception rate evaluations for males and femalesApril 2010
Evaluation system
Cow adjustments in genomic evaluation of yield traits
Haplotypes used for imputing genotypes
Breed-specific markers
Fertility data
Genotypes from Switzerland
Improved reliability for genomic evaluationsJanuary 2010
Evaluation system
Base change
Net merit revision
Heifer and cow conception rates
Revised genomic evaluation methods
Web query to track genotypes
AIPL e-mail addressesNet merit (2010 revision)August 2009
Evaluation system
Brown Swiss genomic evaluations
Revised marker set used in genomic predictions
Blending of genomic and current Interbull evaluationsBase change documentation for January 2010April 2009
Evaluation system
Revisions to genomic calculationsJanuary 2009
Evaluation system
Genomic evaluations become official
Multitrait best prediction
Cow and heifer conception ratesAugust 2008
Evaluation system
Service sire conception rate
Genetic evaluations for clones
More traits of foreign sires used in cow evaluations
Reporting genetic recessive codesApril 2008
Evaluation system
Genomic predictionJanuary 2008
Evaluation system
New evaluation schedule
Interbull fertility evaluations for breeds other than Holstein
Interbull evaluations on Milking Shorthorn base
Jersey, Brown Swiss, and Guernsey conformation compositesAugust 2007
Evaluation system
Breed composition file for crossbreds
Adjustments to all-breed model
Parent averages for young bulls
Revised definition of Interbull type-of-proof codeEditing system
Correction of bull identification (ID) numbers with more than nine digitsMay 2007
Evaluation system
All-breed animal model
Genetic trend for daughter pregnancy rate
Genetic trends for calving ease and stillbirth
Revisions to herd variance adjustment
Sample population for expected future inbreedingFebruary 2007
Evaluation system
Fertility evaluations from Interbull
Elimination of duplicate evaluations for Red-and-White bulls and related format-38 changesEditing system
Consistency in reporting abortions
Designation of breedings with sexed semenNovember 2006
Evaluation system
Holstein stillbirth and Brown Swiss calving ease (CE) from Interbull
Ayrshire and Red Dairy Cattle breed codes
Series-840 animal ID numbers
Additional release of yield evaluations for dairy goatsEditing system
Eliminating milk-component values when all cows have the same valueAugust 2006
Evaluation system
Productive life (PL) credits revised
Stillbirth and calving ability
Lifetime net merit revised
CE editsMay 2006
Evaluation system
Bull fertility evaluation transferred to AIPL
Milking speed evaluations for Brown Swiss
Rear legs/rear view evaluations for Brown Swiss and GuernseysFebruary 2006
Evaluation system
Daughter pregnancy rate (DPR) for foreign bullsNovember 2005
Editing systemAugust 2005
Editing systemMay 2005
Evaluation system
CE edits
Interbull daughter CE
Herd-by-sire interaction varianceEvaluation correctionFebruary 2005
Evaluation correctionBase change (general documentation)
Genetic and phenotypic progress
DPR and somatic cell score (SCS) genetic bases
CE and PL evaluations
Model changes
Genetic trend validationBase changes
Type traits
Goat evaluationsCE evaluation changesHerd-by-sire interaction in evaluation modelsNovember 2004
Evaluation system
Interbull longevity evaluationsEditing systemAugust 2004
No changesMay 2004
Evaluation system
New variances for Jersey and and Brown Swiss type
Jersey Interbull type evaluationsEditing systemFebruary 2004
Evaluation system
Pregnancy rate excludes embryo donors
Release of Interbull type evaluations for Ayrshire bullsNovember 2003
Evaluation system
Earlier evaluation of DPR
Fertility and CE in prediction of PL
Measure of pedigree completenessAugust 2003
Evaluation system
Fertility and CE in net merit
New variances for Ayrshire type traitsEditing systemDelivery systemMay 2003
Evaluation system
New variances for type traits
Parent averages for net merit and DPREditing systemFebruary 2003
Evaluation system
DPR evaluations introduced
Changes in type evaluations for non-HolsteinsNovember 2002
Evaluation system
Release of Interbull type evaluations for Guernsey and Brown Swiss bullsAugust 2002
Evaluation system
Correlations between PL and yield reduced
Sire-maternal grandsire threshold model for CE
Adjustment for heterogeneous variance in genetic evaluation of type traitsEditing systemDelivery systemMay 2002
No changesFebruary 2002
Evaluation system
PL for embryo donorsNovember 2001
Evaluation system
PL in discontinued herdsEditing systemAugust 2001
Evaluation system
Release of Interbull type evaluations for Jersey bulls
Early release of bull ID information
Early release of official Interbull evaluationsEditing systemMay 2001
Evaluation system
Interbull SCS evaluations
Variance adjustments for Jersey type traits
Interbull conformation evaluations
Officiality rules changedEditing systemFebruary 2001
Evaluation system
Delayed release of Interbull files
Development of comparison tables
Development of new e-mail notification listEditing systemNovember 2000
Effective number of daughters used in Interbull reliabilities
Revised correlations in multitrait PL
Heritability increase for Jersey and Brown Swiss
3-character error codes
Canadian and American ID checkingAugust 2000
Base change for production traits
Base change for non-Holstein type traits
Multitrait PL
Lifetime net merit
True protein replaced crude protein
Foreign bull pedigree added
Cross-references generated from cow control numberMay 2000
High ranking grade designation corrected
First-herd designation corrected
Usable-herd designation corrected
Reporting of test-day errors
Cross-references derived from cow control numberFebruary 2000
Foreign evaluations requested for more cow dams
Inbreeding sample included more complete pedigrees
Editing improved for test-day data
Error detection improved for country codes in ID numbersNovember 1999
Foreign evaluations of parents included in cow evaluations
Different tests included when cows change herds
Foreign ID may be preferred over U.S. IDAugust 1999
Net merit calculated from Interbull evaluations that include SCS and PL evaluations based on 1 to 9 daughters; parent average previously used for those bulls
Evaluation start moved 1 week later, allowing an additional week of data to be includedMay 1999
Fluid and cheese merit indexes and expected inbreeding available for cows
Cows required to be tested in first 90 instead of 75 days of lactation
Maternal grandsire and birth date supplied for international bulls
Foreign evaluations of bull dams from more countries used in parent averagesFebruary 1999
Lactation records computed from test-day data by best prediction
Factors to adjust for 3 milkings per day updated
Fluid merit and cheese merit indexes introduced
New test-day edits and new programs to accommodate American ID installed
Use of Canadian dam data extended to other nations
New sampling procedures used for expected inbreeding
Bull rankings provided on web and automatically by e-mailNovember 1998
Cows in owner-sampler plans received predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs)
Registry status and recessive codes providedAugust 1998
No changesMay 1998
Interbull evaluations official for a larger number of bullsFebruary 1998
Formats displayed international ID numbers and 4-digit years
Expected inbreeding of future progeny provided to help identify outcross bulls
Reliabilities of milk, fat, and protein combined into yield reliability
Type data for breeds other than Holstein evaluated with a multitrait animal modelNovember 1997
No changesAugust 1997
Heritability increased to 30%, herd-sire interaction decreased to 10%, and permanent environment decreased to 15%
Deviations from management group mean limited to 4 standard deviations
Five Netherlands bulls received U.S. PTAsMay 1997
Frequency of evaluations increased to 4 times per yearFebruary 1997
Owner-sampler and other records with type-of-test 40 to 77 used
Future milk prices forecast with a relative protein:fat ratio of 2:1
National and international evaluations released together
Interbull evaluations preferred when reliability is 5% higher than U.S. reliability except when U.S. reliability reaches 80%
Public access to cow and bull PTAs provided at AIPL web siteJuly 1996
Lactation weights computed from record standards variables instead of days in milkJanuary 1996
Missing PL and SCS added to make net merit available for all cows
Reliabilities for foreign bulls account for imperfect genetic correlationJuly 1995
Net merit, PL, and SCS provided for cows with records
For bulls with Canadian dams, converted Canadian data used for parent averagesJanuary 1995
Genetic base changed to cows born in 1990
New adjustment factors for age, parity, season, and previous days open
Residual age-parity effects included in model
New multiplicative SCS age adjustment factors
Conversions for European bulls replaced with Interbull multitrait across-country evaluations (MACE)July 1994
Direct and indirect measures of PL combined by Holstein Association
Missing PL and SCS added to provide net merit for all bulls
Percentiles changed from milk-fat-protein dollars (MFP$) to net merit (bulls only)
Reliability of net merit addedJanuary 1994
PL, SCS, and net merit introduced
Inbreeding calculated and used in relationship matrix inverseJuly 1993
Converted Canadian data provided on same day and in same format as U.S. dataJanuary 1993
Improved editing system installed
Animal model computations moved from Cornell to AIPL
Canadian evaluations converted and combined with U.S. PTAsJuly 1992
No changesJanuary 1992
No changesJuly 1991
Heterogeneous variance adjustment beganJanuary 1991
New lactation weights and expansion of partial records began (RIP dip adjustment)July 1990
No changesJanuary 1990
Records from later herds included in animal modelJuly 1989
Animal model implemented
Genetic base changed to cows born in 1985
Missing protein PTAs estimated
Percentiles changed from milk-fat dollars (MF$) to MFP$
Red-and-White breed data combined with Holstein dataEarlier history
History of USDA dairy evaluations (1862–2013)


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