Insuring the integrity of the
Gelbvieh database is an important responsibility of the AGA. Any changes to calf records
are reviewed carefully to avoid creating erroneous records, and to be certain that
appropriate recalculations are performed as needed. Therefore, any changes needed on
existing calf records must be requested individually, whether or not you are using
HerdTrack to manage your cattle. If modified data is submitted electronically, file import
errors will result or your changes will be ignored, unless you include a note stating
specifically what changes are included in the electronic file. This rule protects your
data and prevents a calf record from inadvertently being altered by an accidental computer
"click".
What procedures should I
follow to make changes to existing calf records?
First: If
you have exported calf data to the AGA, do NOT make any changes to those records until you
have imported the resulting performance update file from the AGA. In other words, do not
change any animal records when you have work pending with the AGA. Waiting should not pose
a problem because of the speedy turn around time of electronically submitted data, usually
overnight.
A. After making any corrections in
HerdTrack, send us a request for performance update on the same group of animals in which
the calf record was originally submitted. If you did not save the group, you can create a
new group by using the AGA work order number. By including the entire group in the
performance update, adjustments to the EPDs and ratios of all the calf's contemporaries
will be updated.
B. VERY IMPORTANT: You must include a
note in your email to us telling us specifically what changes you have made to the
attached file. Example: I am sending this file in order to correct and recalculate the
record of calf 14L and its contemporaries. It should be a heifer, not a bull.
Third: The AGA
sends you a performance update file on the group, after reviewing your changes for
consistency with AGA rules, manually modifying the calf record(s) and recalculating the
data. After importing this file, your computer records and the official AGA records will
once again be in sync.
If I fail to notify the AGA
of changes I have made to existing records, what will happen when I submit my data
electronically?
· Prefix, Tattoo, Sex, Birth date
- if changed, will prevent AGA and HerdTrack records from linking and create an error,
even when a registration number is present. This will delay the processing of your work.
· Sire, Dam, Dates, Weights,
All value fields - changes to these fields will be ignored. The data we send back
to you will write over the changes you have made on your computer.
· Color,
HPS status and disposal code - these fields may be altered by HerdTrack user and
will be updated when new files are created.
Canadian and other users experiencing
difficulty with dates should check their computer's date settings. HerdTrack uses
the format MM/DD/YY. To adjust your computer's setting, go to Control Panel/Regional
Settings. Click on the Date tab and change your setting to MM/DD/YY, then restart
HerdTrack.
Ultrasound reporting procedures have
changed. Do not use the HerdTrack Ultrasound Barnsheet report. Instead,
contact the AGA to receive an official Ultrasound
Barnsheet. After the AGA receives ultrasound data from CUP, you will be able to
update your ultrasound data in HerdTrack by sending us a Performance Update Request file
(found under FILE|EXPORT TO ASSOCIATION).
4. Transferring Registered
Animals
HerdTrack v. 1.4.1 and earlier
provides for the transfer of an animal at the time the user decides to register the calf
by clicking the REGISTER button on the calf record, then clicking REGISTER and TRANSFER
and entering the new owner information. Once a calf has been registered, the
REGISTER and TRANSFER window is no longer available. A future version of HerdTrack
will correct this problem, but in the interim a workaround solution is available.
With the record of the registered animal to be transferred open, choose Actions | Register
Status Change and select Compute to temporarily change the animal to a compute. Now return
to the Animal Main window and the REGISTER button will be active so that you can once
again access the REGISTER and TRANSFER window.
If you choose not to follow this
procedure and instead send your transfers in on paper, your HerdTrack database will not be
updated with the transfer information. You can get your transferred animals out of
your active animals list by entering the appropriate disposal code.
5. Duplicate Calf Records
HerdTrack does not test for the
validity of tattoos so it is possible to enter a calf into your database more than once.
We recommend you review a calving/weaning/yearling report on your calf group prior
to exporting a file to the AGA to check for duplicate tattoos and duplicate calf records.
We also recommend entering calf data through the dam's calving tab,
because you have the opportunity to look at calves she already has in your database to
help you avoid entering a calf twice.
HerdTrack performs no checks on
tattoos so you have the flexibility to enter any tattoo for commercial or non-Gelbvieh
calves. At the AGA office, tattoos are tested for the following:
uniqueness (no duplications)
containing the appropriate year code
letter (M for 2002 born calves, L for 2001 born calves, etc.)
No Name - the AGA inserts an
animal's tattoo into the name field if no name is supplied. In HerdTrack you do not
need to type in the tattoo in the name field, since the performance update file we send
you will update the animal's name to be the same as the tattoo when no name has been
provided.
Herd Prefix - do not include your
herd prefix in the name. Performance summaries display the herd prefix in front of
the name automatically. This means that if you include your herd prefix in the
animal's name, it will appear twice on your performance summaries.
ET - be sure to include ET at the
end of the name of an embryo transfer calf. If you are not naming the calf, no
action needs to be taken.
Punctuation - avoid using
punctuation in names. This is a convention the AGA has adopted so that searches and
sorts are handled consistently. For example, "Mr. Excellent
Bull" and "Mr Excellent Bull" are sorted differently.
8. Deleting Animal Records
Normally you never need to delete an animal’s record. Many people have asked about deleting the records
of older animals that they do not own. Those
animals most likely are in your database because they are part of the pedigree of one of
your calves. If you delete the older animal,
you will be creating a hole in the pedigree of your calf.
People have also deleted a calf record because the dam was incorrect. Instead of deleting, simply modify the calf record
and correct its dam. The only reason I can
imagine needing to delete a record is if you have truly entered the calf information
twice. If you have duplicated a tattoo, but
there actually are two different calves, just correct the tattoo of one of them and notify
the AGA if the calf already has been assigned a registration number (see also Issue #5)
9. Creating Animal Records
The best way to create a new calf record is by clicking on the
calving tab of the dam. This method will help
you avoid entering duplicate calf records because you will see all her calves listed here. You can instead click on NEW ANIMAL and pull in
the dam information anew for each calf, but you will lose the advantage of seeing what
calves you have already assigned to her. In
addition, you lose the advantage of having your breeding information carried forward.
Please note, the
default animal type is "Compute". If you do not click the register button
on a new calf record, when you send the calf information to the AGA we will NOT
automatically register the calf, even if you are on the one rate program.
To register a calf,
click the REGISTER button. This will change the calf's status to PENDING REGISTER.
After the AGA receives information on the calf, the file we send back to you will
change the calf from PENDING REGISTER to REGISTERED.
To review the
registration status of any user defined group of animals, go to REPORTS and review the
Registrations and Transfers Pending summary.
HerdTrack allows you to perform birth, weaning and yearling
calculations on a user defined group. These
calculations can be helpful before you submit data to the AGA because you will be alerted
to missing data. You can then go back and
fill in the missing data, and thus improve the accuracy of the calculations and avoid
having animals placed into single contemporary groups by mistake. Be aware that
calculating data in HerdTrack will overwrite any existing calculations, including those
created by the AGA.
The AGA calculates new EPDs twice each year. HerdTrack users can update their database for EPDs
by creating and EPD Request File and emailing it to the AGA. EPDs of all animals in your database including the
animals in the pedigree of your calves, will be updated.
Although the fee for a HerdTrack EPD update is currently $25, once updated,
you can create your own performance summaries anytime for free. HerdTrack users will continue to receive the
printed EPD report once each year.
Currently HerdTrack does not provide a method for tracking
recipient cows. When you create an ET calf
record be sure to show the dam as the biological mother.
If you don’t own the dam, please request her electronic file from the
AGA. You can make a note in the recipient
cow’s record of the ET calves she gives birth to under comments or one of the 8 user
defined fields. Future enhancements to
HerdTrack include providing a means to track recipient cows.
Entering the same weigh date for an entire group can be tedious
and time consuming. Avoid this by using
HerdTrack’s convenient default settings. With
your group open, click on GROUP | SET DEFAULTS and you will see that defaults dates as
well as other fields, can be set at birth, weaning and yearling. Also look for breeding record and disposal code
defaults.
Be sure to a current backup on hand before you make changes to
your database. This rule applies whether you
are entering information by hand or importing data from the AGA. Backup files are stored by default under
c:/program files/herdtack/backup. Backup file
names look like BXXXX.001, where the X’s are your AGA member number, and the .001
indicates how many backup files you have created. Each
time you make a backup, the last three numbers will increment so you can easily identify
your most recent backup file.
15. File Management & Organization
Files being sent back and forth can accumulate and clutter up
your computer, and possibly cause confusion. Periodically
you should go through your HerdTrack files and carefully delete unnecessary files.
Export files created by you (Birth, Weaning, Yearling,
Registrations and Transfers Pending, EPD Request) – after the AGA
processes your export file, we will send you a Performance Update File. After you have successfully imported the PU file,
you should no longer need the Export File from which it was derived.
Files
Created By HerdTrack Users
Export Files– delete these after the resulting Performance
Update file from the AGA has been successfully imported*.
EPD Request Files – delete these after your EPD update file
from the AGA has been successfully imported*.
Backup Files – keep only the most current backup file of
your database.
| *Successfully Imported means you received no
import errors and the expected number of animal records were updated in your
database. |
Files Created By AGA – since all Performance Update,
Additional Animal, and EPD Request files we send you will look alike, as long as you
always save them in the same location, the newest file will write over the previous and
you will not accumulate unnecessary files. Because
the new file overwrites the old, we recommend you import files received from the AGA as
soon as received.
16. Import Errors ( see
also issue #1)
Import Errors tell us a discrepancy exists between HT user and
AGA information. Prefix, tattoo, birth date, sex and internal HerdTrack ID* must
match exactly, or an error will result when you import a file into your HerdTrack
database. Why would this ever happen? Two examples follow:
You sent the AGA a weaning file on your 2001
calf group. After you sent the file, you
corrected a calf’s birth date, but did not tell the AGA. The performance update file we send you contains
the original incorrect birth date. When
you import the performance update file, HerdTrack detects the discrepancy and creates the
Import Error file to help us resolve the problem.
You send us a birth file to register a calf
for the first time. After sending this file
to the AGA, somehow, you accidentally delete the animal’s record. Then you return to the dam’s calving tab to
recreated the deleted calf record. The
performance update file we send back will not import into your database because the
internal HerdTrack ID of this calf has changed.
| *Internal
HerdTrack ID - behind the scenes, HerdTrack creates a unique identifying number
for every animal record in your database. This
number is also unique to your HerdTrack database – this means that the same animal in
two different HerdTrack user’s databases will have different Internal ID’s. The internal HT ID is not stored at the AGA. |
17. Record
Count Discrepancies
If you send us an export file based on a group of 33 animals,
when you import the performance update you should expect to see “33 records
imported”. If a different number of
records is imported, you should investigate the difference. Possible reasons for the discrepancy:
Some of the animals had no new information reported, in which
case the AGA computer ignores that record.
AGA was unable to process a record due to
an problem such as dam on hold for blood typing, calving interval, or AI sire not AI
qualified and had to delete the calf record from the work order. You will need to
resubmit the calf’s registration after the problem has been resolved.
Import errors (see #16 above).
If you purchased HerdTrack quite a
while ago, but have not yet started using the software, please contact the AGA
office. You may have trouble with your initial herd import disk and we will probably
need to create a new one for you. The potential problems are:
New version updates issued after your
disk was created may be incompatible with the file on your disk.
If you have sent us registration work on
paper, the herd import disk will not contain the new information.
19. Contemporary Grouping
There is no change to contemporary
grouping procedures when you use HerdTrack. The AGA still defines contemporary
groups based characteristics such as sex and percent breed. The breeder only
needs to further define a contemporary group if animals have been managed separately, such
as when a certain group of animals are fed differently. This is done by entering a two
digit contemporary group code at birth/weaning/yearling.
Placing animals in a HerdTrack location
(pasture) does NOT indicate a different contemporary group to the AGA. You must
complete the contemporary group field.
Do not confuse HerdTrack user
defined groups that are used to enter calf information, run reports and export data to the
AGA with contemporary groups.
Send information on calves that should be
grouped together in the same export file.
It is not necessary to submit your bull
and heifer calf data in separate export files.
It is not necessary to fill in the
contemporary group code box if all the animals are in the same contemporary group.
The Gelbvieh Fact Sheet - Contemporary
Grouping has additional information. Click
here to read more.
HerdTrack provides the ability to
include non-Gelbvieh and commercial animals in your database. All animals on file with the
AGA, whether registered or recorded (computed), will have the AMGV registry and a
registration number. In HerdTrack, use the registry field to indicate a commercial
animal (COML) or an animal registered with another breed (AMAN, AMAR etc.)
When you send data to the AGA, our
system will ignore any animals that do not have the AMGV registry.
If you have never used an AI sire
before, you will need to get his information into your HerdTrack database. Here are
some tips:
Use NEW ANIMAL to create a basic record
for the sire so that you can enter his calves.
Request an Additional Animal file (send
an email to herdtrack@gelbvieh.org listing the
registration numbers needed) on the sire to electronically add him to your database.
The fee per animal requested is $2.50, and this service is optional. If you
have already created a record for the sire using NEW ANIMAL, the Additional Animals file
will find it and fill in any missing information, including the three generation
pedigree. Any registerd Angus or Red Angus animal is also available in this way, but
there may be a delay if we don't already have the animal on file and have to request it
from the other breed association.
Download popular AI sires from the web
for free! Click here to see how.
After you purchase an animal, please
contact us at herdtrack@gelbvieh.org to
request an Additional Animal file to update your HerdTrack database. There is no
charge for this service.
99 is not a valid disposal code in
the AGA database. It is used only in HerdTrack to identify animals you
do not and have never owned. For example, the AI sire of your new calf would have a
99 disposal code. 99 does not mean the animal is dead, it simply means you do not
own it.
Do not use 99 to remove an animal
from your active herd. Select one of the valid disposal codes instead.
HerdTrack users will initially
receive notification of processing delay via email instead of the yellow hardcopy
"Error Letters". If we don't hear back from you in a day or two, the
yellow Error Letter will be mailed.
Depending on the number and severity
of the errors, you may be instructed to send a new file.
HerdTrack has many built in checks to
help avoid entering incorrect information. For example, if you enter an abnormally
low or high birth weight, an warning box will pop up giving you the opportunity to correct
the weight.
There are other errors HerdTrack can
not check for. Some of the common errors received by the AGA can be caught by
opening a HerdTrack report on the group you are about export. Calving, Weaning
and Yearling reports summarize your data and help you spot weights you may have missed.
Make sure you are sending in the
correct number of registration by looking at the Pending Registration - Transfer Summary.
If an animal is indicated to be a Compute, it will not be registered even if you
are a one rate member.
Some of the most common errors
received by the AGA that HerdTrack does not check for include:
Dam calving interval -
avoid this by creating new calf records through the dam's calving tab. You can
review her list of calves and avoid giving her two calves in the same year.
Duplicate Tattoo - open
your calf group, sort the animals by tattoo then scroll down the list to spot
duplications.
Missing or incorrect birth year
letter code - the following three line query will to spot this problem:
|
( |
Comparison |
Value |
) |
And/Or |
| Animals:Birth Date |
|
On or After |
1/1/01 |
|
And |
| Animals:Birth Date |
|
On or Before |
12/31/01 |
|
And |
| Animals:Tattoo |
|
Doesn't Contain |
L |
|
|
If you discover an error in a calf
record, it is preferable to correct the problem rather than deleting and starting over.
Please submit
your questions to HerdTrack@gelbvieh.org
10/24/05
|