Crikey...
Well if you make a beef dairy cross - does the relative genetic merit of the sire and dam really matter?
I thought we had a consistent coding/straw packing system in this country (NZ) - then started using imported stuff and semen packed by other companies. I can't always pick the breed from the straw any more - but liked it when using lots of bright colours so that I could glance at the inseminator and know for sure (without squinting to read the visible part of the code) that I'd selected the right one for that cow out of the four I was holding between my teeth.