Jersey Jargon, March 2019

Jersey breeders have seen the acronyms JPI, GJPI, JUI and GJUI in the Predicted Transmitting Ability section of performance pedigrees and progeny reports from the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) for many years. Now, they may also see the acronyms URPI and URUI on these reports for some animals.

So, what do these acronyms stand for? They are abbreviations used for the indices Unregistered Performance Index (URPI) and Unregistered Udder Index (URUI). They are used for unregistered animals—Jersey females and males that are permanently identified but do not qualify for registry status in the AJCA herd book. They are equivalent to Jersey Performance Index (JPI) and Jersey Udder Index (JUI), for animals with HR and GC status.

The AJCA Board of Directors approved the distinction at their November 2018 meeting so Jersey breeders can quickly differentiate genetic evaluations for HR and GC animals versus unregistered animals.
As with Jersey Performance Index, URPI will also be accompanied with a Reliability.

Why Unregistered?

Animals that are not recorded in the AJCA herd book with HR or GC status are identified as unregistered. Their registration names will include a UR prefix and a GC suffix of {0}.

There are several instances Jersey breeders may have unregistered animals in their herds. Most commonly, animals from unknown sires and dams are recorded as UR animals.

Females: If a female does not have at least one known parent (sire or dam), she is ineligible for HR or GC status. She will receive genetic evaluations for URPI and URUI. If one of her parents is known, she will be recorded at the GC1 level and have the suffix {1} in her name. She will receive genetic evaluations for both JPI and JUI.

Bulls: Bulls that are eligible for registration with GC status are initially recorded as unregistered. Their names will include the UR prefix and corresponding {0} suffix.

After these bulls have been genotyped and declared free from undesirable non-Jersey traits, they will receive the appropriate GC status. Bulls may be registered in the AJCA herd book starting at GC3 when they have Breed Base Representation (BBR) values of 87 or greater and their sire and dam have been genotyped as well. These bulls will receive a genetic evaluation for Genomic JPI and Genomic JUI. Effective November 1, 2019, these minimums increase to GC4 with a BBR of 100.

The bottom line: if you see URPI and URUI on an animal’s pedigree and progeny report, it has been recorded in the AJCA herd book as unregistered.