Angus Year and Alphabet

[SFFarms]

I have noticed alot of angus farms uses a system of identification with the year born and a letter from the alphabet. Like this years calves born would be an V. And 2007 T and 2008 U. So my question is there a reason some of these farms use this? Or why do they do that? Maybe some of you angus guys can help me with my question.

 

[jkwilson]

Not just Angus. Most breeds do. Herd ID numbers stay small and prominent animals are easy to remember. Virtually every Hereford breeder knows who 29F and 19D are. A lot of folks give registered names that start with the year letter too.

Year Letter Codes, Letter = Year of Birth
(I, O, Q, and Z are not used.)
A=1991 K=2000 V=2009
B=1992 L=2001 W=2010
C=1993 M=2002 X=2011
D=1994 N=2003 Y=2012
E=1995 P=2004 A=2013
F=1996 R=2005 B=2014
G=1997 S=2006 C=2015
H=1998 T=2007 D=2016
J=1999 U=2008 E=2017

 

[SFFarms]

Thanks JK,

That all makes sense just one of those things i always wondered about. Never knew other breeds used that system makes things for everyone alot simpler.

 

[S&S Farms]

I thought that you didnt use V either since it is used by vets


Jeff

 

[CPL]

Jeff you're correct. V is skipped. 2009 is W.

 

[LoveMoo11]

I don't think its just Angus, I think its just a method some people use. It is also recommended by the American Dairy Goat Association for tattooing kids, using the letter assigned to the year then the birth number.

 

[dun]

Not all associations use the same letter code. Boer goat association letter for 2009 is Y. I always thought it was a standard since it's called the international year code.

 

[S&S Farms]

Jeff you're correct. V is skipped. 2009 is W.

Thank goodness or I have forty calves tagged incorrect

 

[fitz]

Jeff you're correct. V is skipped. 2009 is W.

Thank goodness or I have forty calves tagged incorrect

Haven't done forty, but was sitting here thinking the same thing.

 

[buymorebulls]

Although it is best to consult individual breed association rules (there is variation) on identification, the following is from the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) guidelines:


APPENDIX 2.2, INTERNATIONAL YEAR/LETTER DESIGNATIONS FOR ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION

International letters are designated for each year of birth. This option is easy to use in conjunction with numbers. For example, M001 and M002 might be used to indicate the first and second calf born in the year 2002.

A 1969 U 1986 N 2003
B 1970 W 1987 P 2004
C 1971 X 1988 R 2005
D 1972 Y 1989 S 2006
E 1973 Z 1990 T 2007
F 1974 A 1991 U 2008
G 1975 B 1992 W 2009
H 1976 C 1993 X 2010
J 1977 D 1994 Y 2011
K 1978 E 1995 Z 2012
L 1979 F 1996 A 2013
M 1980 G 1997 B 2014
N 1981 H 1998 C 2015
P 1982 J 1999 D 2016
R 1983 K 2000 E 2017
S 1984 L 2001 F 2018
T 1985 M 2002 G 2019
The letters I, O, Q, and V are not used.

 

[lakading]

Is Z really skipped as well? Or is it just I, O, Q, and V?

 

[Cowdirt]

Not all associations use the same letter code. Boer goat association letter for 2009 is Y. I always thought it was a standard since it's called the international year code.

I agree Dun. It doesn't just apply to livestock. For many yrs. before we had upc (Universal Product Code) labels on product, this code was used by manufacturers of diverse products for tracking purposes. The reason that some letters of the alphabet are not used is that many product numbers were stenciled in metal and they were too difficult to discern one from the other.

 

[dun]

Not all associations use the same letter code. Boer goat association letter for 2009 is Y. I always thought it was a standard since it's called the international year code.

I agree Dun. It doesn't just apply to livestock. For many yrs. before we had upc (Universal Product Code) labels on product, this code was used by manufacturers of diverse products for tracking purposes. The reason that some letters of the alphabet are not used is that many product numbers were stenciled in metal and they were too difficult to discern one from the other.

I remember too well trying to write the code to read the 5 or 6 semi-standard barcodes. Now the problem is that everything has so many barcodes on it sometimes it's hard to figure out which one is the UPC and which is the manufacterers numbers or some other goofy designator

 

[redcowsrule33]

Is Z really skipped as well? Or is it just I, O, Q, and V?

Nope, Z is used.

A 1969 U 1986 N 2003
B 1970 W 1987 P 2004
C 1971 X 1988 R 2005
D 1972 Y 1989 S 2006
E 1973 Z 1990 T 2007
F 1974 A 1991 U 2008
G 1975 B 1992 W 2009
H 1976 C 1993 X 2010
J 1977 D 1994 Y 2011
K 1978 E 1995 Z 2012
L 1979 F 1996 A 2013
M 1980 G 1997 B 2014
N 1981 H 1998 C 2015
P 1982 J 1999 D 2016
R 1983 K 2000 E 2017
S 1984 L 2001 F 2018
T 1985 M 2002 G 2019
The letters I, O, Q, and V are not used.

 

[Australian]

British and Euro breedshere in Australia use the year letter code. 2008 was D and 2009 is E. Bos Indicus breeds don't use it.
I have been using letters of the alphabet with my Brahmans since I started,just by naming them with that year letter. I've been through the alphabet once and back to H this year.
My South Devons are named with whatever the year letter is.

 

[CWT Angus]

Jeff you're correct. V is skipped. 2009 is W.

Thank goodness or I have forty calves tagged incorrect

You startled me too! Correct 2009 is W.

 

[Horseless]

I don't believe that the Angus Assoc. requires that you use it. When you enter animals into a computer system, you need something to differentiate animals born in different years. BYMOREBULLS has it correct in his post.