Only those cattle that meet the standards are registered.

-> Bulls: at the time of registration, bulls are rated by the Herd book technicians and a blood sample is taken to guarantee its parentage and to learn its type for muscular hypertrophy (mh).
-> Cows: cows receive their first Herd book grade at three years, and then a definitive grade at 5 years.

The Herd Book grade corresponds to a combination of the phenotype of the animal (with respect to breed standards, docility and functional aptitudes).

 
One of the principle tasks of the UPRA Aubrac is to rate the Aubrac reproducers in order to better orient their utilization. For the rating of cattle three types of elements are taken into account:

  -> 1. The overall Herd Book grade (that appears as NG)
  -> 2. The reproduction qualities (age at first birth, Interval between births and range of births)
  -> 3. The estimated genetic level (IBOVAL* indexing)

Goals

The rating serves as a combined indicator that allows for the classification of the cattle in two principle groups: -> Those whose products must be conserved as purebred for the renewal of reproducer capital (mothers of calves, mothers of bulls, and mothers of Elite Bulls) -> Those whose results do not allow their potential to be determined (cows with less than three births) or whose low level of quality suggests that their products should be sold as meat (not registered, with Provisional Registration Certificate, and Service Mothers, in particular).

	Observation: Classification is fully used and even more pertinent when the animals belong to stations with growth control that are connected. It is this system (growth control and connection) that provides the best lessons for the cattle raiser and the breed. In effect, it allows a much more precise and complete evaluation of the potential of the animals. In this way the quality and effectiveness of the selection is improved, not only at the level of the herd, but also at the level of the breed.

 THE FOLLOW-UP AND PROMOTION OF THE REGISTERED AUBRAC CATTLE,
       A RELEVANT, RELIABLE AND RIGOROUS LABOUR.

RIGOUR OF THE GENEALOGIES:

The propagation is carried out above all through the males and more than anything else, by natural service.
Therefore, the parentage of the registered bulls is systematically verified (until 2002 by the hemotype method, since then using the DNA method).
As far as the bulls at the station, they are subject to a complete verification of parentage.

RELEVANCE AND VALORISATION:

-> Permits an official and serious identification of the best cattle registered.
-> Permits the effective improvement of the selection of the Aubrac race.

Thanks to genetic transmission, the ranking of the cows based on hereditary characteristics guarantees an improvement in the breed qualities for the station operators.

At the end, the diverse tools used (evaluation, rating table, and the IBOVAL* indexing) provides a great quantity of information, as diverse as it is varied, that is put to use by the Union and the UPRA Aubrac, on the one hand for better knowledge of the genealogies of the registered animals, and on the other hand, for the promotion of the propagation and use of the best cattle.

In other words, the use of registered animals from known stations and genealogies constitutes insurance and a guarantee for the quality of the technical and economic results of the cattle.

Two categories exist:

- First category: inferior cows
rated as Service mothers present the lowest level of qualities. They should be used preferably for crossbreeding and selling their products as meat.

- Second category: support cows for renewal. They possess the three best ratings (Mothers of Heifers, Mothers of Bulls, and Mothers of Elite Bulls). They are located in the upper half of the quality list and must be mated as a priority within the breed to assure renovation.

-> Mothers of Heifers (also called "RECOGNIZED")
The daughters of cows rated as Mothers of heifers can guarantee the renovation of the cattle.

-> Mothers of Bulls (also called "RECOMMENDED")
Cows whose results allow for the assumption that their offspring can be used as reproducers.

-> Mothers of Elite Bulls (also called "RECOMMENDED*")
These are the cows with the best yield due to their results (reproduction and quality of their offspring in particular).

Renovation must be carried out principally through the offspring, both male and female, that are born of these cows.

- Rating of bulls used in natural service:
The bulls registered and rated by the Herd Book technicians initially hold the rating of REGISTERED. After observing their on-farm performance, if they are recognized as "improvers" thanks to the IBOVAL* index, they may be classified as Recommended Weaned Bull Calves.

- Rating of the bulls in the Station:
After evaluation in the station, the bulls will have:
 - Controlled Registration rating,
OR
- Recognized Controlled Reproducer rating, if they are considered better than the average in their group.

Later, by means of the IBOVAL* index, these bulls may eventually be recognized as Recommended Weaned Bull calves.

Bulls for Insemination of Cows: chosen in the station, these bulls hold the rating Authorized for Artificial Insemination.
In exceptional cases, if a noteworthy reproducer (used in natural service) was identified using the IBOVAL* index, this bull may, under very strict conditions, be used for propagation by means of artificial insemination.