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Interbeef Guidelines

Version 2
InterBeef

contact: Interbull Centre - Dept. Animal Breeding and Genetic SLU,
Box 7023 S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden

Phone: 0046-18-671994
Fax: 0046-18-672848
E-mail : interbeef@slu.se
URL : https://www.icar.org/index.php/technical-bodies/working-groups/interbeef-working-group/

1. INTRODUCTION

Organisations willing to join InterBeef must be an ICAR’s client that has signed the Agreement for the Supply of Services with ICAR covering international genetic evaluation services for beef breeds and traits. The current document is a description of the necessary actions and relevant files required by a new Organisation willing to join InterBeef Service.

2. THE ANIMAL INTERNATIONAL IDENTIFICATION

2.1 Format

Unique international identification for each animal is used in the international genetic evaluation system and will be referred to as the Animal International Identification (AIID). The AIID is constructed using the Interbull rules (referred to as Interbull format in the document) and its structure is:

Breed + Country + Sex + Identification number


Ex: CHAFRAM006327826864 refers to


Ex: BAQIRLF125693456875 refers to


2.2 Constructing the international identification number

An Organisation should first construct the international identifications for the animals born in its country. The general rule for this construction would be that a given identification number is unique within a country and a breed.


When an animal (live animal or issued from AI straw or embryo) is sold abroad, the Organisation in importing country should avoid re-registration; in case of re-registration, the original ID and the national ID should be kept.


The animal ‘IE231112150014’ is, for example, a pure breed Irish Limousine female named ‘SHRIFFTOWN RIPPER’. Ireland has constructed its AIID as followed: LIMIRLF231112150014.


The animal ‘FR0384106449’ is a pure breed French Charolais bull named ‘VLADIMIR’. That animal is also used in Ireland under the name ‘VLADIMER’ and the number ‘0384106449’ and has also been re-codified ‘108376849’ and ‘VLR’. France constructs its AIID as followed: CHAFRAM000384106449.


In the international identification number, hyphens, slashes, commas, dots, blank spaces or any other symbols are allowed.


The animal ‘UK9373 70-2/-7’, for example, is a UK Salers female animal and its international identification number would be ‘SALGBRF9373 70-2/-7’

3. IDEA - “Interbull Data Exchange Area” database at Interbull

Interbull has developed a database, IDEA (Interbull Data Exchange Area) that allows registered users to all the pedigree and performance handling functionalities. IDEA is available at https://idea.interbull.org/
IDEA is exclusive for database users. To become a database user you need to belong to an Organisation participating in the Interbeef evaluation. If you want to join the Interbeef evaluation and therefore have access to IDEA, your Organisation needs to be associated with a username and a contact email address. To get your Organisation listed among the ones participating in the Interbeef evaluation, you have to: send an email to interbeef@slu.se providing information on:

Upon reception of your request, Interbull will send you by email a link to an IDEA-test environment together with a username and password so that you will be able to get acquainted with the IDEA functionalities and the user manual which is located under “Help”.

4. THE REQUIRED INFORMATION

An Organisation willing to join the Interbeef evaluation Service is expected to provide the following information:

4.1 Pedigree Information

The first step for an Organisation is to create a national pedigree file according to the format provided in section 4.1.1.
The created national pedigree file must be first checked with the CheckPedigree.py script provided by Interbull Centre (checkpedigree_instructions).
The checking programs are available under the “Software” menu of the IDEA web interface.
The zip file produced by the Python script represents the only valid pedigree file to be uploaded into the IDEA database; no other files will be accepted by the system.
When the zip files created by the CheckPedigree.py script is uploaded to the IDEA database it undergoes a series of checks called the “verification process” aiming at identifying the correct authoritative Organisation of each and every animal listed in the pedigree.
In general the system has been built in such a way that it accepts pedigree information only if it comes from the authoritative Organisation. Therefore, whenever you submit pedigree data, the system first checks that the combination “country-breed” in the animal ID matches with the combination your Organisation “owns”. If so, the records are considered correct and stored in the database. If this is not the case, then the records will be listed in the appropriate authoritative Organisation account waiting for verification, i.e. waiting for the authoritative Organisation to provide the correct pedigree information. In case the authoritative Organisation is an Organisation that does not yet participate in the Interbeef evaluation, then the animals will appear as verified by Interbull until that Organization would join the Service.
Example:
Ireland submits the following pedigree records to the database:

601 CHAIRLM458962315289 CHAIRLM789456123652 CHAIRLF369852147852 1985 OMAR IRL
601 CHAFRAM865412398745 CHAFRAM231658479851 CHAFRAF845693274125 1988 OSCAR IRL

In the first case, the animal is an Irish Charolais sent by Ireland. Ireland is therefore the authoritative organization for that animal so the record gets stored in the IDEA database. In the second case, the animal appears to be a French Charolais sent by Ireland. Ireland is no longer the authoritative organization for this bull therefore the system will send the record to the French account and will wait for France to provide its correct pedigree information. Then, the Organisation will have to correct its own database according to the feedback obtained from the IDEA database regarding verified pedigree information from authoritative Organisations. (see corrected foreign information in the IDEA user manual).

4.1.1 The Pedigree file format

The national pedigree file (601 file) must contain pedigree information of all animals included in the performance file in an animal-sire-dam format. Sires, dams and ancestors must also have an entry in this file as an animal; unknown ancestors should be coded ‘UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU’.

To ensure sufficient pedigree information it is recommended that pedigree information of animals born within a period equivalent to a minimum of three-generation intervals should be included. The 601 file is a file issued per Organisation providing pedigree information according to the format shown in Table 1. The 601 files can contain one breed or multiple breeds.

Principles for the file preparation:

  • Table 1: 601 file format (total length = 107)

Field description

Label

Format

Start

Length

Statusa

Note

Example

Record type

RTYPE

Char

1

3

M

601

International ID of ANIMAL

Breed of the animal

ABREED

Char

5

3

M

I

LIM

Country of birth

AIDC

Char

8

3

M

II

FRA

Sex

ASEX

Char

11

1

M

III

F

ID code of the animal

AID

Char

12

12

M

IV

008795005065

International ID of Animal’s SIRE

Breed of the sire

SBREED

Char

25

3

O

I

LIM

Country of birth

SIIDC

Char

28

3

O

II

FRA

Sex

SSEX

Char

31

1

O

III

M

ID code of the sire

SIID

Char

32

12

O

IV

000095015085

International ID of Animal’s DAM

Breed of the dam

DBREED

Char

45

3

O

I

LIM

Country of birth

DIIDC

Char

48

3

O

II

FRA

Sex

DSEX

Char

51

1

O

III

F

ID code of the dam

DIID

Char

52

12

O

IV

001111001111

Additional information

Date of birth of animal

BDATE

Int

65

8

O

V

20010130

Name of animal

NAME

Char

74

30

O

Faust

Country sending information

RCOU

Char

105

3

M

II

FRA

aStatus: M = Mandatory, O = Optional

Note

I

The field ‘Breed‘ of the AIID refers to the breed of identification of the animal in its country of first registration (in most cases, the country of origin): 3 characters as defined in the Interbull Breed Codes,

II

The field ‘Country’ of the AIID refers to the country of first registration of the animal (in most cases, the country of origin): 3 characters or 3 digits number as defined in ISO 3166 Codes, available at https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search

III

Sex : M for Male, F for Female only

IV

The field ‘Identification number’ of the AIID refers to the identification number of the animal in the country of first registration: 12 characters right justified with left blanks filled in with zero (“0”).

V

YYYYMMDD format

The pedigree link file (202 file) has several functions related to the management of primary and alias AIIDs. In theory, an animal should have only one AIID, the one corresponding to the country and herdbook of first registration (the international identifier or AIID). However, due to limitations in national database systems and herdbook policies, animals have frequently been registered in different herdbooks with different identifiers. In order to uniquely identify animals across countries and herdbooks, it is necessary to manage multiple AIIDs associated with an animal. In the Interbull pedigree database, an animal can have only one primary AIID - which should be the AIID - and any number of secondary AIIDs (i.e. aliases, also called national IDs or cross-references).
Invalid AIIDs arise when importing countries enter the original AIID incorrectly in their database, either due to typographical errors or omission of some characters in the alpha-numeric part of the identifier. These invalid AIIDs can usually not be found in the originating country's database, which makes it impossible to verify the pedigree information of the animal in question. The pedigree link file serves three distinct functions:

The created link file must be first checked with the CheckLinks.py script provided by Interbull Centre (checklink_instructions).
The checking programs are available under the “Software” menu of the IDEA web interface.
The zip files produced by the Python scripts represent the only valid infiles to be uploaded into the IDEA database; no other files will be accepted by the system.

Format File202 Correcting International ID by the Authoritative Organization

(Creates Cross-reference links, valid for dairy and beef users)

Field description

Label

Format

Start

length

Comments

Record Type

Rec

ASCII

1

3

202

Wrong/Alias IID

W_AIID

ASCII

5

19

usual structure of IID

Correct IID

R_AIID

ASCII

25

19

usual structure of IID

Character encoding: UTF-8

4.2 Performance Information

Once the pedigree upload has been fulfilled then the Organisation will create the performance file according to the XML format described in section 4.2.1.
The created XML performance file must be first checked with the CheckPerformance.py script provided by Interbull Centre (CheckPerformance) and available under the “Software” menu of the IDEA web interface. The tar file produced by the Python script represents the only valid performance file to be uploaded into the IDEA database; no other files will be accepted by the system. The tar file must be uploaded into the IDEA database as described here: !IDEA_Beef_UserManual.


To date, it is still possible to create the XML performance file starting from the old flat format files (602, 603, 604 and 605). The format of old flat files is described in section 4.2.2. It is possible to convert the old flat files into the XML file using the Convert Performance.py script as described here: performance_convert_program.
Interbull Centre will be happy to provide assistance and support with the Convert Performance.py script, in order to stimulate countries to develop their own procedure for producing XML input files.

4.2.1 Xml Performance file format

The XML file format used for performance data contains two distinct sections called traits and animals respectively.

The traits section corresponds roughly to the previous parameter file (i.e. 603 format) and the animals section contains the data from the previous performance file plus the data in the ET file and the officials' files (i.e. 602 + 604 + 605 format).

The Traits Section

The traits section consists of a sequence of trait definition nodes. Each of those trait definition nodes has a header (the XML node) that defines the default values for some attributes of the trait (those attributes not usually specified per animal, i.e TYPE, EBREED, RCOU, mpe, etc) and a unique identifier to be able to refer to this trait definition from the animals (in attribute IDX). The trait definition node contains a sequence of nodes named "e" (short for environment effect) that defines ETYPE, COL and VALUETYPE for each environment effect that the trait consists of. The ETYPE attribute has to have a value of "R", "F" or "X" corresponding to random, fixed and covariate effects respectively. The COL attribute is the "name" of the effect: it has to be a string starting with an ASCII letter; after that, ASCII letters, digits, underscore and '-' are allowed (anything else is not allowed). Moreover, the effect's name should not be longer than 10 bytes. The list of suggested names for effects' names is available here: Table 6 - Abbreviations. The VALUETYPE attribute specifies the type of the values for this effect.

The Animals Section

The animals section consists of a sequence of nodes named "a" (short for animal), each representing an animal, that have a header containing attributes id (for the AIID), twin (for the TWIN value of this animal) and et (for the ET value of this animal). Each of the animal nodes contains a sequence of trait reference nodes (also called trait definition nodes). These trait reference nodes has a header containing attributes like herid, status and dep, but also the IDX attribute that explicitly references the trait definition with the same IDX attribute. Trait reference nodes contain a sequence of "e" nodes corresponding to the similar sequence of "e" nodes defined in the referenced (via the IDX attribute) trait definition. These "e" nodes simply contain the value of the environmental effect with an ETYPE/COL/VALUETYPE of the "e" node in the corresponding position in the trait definition. The value of the environmental effect must be <= 10 bytes.

The special situation when an animal has no associated performance data, only ET status, is handled by having an animal "a" node without any contained trait reference nodes (i.e. only the header) and also without the twin attribute. There is a restriction that "a" nodes must contain at least one other node, this is handled by inserting a placeholder node "empty" under ET "a" nodes. For an explicit example, see the animal with id="LIMCZEM000575463142" below.

Example

The above description is perhaps made clearer by using a minimal example:

<interbull type="performance" subtype="interbeef" version="2.0">
  <traits>
    <trait TYPE="aww" EBREED="LIM" RCOU="CZE" ref="210" h2="11" cgn="1"
           twin="N" dam="Y" mpe="Y" pev="N" IDX="aww1">
      <e ETYPE="R" COL="HYS" VALUETYPE="Int"/>
      <e ETYPE="F" COL="ASEXTWIN" VALUETYPE="Int"/>
      <e ETYPE="F" COL="AACA" VALUETYPE="Int"/>
      <e ETYPE="F" COL="YEAR" VALUETYPE="Int"/>
    </trait>
  </traits>

  <animals>
    <a id="LIMCZEM000555163041" twin="1" et="0">
      <trait herid="CZE004200053400" dep="279.0" IDX="aww1">
        <e>0</e>
        <e>1</e>
        <e>3</e>
        <e>2012</e>
      </trait>
    </a>
    <a id="LIMCZEM000575463142" et="1">
      <empty/>
    </a>
    <a id="LIMCZEM000575163043">
      <trait TYPE="aww" status="05" Drel="35" Mrel="35" IDX="aww1"/>
    </a>
    <a id="LIMCZEM000123163044" twin="1" et="0">
      <trait herid="CZE004200053400" dep="222.0" status="05" Drel="55" Mrel="55" IDX="aww1">
        <e>0</e>
        <e>2</e>
        <e>3</e>
        <e>2002</e>
      </trait>
    </a>
  </animals>
</interbull>

In the above example, we can see a trait definition with IDX "aww1" that is of TYPE aww, EBREED LIM, etc that have four environment effects HYS/ASEXTWIN/AACA/YEAR.

In the animals section, the first animal (LIMCZEM000555163041) has a trait reference to that definition with herid, status and dep specified and the corresponding environment effects value 0/1/3/2012. The second animal (LIMCZEM000575463142) demonstrates the special situation when an animal has ET status, but no performance data. The third animal (LIMCZEM000575163043) shows when an animal has official status, but no performance data. The situation that an animal has both performance data and official status is demonstrated in the fourth animal (LIMCZEM000123163044).

Final Remarks

4.2.2 Old Performance flat files format

General principles for file preparation:

4.2.2.1 The performance file (602)

All animals with a performance must have a line as an animal in the 601 pedigree file. The performance file must be constructed in agreement with the 601 file and be consistent with the international identification of the animal.
It is expected that countries participating with data support the ICAR guidelines for beef recording.
As indicated in the ICAR recommendations, any group of animals kept for the same purpose and at the same location shall be regarded as a whole herd. For a performance record to be considered an official record, the whole herd as defined above must be recorded. Each herd is identified with 15 digits identification, coded as characters:

All performance traits are associated with their environmental effects and complementary information (one observation line per measurement) as described in Table 2.

4.2.2.1.1 Special information for calving traits

Calving traits present a direct and a maternal genetic component. For some traits, such as calving ease and birth weight preparation of a file602 can be difficult because of the absence of an AIID for a dead calf. Given that Interbeef is an international data sharing platform, it is absolutely necessary that records are exchanged in a standardized way and that data quality must be ensured at the best of our capacity. Based on these two principles, there is a strong intention to keep phenotypic records under a universal format capable of handling all possible traits (files 602 and 603). Likewise, only valid AIIDs are admitted into the system (file 601).

Phenotypic records for calving traits will therefore be reported as maternal traits (the AIID in the file602 will refer to the DAM ID) with the necessary information to fit a model for the direct trait added in the "environmental effects" fields of file 602. This includes additional information about the calf, such as sire of the calf, sex of the calf, calf birth date and calf ID (when available). Consider, for instance, a record for calving ease (cae). In file 602, a typical record could be reported as shown in Table 2 and in session "Examples performance and parameter files" - calving traits.

When calf additional information is reported in File 602 (Table 2), the equivalent parameter File 603 should also refer to the same variables. Although calf additional information is reported in the "environmental effects" field, it is not necessarily intended to be fit as an effect into the statistical model for the maternal trait. Since records on File 602 refer to the calf's DAM, in the parameter file the type of effects refers to the model for the maternal trait only. Therefore, variables that are reported in File 602 to be used in the direct trait model should be labelled as "C" in the effect type field, so it is clear they are not fixed or random effects, nor covariates in the maternal trait model.

In the example in session "Examples performance and parameter file" for calving traits, calf sex, parity, season and age at calving are included as fixed effects (effect type "F" in File 603), while calf sire, calf birth date and calf AIID are labelled as effect type "C", which means they will not be fitted in the maternal trait model, but used for modelling the direct effect. For instance, calf AIID, calf's sire and calf's birthdate would be needed to create a pedigree structure for the direct trait analyses.

4.2.2.1.2 File format performance file

Table 2: Performance file (602 file format)

Field description

Label

Format

Starting byte

Ending byte

Fielda

Note

Example aww

Example cae

Record type

RTYPE

Char

1

3

3

602

602

Trait

FCODE

Char

5

7

3

I

AWW

CAE

Breed of evaluation

EBREED

Char

9

11

3

II

LIM

LIM

Country sending information

RCOU

Char

13

15

3

III

FRA

FRA

International ID

Referring to the animal itself

Referring to the dam of the calf

Breed of the animal

ABREED

Char

17

19

3

II

LIM

LIM

Country of birth

AIDC

Char

20

22

3

III

FRA

FRA

Sex

ASEX

Char

23

23

1

IV

F

F

ID code of the animal

AID

Char

24

35

12

V

008795005065

008795005065

Twinning

TWI

Int

37

37

1

VI

1

1

Embryo transfer

ET

Int

39

39

1

VII

0

1

Herd

HERID

Char

41

55

15

VIII

FRA000123456789

FRA000123456789

Dependent variable

Y

Int

57

66

10

IX

245

0

Number of environmental effects included in the national model

NENV

Int

68

70

3

XI

4

4

Environmental effect (n)b

ENV(n)

Char

72

20

XII

2

b Repeat this field n times (n = 1,…,NENV), adding one (1) empty space between fields; contemporary group should come as the first effect

Notes

I

See trait codes in Table 5 (abbreviations)

II

See Reference section for Breed codes

III

See Reference section for Country codes – ISO 3166 Alpha-3

IV

Sex : M for Male, F for Female only; U for unknown

V

Identification Number in Interbull Format : Alpha-numeric codes only, Right justified, Left blanks being filled with '0'

VI

1 = single birth ; 2 = twin birth

VII

0 = no ET ; 1 = ET
Please note :For calving traits, the embryo transfer fleld in the 602 file is related the the calf and not the the dam itself.

VIII

Herd identification number corresponding to the herd included in the contemporary group. Format: 3 character country code + 12 digits

IX

Value observed for the trait in question.
Ex:
animal weaning weight ; 245 Kg (no decimals)
calving traits; calf born dead =0;alive=1

XI

Defines the remaining number of fields in the record. Additional fields = NENV

XII

Value of the respective environmental effect for the current record. contemporary group (CG) should come as the first effect for both calving and weaning weight and then comes the trait specific env. effects
Ex.
Animal weaning weight
env1=CG
env2=Season (2(out of 4 classes))
env3= Birth weight (45 kg without decimals)
env4=Sex of calf (1=M,2=F)

Calving traits:
env1=CG
env2=Sire of the calf
env3=Sex of the calf (1=M,2=F)
env4=Calf birthdate YYYYMMDD
env5=Calf id (if not available use UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU)
env6=Actual env. effect to be fitted in the model (Parity)
env7= Actual env.effect to be fitted in the model (Age at calving)
env 8= Actual env.effect to be fitted in the model (Season)

4.2.2.2 The parameter file (603)

The parameter file (603) contains the name of two variables and the names of the environmental effects for each trait included in the performance file (602). This file must be provided together with the 602 file.

4.2.2.2.1 File format parameter file

Field description

Label

Format

Starting byte

Field Lengtha

Note

Example aww

Example cae

Record type

RTYPE

Char

1

3

603

603

Trait

FCODE

Char

5

3

I

AWW

CAE

Breed of evaluation

EBREED

Char

9

3

II

LIM

LIM

Country sending information

RCOU

Char

13

3

III

FRA

FRA

Reference age or class

REF

Int

17

5

IV

200

99999

Trait heritability

H2

Int

23

3

V

25

10

Minimum number of observation per CG

CGN

Int

27

10

5

5

Twins

TWIN

Char

38

1

VIII

Y

Y

Maternal (genetic) effect fitted in the model

DAM

Char

40

1

VIII

N

N

Maternal permanent environmental effect fitted in the model

MPE

Char

42

1

VIII

N

N

Permanent environmental effect fitted in the model

PEV

Char

44

1

VIII

Y

Y

Number of environmental effects included in the national model

NENV

Int

46

3

IX

4

7

Environmental effect (n)b

ENV(n)

Char

50

20

X

HY

HYS

How ENV(n) is fitted in the model (type of effect)b

ENVT(n)

Char

71

1

VII

F

F

b Repeat these fields n times (n = 1,…,NENV), adding one (1) empty space between fields; contemporary group should come as the first effect

Notes

I

Use the trait codes in Table 5 (abbreviations)

II

See Reference section for Breed codes

III

See Reference section for Country codes – ISO 3166 Alpha-3

IV

Reference value (age or class) used to adjust the dependent variable. Ex. reference national weaning age = 200 days. For missing values use 99999.

V

Trait heritability used in the national evaluation, expressed in a scale from 1-100

VII

Describes if the effect should be fitted as a fixed effect, a random effect or as a covariable in the model. Use the type of effect codes in Table 4 (abbreviations) For calving : Variables that are reported in File602 to be used in the direct trait model should be labeled as "C" in the effect type field, so it is clear they are not fixed or random effects, neither covariates in the maternal trait model.

VIII

Declare if this specific effect (TWIN,DAM, MPE or PEV) is fitted into the national model (Y = yes; N = no)

IX

Defines the remaining number of fields in the record. Additional fields = 2*(NENV)

X

Describes the nth environmental effect:Use the environmental effect codes in Table 5 (abbreviations). In case the trait is not yet included on Table 4, describe it briefly (20 characters) In case of polynomial effects, use the effect code followed by the order. Ex. (SEAS)2 should be coded SEAS2 In case of interactions, combine the effect codes in the same field. Ex. (AAWG)*(ASEX) should be coded as AAWGASEX

4.2.2.2.2 Examples performance and parameter files

Animal weaning weight

Example performance file for aww:
602 AWW LIM CZE LIMCZEM000000181517 1 0 CZE008101626410        266   4                13118                    1                    3                 1995

The related parameter file (603) to the performance file (602) above should look like this:
603 AWW LIM CZE 210   11  1          N Y Y N 4   HYS                 R ASEXTWIN             F Age_of_Dam           F Birth_Year           F

Explanation 602 file for aww:
 602 = Record type;
 AWW = Trait;
 LIM = Breed;
 CZE = Country sending information;
 LIMCZEM000000181517 = Aid;
 1 = Twin_info;
 0 = Et_info; 
 CZE008101626410 = herdid;
 266 = Dependent variable;
 4 = Number of env. effects (it has to be the same as the number of env. effects in the parameter file 603);
 13118 = Env. effect 1 (it has to be related to env. effect 1 in the 603 file, in this case HYS);
 1 = Env. effect 2 (it has to be related to env. effect 2 in the 603 file, in this case ASEXTWIN);
 3 = Env. effect 3 (it has to be related to env. effect 3 in the 603 file, in this case Age_of_Dam);
 1995 = Env. effect 4 (it has to be related to env. effect 4 in the 603 file, in this case Birth_Year).

Explanation 603 file:
 603 = Record type;
 AWW = Trait;
 LIM = Breed;
 CZE = Country sending information;
 210 = Reference age or class;
 11 = Trait heritability;
 1 = Minimum number of observations per CG;
 N = Twin info;
 Y = Maternal (genetic) effect fitted in the model;
 Y = Maternal permanent env. effect fitted in the model;
 N = Permanent env. effect fitted in the model;
 4 = Number of env. effects (it has to be the same number as in the performance file 602);
 HYS = Env. effect 1 (it has to be related to env. effect 1 in the performance file 602);
 R = how env. effect 1 is fitted in the model (type of effect); 
 ASEXTWIN = env. effect 2 (it has to be related to env. effect 2 in the performance file 602);
 F = how env. effect 2 is fitted in the model (type of effect); 
 Age_of_Dam = env. effect 3 (it has to be related to env. effect 3 in the performance file 602);
 F = how env. effect 3 is fitted in the model (type of effect); 
 Birth_Year = env effect 4 (it has to be related to env. effect 4 in the performance file 602);
 F = how env. effect 4 is fitted in the model (type of effect).

Cavling traits

Example performance file for cae:
602 CAE LIM CZE LIMCZEF000000260705 1 0 CZE008101626410       1      8                18256  LIMFRAM001984004136                    1              19950401 LIMCZEM000000181517                    1                    3                 1995

Explanation 602 file for cae:
 602 = Record type;
 CAE = Trait;
 LIM = Breed;
 CZE = Country sending information;
 LIMCZEF000000260705 = Aid (referring to the DAM of the calf);
 1 = Twin_info (related the the calf);
 0 = Et_info (related the the calf);
 CZE008101626410 = Herdid;
 1 = Dependent variable;
 8 = Number of env. effects (it has to be the same as the number of env. effects in the parameter file 603);
 18256 = Env. effect 1 (it has to be related to env. effect 1 in the 603 file, in this case HYS);
 LIMFRAM001984004136 = Env. effect 2 ( it has to be related to env. effect 2 in the 603 file, in this case CASI);
 1 = Env. effect 3 (it has to be related to env. effect 3 in the 603 file, in this case CSEX ==> 1=Male, 2=Female,3=Unknown);
 19950401 = Env. effect 4 (it has to be related to env. effect 4 in the 603 file, in this case CABI);
 LIMCZEM000000181517 = Env.effect 5 (it has to be related to env.effect 5 in the 603 file, in this case CAID);
 1 = Env. effect 6 (it has to be related to env.effect 6 in the 603 file, in this case ASEXTWIN);
 3 = Env.effect 7 (it has to be related to env.effect 7 in the 603 file, in this case Age_of_Dam);
 1995 = Env.effect 8 (it has to be related to env.effect 8 in the 603 file, in this case Birth_Year).

603 CAE LIM CZE 1     9   1          N Y Y N 8   HYS                  R CASI                 C CSEX                 C CABI                 C CAID                 C ASEXTWIN             F Age_of_Dam           F Birth_Year           F

Explanation 603 file for cae:
 603 = Record type;
 CAE = Trait;
 LIM = Breed;
 CZE = Country sending information;
 1 = Reference age or class;
 9 = Trait heritability;
 1 = Minimum number of observations per CG;
 N = Twin info;
 Y = Maternal (genetic) effect fitted in the model;
 Y = Maternal permanent env. effect fitted in the model;
 N = Permanent env.effects fitted in the model;
 8 = number of env. effects (it has to be the same number as in the performance file 602);
 HYS = env.effect 1 (it has to be related to env.effect 1 in the performance file 602);
 R = how the env. effect is fitted into the model (type of effect);
 CASI = env. effect 2 (it has to be related to env. effect 2 in the performance file 602);
 C = how env. effect 2 is fitted in the model (type of effect);
 CSEX = env. effect 3 (it has to be related to env. effect 3 in the performance file 602);
 C = how env. effect 3 is fitted in the model (type of effect);
 CABI = env. effect 4 (it has to be related to env. effect 4 in the performance file 602);
 C = how env. effect 4 is fitted in the model (type of effect);
 CAID = env. effect 5 (it has to be related to env. effect 5 in the performance file 602);
 C = how env. effect 5 is fitted in the model (type of effect);
 ASEXTWIN = env. effect 6 (it has to be related to env. effect 6 in the performance file 602);
 F = how env. effect 6 is fitted in the model (type of effect); 
 Age_of_Dam = env. effect 7 (it has to be related to env. effect 7 in the performance file 602);
 F = how env. effect 7 is fitted in the model (type of effect);
 Birth_year = env. effect 8 (it has to be related to env. effect 8 in the performance file 602);
 F = how env. effect 8 is fitted in the model (type of effect).

4.2.2.3 ET file (604)

The ET file (604) contains a list of ET IDs which will be included in the pedigree used for the international evaluation. A country willing to get international breeding values for ET animals based on parent average will have to provide the file at each evaluation. This file is not a mandatory file. Please note: For calving traits, the embryo transfer field in the 602 files is related to the calf and not the dam itself.

4.2.2.3.1. File format ET file

Table 4: 604 file format (total length = 27) ET file

Field description

Label

Format

Start

Length

Statusa

Note

Example

Record type

RTYPE

Char

1

3

M

604

International ID of ANIMAL

Breed of the animal

ABREED

Char

5

3

M

I

LIM

Country of birth

AIDC

Char

8

3

M

II

FRA

Sex

ASEX

Char

11

1

M

III

F

ID code of the animal

AID

Char

12

12

M

IV

8795005065

Country sending information

Country

COU

Char

25

3

M

I

FRA

aStatus: M = Mandatory, O = Optional

Note

I

See Reference section for Breed codes

II

See Reference Section for Country codes – ISO 3166 Alpha-3

III

Sex : M for Male, F for Female only

IV

Identification Number in Interbull Format : Right justified, Leading blanks filled with Zero (“0”)

4.2.2.4 OFCL file (605)

The OFCL file (605) contains a list of IDs of animals with official proof in the participating country. According to a new proposal for the publication policy, if the national proof of an animal is considered as official, the international predicted breeding value of the animal on the scale of that country would be publishable.

4.2.2.4.1 File format maternal and direct Official file

Table 5: 605 file format (total length = 31) Official file

Field description

Label

Format

Start

Length

Statusa

Note

Example

Record type

RTYPE

Char

1

3

M

605

International ID of ANIMAL

Breed of the animal

ABREED

Char

5

3

M

I

LIM

Country of birth

AIDC

Char

8

3

M

II

FRA

Sex

ASEX

Char

11

1

M

III

F

ID code of the animal

AID

Char

12

12

M

IV

8795005065

National reliability

Reliability

REL

Int

25

2

65

Status of bull

STATUS

Int

28

2

M

V

05

Country sending information

Country

COU

Char

31

3

M

II

FRA

aStatus: M = Mandatory, O = Optional

Note

I

See Reference section for Breed codes

II

See Reference Section for Country codes – ISO 3166 Alpha-3

III

Sex : M for Male, F for Female only

IV

Identification Number in Interbull Format : Right justified, Leading blanks filled with Zero (“0”)

V

00 = unknown
05 = natural service bull (stock bull)
10 = bull randomly sampled through an official AI scheme
15 = young bull, genomically tested, not yet selected for AI use
20 = other bull, exclusion from International evaluation unless type
of proof is “21” ( only dairy)

4.3 Crossbred Animals

At the combined Interbeef Technical- and Working group meeting in Padova (Italy, October 2018), it was decided to include crossbred animals in the animal weaning weight evaluation for all breeds of evaluation (HER, AAN, SIM, LIM and CHA). This means that performance records for crossbred animals in the performance file will be included in the international genetic evaluation. A calf with sire breed = breed of evaluation (i.g LIM, CHA, SIM, HER or AAN) and dam breed = any other breed is considered to be crossbreed and should have breed code XXX (i,g XXXIRLM123456122333). The pedigree records for the crossbred animals should be uploaded in IDEA as usual.

5. ABBREVIATIONS

Table 6: List of abbreviations used in Interbull files and documentation: Table 6 - Abbreviations

REFERENCES

ISO 3166 Country Codes: ISO 3166 Country Codes
Breed Codes for International Genetic Evaluation of dairy and beef cattle: International breed codes

Guideline to Form Beef: http://www.icar.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Interbeef-Form-BEEF-guideline.pdf

Form_Beef: http://www.icar.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Interbeef-Form-BEEF.pdf

public/beef_guidelines (last edited 2021-12-14 14:31:56 by SimoneSavoia)