Glossary of agriculture

This glossary of agriculture is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in agriculture, its sub-disciplines, and related fields, including horticulture, animal husbandry, agribusiness, and agricultural policy. For other glossaries relevant to agricultural science, see Glossary of biology, Glossary of ecology, Glossary of environmental science, and Glossary of botanical terms.

A
abattoir: See.

aboiteau:

acaricide: A intended to kill or incapacitate members of the arthropod subclass Acari, which includes ticks and mites, either by targeting adults or by preventing the growth and development of their eggs or larvae. Acaricides which are specifically useful against ticks may also be known as ixodicides and those which are specific to mites may be known as miticides. Though ticks and mites are not technically insects, in common usage acaricides are sometimes referred to as.

acre (ac): A unit of area traditionally defined as the area of one (66 feet) by one (660 feet), equivalent to 43560 sqft, or about 0.40.

acreage: A quantity of land; a number of considered collectively, united by their ownership, management, usage, geographical location, or some other unifying feature.

acre-foot: A customary unit of volume defined as the volume of one of surface area to a depth of one foot, commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water or soil resources. One acre-foot is equal to 43560 ft3.

adjuvant: A chemical compound added to a formulation to increase its efficacy or safety.

aerial seeding: A type of in which large quantities of seed are dropped from flying over crop fields. Aircraft can be useful for quickly seeding extremely large expanses of land, or wherever the terrain makes conventional ground-based seeding methods difficult or impractical, e.g. in marshy or flooded areas, where they are commonly used to sow.

aeroponics: The of plants with the roots suspended in an air or mist environment rather than in soil or a solid, usually inside a closed or partially closed chamber where the properties of the air can be easily controlled. Plants are typically supported by the chamber itself or with foam supports or. Sometimes only the roots are inside the growth chamber; stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits may or may not be. The primary benefits of aeroponics are increased gas exchange in the and reduced access by pests and pathogens borne by solid or liquid growth media. It is often practiced in research contexts. Aeroponics is sometimes considered a subclass of, since water is still delivered to the plant via atomized droplets from a mist sprayer, though unlike conventional hydroponics the roots are not continuously suspended in flowing water.

agrarian system: The dynamic set of economic and technological factors that affect practices in a particular region.

agrarianism: A social or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society and the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker. Agrarianism argues in favor of as a way of life that can shape ideal social values.

agribusiness: The business of agricultural production, including the entire range of activities and disciplines encompassed by modern food and fiber production chains and those agents and institutions which influence them.

agricultural aircraft:

agricultural cooperative:

Any association of farmers or agricultural businesses who voluntarily pool their resources in order to meet their common agricultural needs and goals by cooperating in a jointly owned enterprise. Agricultural cooperatives may be distinguished between "service" cooperatives, which provide inputs for agricultural production (seeds, fertilizers, fuels, etc.) or transportation and marketing services to members who run their farms individually, and "production" cooperatives, in which members run their farms jointly using shared land, machinery, or other resources; an example of the latter is.

agricultural cycle: The annual or seasonal cycle of activities related to the production of a particular agricultural product, especially the growth and harvest of plant, inclusive of all steps normally involved in the complete process from initial preparations (e.g., , , and ) through sale and distribution of the finished product (e.g. , storage, packing, and marketing).

agricultural economics: A branch of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food, fiber, and other products of agriculture.

agricultural engineering: A branch of engineering concerned with agricultural production and processing. It combines elements of mechanical engineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, and food science, among other disciplines.

agricultural extension: The application of new knowledge and techniques obtained through scientific research to agricultural practices by educating farmers and agricultural communities, with the goals of improving the efficiency and of agriculture, improving living standards in rural areas, and raising awareness of environmental issues. The term encompasses a variety of educational and outreach activities organized by professional educators from a wide range of disciplines, often with emphasis on, land management,, food safety, and public health.

agricultural fencing: Any fence or barrier used to keep domestic or wild animals (or humans) or of an agricultural area. Fencing materials and designs vary widely depending on terrain and the kinds of animals they are intended to deter, though,, and are common. They must often be continuous for very long distances in order to completely surround farms or pastures. In many places, ranchers are required by law to build fences to enclose their grazing within designated ; in others, livestock are, and responsibility for fencing belongs to those who wish to prevent animals from accessing their land.

agricultural land: Any land devoted solely to, i.e. the deliberate and systematic reproduction of living organisms in order to produce commodities that can be used by humans. In the broadest sense, agricultural land may also include certain types of land which are used only partially or seasonally for agricultural purposes, such as and wild forests. Colloquially, the term is often used interchangeably with, , and , though these terms may also be considered technically distinct.

agricultural machinery: The mechanical or electrical tools, devices, and structures used in or any other type of agriculture. The broadest definition includes handheld power tools, but in general usage the term implies very large motorized machines, particularly and the many types of  which they tow and/or supply power to. The of agricultural tasks is a defining element of.

agricultural productivity: A measure of the economic productivity of a given quantity of (or any other ), typically expressed as the ratio of to inputs. In modern agricultural industries, "output" is often quantified as the market value of the agricultural product at the end of the production chain (i.e. immediately prior to its purchase by a consumer).

agricultural science:

agriculture: The science and art of plants, animals, or other organisms in order to produce any of a variety of products that can be used by humans, most commonly food, fibers, fuels, and raw materials.

agriculturist:

A professional in the science, practice, and management of and.

agritourism: Any primarily agricultural operation or activity that brings visitors to a or, either for direct-to-consumer sales (e.g. and "" operations), education, hospitality, recreation, or entertainment.

agrivoltaics: The simultaneous use of land area for both solar energy production and agriculture, by installing solar panels in the same spaces where crops are grown or animals are raised.

agrobiology: The study of plant nutrition and growth, especially as a means of increasing.

agroecology: The study of ecology as it pertains to agriculture, particularly the application of knowledge about ecological processes to agricultural production systems.

agroecosystem: An ecosystem that supports an agricultural production system, such as in a farm or garden; the network of that influences and is influenced by the human practice of. Agroecosystems are the basic unit of study in.

agroforestry: The combination of knowledge and practices of agriculture and forestry, resulting in a system of land use in which forest trees or shrubs are grown around or among agricultural or, with the goal of enhancing the functionality and of a  system. Agroforestry shares principles with but may involve complex ecological interactions between hundreds of species.

agrology: The branch of concerning the agricultural production of plants. The term is often used interchangeably with,, and agricultural soil science.

agronomy: The science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fiber, and land restoration.

algaculture: A specialized branch of involving the cultivation of algae, with the goal of producing any of a variety of products that can be used by humans, including food ingredients,, colorants and dyes, pharmaceuticals, and chemical feedstock.

animal engine: Any machine powered by an animal. Domestic animals, especially horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, and dogs, have frequently been trained by humans to provide power for various and operations such as and.

animal feed: See.

animal unit: A standard measure, based on feed requirements, used to combine various classes of according to size, weight, age, and intended use. On federal lands in the United States, one animal unit represents one mature,, , , horse, or , or five or , all over six months of age.fodder

animal-free agriculture:

Any agricultural practice or farming method that does not make use of animals or animal products, such as farmed animal. Animal-free agriculture may use or non-organic techniques.

apiculture:

The maintenance of colonies of bees, commonly in human-made beehives, by humans for any of a variety of purposes, including collecting honey or other products created by bees, pollinating crops, and breeding bees for sale. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary and a person who practices apiculture is called an apiarist or beekeeper.

aquaculture:

The of aquatic organisms in either freshwater or saltwater habitats, including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic plants, and others, with the goal of producing any of a variety of products that can be used by humans. Branches of aquaculture include,, and.

aquaponics:

arable land: Any land which is capable of producing viable agricultural in its present state, and which does not require substantial clearing or other apart from routine  operations. This may include both natural, unaltered landscapes that are fertile enough to immediately support agriculture, as well as land that has been made arable by previous modification and cultivation. Colloquially, the term is often used interchangeably with,, and , though these terms may also be considered technically distinct.

arboricide: A intended to kill trees, shrubs, or other woody plants. See also. The intentional or unintentional killing of trees.

artificial daylight supplementation:

artificial selection:

The process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively control the development of particular phenotypic traits in organisms by choosing which individual organisms will reproduce and create offspring. Artificial selection involves the deliberate exploitation of knowledge about genetics and reproductive biology in the hope of producing desirable characteristics in descendant organisms. It is widely practiced in, but it may also be unintentional and may produce unintended results.

assarting: The act of clearing forested land in order to prepare it for agriculture or other purposes.

B
backgrounding: The preparation of young for living in a by getting them accustomed to confinement facilities and.

bale: A large, cylindrical or rectangular bundle of compressed,, cotton, , or other plant or animal fibers which have been compacted and bound together by twine, wire, netting, or plastic wrap for easy movement and handling. Bales are usually made by machines known as. A unit of measurement of hay, equal to 10 or approximately 70 –.

barbed wire:

A type of consisting of two to five metal rungs or strands, each made from paired steel wires twisted together, with sharp, pointed, nail-like barbs attached at regular intervals. The barbs are intended to poke or scratch and wild animals, discouraging them from climbing or destroying the fence. Barbed wire is widely popular on rangeland and in many other contexts because it is much cheaper and easier to erect than alternative types of fencing.

barn: A large agricultural building serving any of a wide variety of purposes, especially as storage space for,, harvested , , or farm equipment or , or as a shelter to house.

barnyard: A fenced-in lot or pen adjacent to a, used especially to enclose livestock.

barrow: A young male domestic that has been castrated.

bearing acres: Agricultural land or on which plants are being cultivated and are of sufficient maturity to produce a commercially viable (even if they are not yet producing at their full capacity).

beef cattle: bred or raised specifically for their meat, known as, in contrast to cattle raised for other purposes, such as for or so that they can be employed as.

beekeeping: See.

biennial bearing:

billy goat: See.

bin burn: The discoloration and deterioration of harvested due to heat during long-term storage in bins.

biochar: A fine-grained, porous charcoal produced from organic matter via pyrolysis (i.e. in low-temperature, anoxic conditions) rather than standard combustion. It is often used as a soil amendment to increase soil fertility and sequester carbon.

biodynamic agriculture: A type of alternative agriculture which incorporates holistic ecological approaches and aspects of and but also emphasizes various esoteric perspectives, including spiritual and mystical beliefs about nature. The efficacy of biodynamic agricultural techniques lacks scientific evidence, and the practice has been labeled a pseudoscience.

bioeffector:

biofertilizer:

biofortification:

biofuel: Any fuel that is produced from recently living biomass, as opposed to fuels produced by slow geological processes such as fossil fuels. Biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel are commonly produced from agricultural.

biosaline agriculture:

biosolarization:

bioturbation: The mixing and turning of soil caused by organisms moving through the soil.

blood meal: A byproduct made from the fresh blood of slaughtered animals, commonly used as an for cultivated plants. It is rich in crude protein and amino acids.

boar: An adult male of breeding age.

board foot (FBM):

A unit of volume of, defined as the volume of a board or plank of wood that is one foot long, one foot wide, and one inch thick, i.e. 12 x, which is equivalent to 1 bdft of a cubic foot (ft3), 1 bdft, or 1 bdft. The board foot is used to measure rough lumber (before drying and planing) as well as planed lumber.

bobby calf: A young of either sex which is designated to be  for its. See also.

bone meal: A byproduct made from animal bones which have been steamed under high pressure and ground into a powder. A rich source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium, bone meal is commonly used as an for cultivated plants.

border irrigation:

bran:

The hard outer layers surrounding the in a, consisting of the combined aleurone and pericarp and, in maize, also the pedicel. Bran is typically removed along with the during  and thus excluded from, but remains included in. After removal it is commonly repurposed as.

branding: A technique for marking and identifying in which a permanent scar, known as a brand, is made in the animal's, traditionally by applying an extremely hot or cold which has been shaped or placed in such a way as to create a unique, specific symbol or series of numbers, usually for the purpose of indicating ownership. Branding may be used in conjunction with other forms of animal identification, including, ear tagging, and radio-frequency identification (RFID).

branding iron: A handheld metal tool with one end shaped into a letter, number, or other symbol, intended as a unique identifier, which is heated, chilled, or electrified and then pressed against the skin of an animal in a process known as.

breadbasket:

broadacre: An expansive parcel of land suitable for practicing large-scale crop production. The term is used primarily in Australia.

broadcast seeding: A method of that involves scattering seed over a relatively large and imprecise area, either by hand or mechanically, as opposed to and. Broadcast seeding is easier and faster than seeding in but usually requires more seed and may result in overcrowded and uneven distributions of plant cover. It is generally reserved for plants that do not have strict spacing or depth requirements or that are easily thinned after germination.

broadfork:

broiler:

A chicken of either sex that is bred and raised specifically for meat production.

brown manure:

browsing: A type of herbivory in which the herbivore feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of relatively tall, woody plants such as shrubs and trees, as opposed to, which involves feeding on grasses and other low-lying vegetation. Browsing may also refer to feeding on any non-grasses, including both woody and herbaceous dicots.

Bt crop:

buck:

An adult male.

bucking: See.

bull: An adult male animal which (as opposed to a, which has been).

bullock: See.

bumper crop: Any that yields an unusually large or productive.

bushel:

C
calf:

A young domestic animal of either sex (i.e. a or ), generally weighing less than 500 pounds. The term is usually applied from birth to (which typically occurs around nine months of age), though it is also sometimes used until the animal is a. Calves may be raised to become adult cattle, but are also commonly for their meat, called, or their. The young of many other species, including bison, water buffalo, camels, and deer, are also called calves.

calving: The process of giving birth in, by which a pregnant gives birth to a.

candling: In the egg industry, the process of examining eggs for quality and defects by holding them in front of a bright light source, illuminating the internal contents of the egg through the translucent shell without having to break it open.

cane mill: A at which sugarcane is ground into raw sugar.

capon: A male chicken which has been castrated or neutered before reaching maturity, allowing it to grow faster and obtain a larger adult size.

care farming: The practice of (or of agricultural activities in general) for the purpose of providing or promoting mental or physical health or well-being, especially as a form of therapy or to aid convalescence or for social or educational services.

carryover: The supply of a farm commodity that is not yet used at the end of a marketing season and subsequently stored and made available for sale in the next marketing season. An excessively large carryover may be considered a surplus, and may cause prices to fall.

carton: A container used for fruit or other leaving a. A unit of mass or volume representing a standardized size of these containers, equal to 425 lb or 4/5 USbsh, respectively.

cash crop:

Any that is grown so that it can be marketed and sold for profit, as opposed to a, which is grown for the grower's own use. While historically cash crops have often been only a small part of a farm's total, almost all modern crops in developed nations are grown primarily for revenue.

catch crop: Any fast-growing that is grown between successive plantings of a primary crop on the same land. Its practice, known as catch cropping, is a type of.

cattle: A group of large,, bovid mammals of the genus Bos and especially the species Bos taurus, which are commonly raised as for their meat (known as ), their, their , their (used as  or as fuel), or as  or riding animals. Mature female cattle are known as, mature male cattle as , and young cattle of either sex as , though colloquially "cow" is often used to refer to all bovine animals, irrespective of age or sex.

cattle cycle: The cyclical fluctuation of supply and prices observed in markets, analogous to the. In the United States, the cattle cycle refers to the approximately 10-year period during which the industry-wide population of is alternately expanded and reduced over several consecutive years in response to perceived changes in profitability by beef producers. Low prices occur when cattle numbers or beef supplies are high, precipitating several years of herd liquidation; as cattle numbers decline and supplies diminish, prices gradually begin to rise along with renewed demand, causing cattle producers to begin breeding cattle and expanding their herds again.

cattle prod: See.

cellular agriculture: The and production of agricultural products from cell cultures grown in a laboratory, such as, by using techniques of molecular biology and biochemistry to directly synthesize the complex mixture of proteins, fats, and other substances which are found naturally in living tissues. Most of the industry is focused on cultivating animal products such as meat, milk, and eggs by growing animal tissues from stem cells in vitro and then simulating the same series of biochemical processes that occurs naturally in actual animal bodies, as opposed to raising and farmed  as in conventional, which has long been criticized for its negative impacts on the environment, human health, , and animal welfare. Cellular agriculture has therefore been championed as a and ethical alternative, though the necessary procedures and infrastructure are usually highly specific and technical.

cellulosic fiber:

census of agriculture: The periodic collection, processing, and dissemination of statistical data regarding agricultural activities within a country, state, county, or other polity. Agricultural censuses attempt to accurately measure and classify metrics such as number and size of farms or other holdings, types of land tenure and land use, crop, livestock numbers, agricultural and expenses, and profits, types and uses of facilities and, demographics of owners and workers, product quality, and sustainability, among others. In the United States and many other places, censuses are conducted at the holding level every five years.

center-pivot irrigation:

A method of in which a long line of mounted upon or dangling from a metal frame with multiple sets of wheels rotates slowly around a pivot at the center of a field, watering a very large circular area centered on this point. Water is usually supplied by a well or an underground pipeline near the pivot, and the wheeled frame is propelled by hydraulic pressure or electric motors. A typical center-pivot line is 400 m long and capable of irrigating a 125 acre circle within a 160 acre square, covering about 78% of the surface area; some systems can also irrigate the corners of the square by means of an at the end of the line or a trailing segment of frame that swings out into the corner areas. Modern center-pivot systems are often fully automated and programmable for specific rates of rotation, variable water distribution patterns, and other.

cereal: Any grass cultivated for the edible components of its, composed of the endosperm,, and. The term may also refer to the resulting grain itself (the "cereal grain"). Compare.

certified seed: Plant seeds that have been approved by a certifying agency or agricultural retailer as meeting established standards of quality and productivity, e.g. of, varietal purity, sustainable sourcing, and/or freedom from contamination with disease-causing pathogens, seeds, and synthetic chemicals. See also.

chaff: The dry, scaly, protective casing around the seeds of, or any other similar plant material. Chaff is generally inedible by humans but is often used as for  or is ploughed into the soil as a type of.

chemical fallow: The use of chemical to prevent the growth of vegetation on land.

chemigation:

The practice of delivering any natural or synthetic chemical compound or mixture of compounds (such as,, , etc.) to plants via the water supply used for.

chevon: The meat of a young.

chillcuring:

chisel plough:

A type of consisting of a long row of multiple shanks which break and loosen soil to depths of 46 cm without inverting or turning it, leaving accumulated on the soil surface instead of burying them. Chisel plows are used to plow very deeply (such as to break up ) without disturbing the organic matter present on the surface, in a process sometimes called chiseling, often as part of or  practices.

circle irrigation: See.

citriculture: The cultivation of citrus fruit trees.

cloche: A bell-shaped glass or plastic covering placed over an individual plant to protect it from cold temperatures, used especially in. serves the same function on a larger scale. See also.

cock: See.

cockerel: A young male chicken, generally less than one year old.

cold frame: An enclosure with a transparent glass or plastic roof, built low to the ground, that is designed to protect juvenile plants and small gardens from cold or wet weather. Cold frames are used to the by acting as miniature.

collective farming:

Any type of agricultural production in which multiple farmers or producers run their holdings as a joint enterprise using shared land, water resources, machinery, equipment, or other agricultural inputs in order to meet common needs and goals. Communal farms may be either voluntary or mandatory state farms owned and operated directly by a central government.

colt: A young male horse or mule, typically under four years of age.

columbarium: See.

combine harvester:

A large designed to efficiently a variety of different   by combining three traditionally separate harvesting operations –,, and  – into a single mechanical process. The harvested grain is stored either in an on-board compartment or offloaded into a separate storage bin, while the remaining and other undesirable  is typically discarded on to the field.

companion planting: The practice of planting different in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including as a means of, aiding pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing the use of space, or otherwise increasing. It is a type of.

complete feed:

compost: Any mixture of ingredients, commonly decomposing plant and food waste and/or other recycled organic materials, that is used to and improve soils. Such mixtures are rich in plant nutrients and which can increase soil fertility and aid plant growth by acting as a natural, increasing the  content of the soil, and suppressing pathogens. Often compost is made simply by allowing gathered and  to decompose naturally in open-air piles for many months, though it can also be made with more precise measurements and controls.

compound feed:

conservation tillage: Any practice which aims to reduce soil erosion and preserve natural soil conditions, generally by leaving significant amounts of to cover previously harvested agricultural land; such practices can also enhance  and reduce fuel consumption and. Conservation tillage includes,, and systems.

container gardening: The practice of cultivating plants, including crop plants, by growing them in containers or pots rather than planting them in the ground. Containers are generally small, portable, plastic or ceramic pots or trays which limit the soil space available to the plant's roots but have the advantage of allowing the gardener to easily move the plant to avoid inclement weather or other suboptimal conditions.

continuous harvest: A method of cultivation whereby crops are more or less continuously throughout an extended or indefinite, without any significant pause or interruption such as for replanting. For most conventionally grown plant and animal crops, production is limited to specific times of year by the need for suitable weather or for periods of inactivity during which soils can recover fertility and producers can resupply and otherwise prepare for the start of the next, meaning the harvested products are only available to consumers for a few weeks or months at the end of each growing season. In some places, however, where the climate is largely consistent throughout the year, or wherever labor and inputs are consistently available, certain crops may be grown, harvested, and sold during unusually long seasons or even year-round. Some seasonal crops can also have their harvest windows by growing them in highly  or by deliberately staggering planting times so that different groups of plants are of different ages and thus one or more groups are ready for harvest at any given time of year.

contour farming:

The practice of and/or a sloping field by following its natural contour lines, such that the resulting  and  curve around the slope perpendicular to the direction of the force of gravity, with each remaining at approximately the same elevation for its entire length. This orientation helps prevent and soil erosion by reducing the velocity with which water and soil moves down the slope, minimizing the formation of rills and gullies during heavy precipitation and allowing more time for the water to settle into the soil. Contour farming also reduces the runoff of, power consumption, and wear on machines, thereby increasing production efficiency.

contract farming: or other agricultural production carried out on the basis of an agreement between the buyer or consumer and the farmer or producer. Contracts typically involve the producer agreeing to supply certain quantities of a crop or other product according to quality standards and delivery requirements specified by the buyer, and the buyer agreeing to buy the product, often at ; the buyer often also agrees to support the producer in various ways, e.g. by supplying inputs, assisting with land preparation, providing production advice, and helping to transport the finished product.

controlled traffic farming (CTF): A farming practice which attempts to manage and reduce the damage done to cultivated soils by repeated passes of heavy agricultural machinery (e.g. ) over the same area of land, particularly, which often has negative consequences for numerous aspects of crop production.

controlled-environment agriculture (CEA): Any agricultural production that occurs in a specialized, enclosed space, typically indoors, where all variables affecting production (e.g. temperature and light intensity) can be carefully managed throughout the production cycle so as to provide an optimal environment that maximizes or efficiency or some other production target. Indoor growing spaces such as are common examples, and the practice is central to  and agricultural research.

conventional tillage:

coop: A building or shelter designed to house birds such as chickens and especially to provide with a warm, dry place to nest and incubate their eggs.

co-op: See.

coppicing: A method of forest management by which the trunks and stems of young trees are regularly cut down to near ground level, exploiting the ability of many tree species to regenerate new growth from living stumps. After a number of years of growth, the intended products of the coppiced tree are harvested and the cycle begins anew. is a similar process carried out at higher levels on the tree; both practices are important techniques in.

copse: A forest that has been.

corn crib:

A used to dry and store harvested maize.

corporate farming: The practice of large-scale agriculture on owned or greatly influenced by corporations or large private businesses. The concept includes not only corporate ownership of farmland and the means of production, but also the roles such companies play in influencing agricultural education, research, and public policy through lobbying and funding initiatives.

cotton gin: A that automates the process of cotton, separating cotton fibers from their seeds much more quickly and efficiently than traditional manual separation.

cover crop: Any plant that is planted as soil cover rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Cover crops may be used to manage soil erosion,, water content,, pests, agricultural diseases, and biodiversity on land that is repeatedly farmed. They are commonly off-season crops planted after harvesting a in order to help conserve the integrity of the land through a period.

cow: An adult female animal.

cowbell: A bell worn around the neck of, including but not limited to, so that ranchers and herders can keep track of the animal's movements via the sound of the bell, which can be useful in hilly landscapes or vast plains when the animal is grazing out of view.

cow–calf operation:

creamery: A operation or facility which processes raw milk and/or cream into finished dairy products, such as fluid milk, butter, cheese, and ice cream, and prepares them for market.

creep feeding: The practice of supplementing the diet of young livestock which are still nursing, usually and, with. This may be done in order to introduce the animals to feed before or to facilitate quicker, but is only cost-effective when the price of animal feed is very low.

crop: Any plant, animal, or other product of a living organism that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. The term may refer to the organism or species itself, the parts, or the harvest in a more refined state. Most crops are in  and its sub-disciplines, most commonly (but not exclusively) as food for humans or  for ; other crops are gathered from the wild.

crop insurance: Insurance purchased by agricultural producers, often subsidized by a government agency, to protect against the loss of potential revenue from crop sales due to extraneous circumstances, such as reductions in crop caused by natural disasters (drought, floods, hail, etc.) or declines in the prices of agricultural commodities.

crop mark:

crop residue: Any organic material left in an agricultural or after a  has been, such as stalks and stems, leaves, seed pods, etc., or after a crop is processed for consumer use, such as seeds, husks, roots, bagasse, or other byproducts of processing. Field residues may be maintained as soil cover, burned, or into the soil as ; process residues are often used as animal  or.

crop rotation: The practice of cultivating a series of different in the same space over the course of multiple, often in a specific sequence that repeats in a cycle every few seasons. The alternative to crop rotation,, may gradually deplete the soil of certain nutrients and select for highly competitive communities of pests and weeds, decreasing productivity in the absence of high volumes of external inputs such as and. Crop rotation can reduce reliance upon these inputs by making better use of natural ecosystem services from a diverse set of crops, often improving soil quality and reducing the probability of pests and weeds developing resistances to control measures.

crop water productivity:

crop weed: Any or undesirable plant that grows among plants. See also.

crop wild relative (CWR): A wild plant taxon that is closely related to a plant taxon (e.g. a wild ancestor of the domesticated plant) and which therefore may be indirectly useful to plant breeders by presenting the possibility of introducing genetic material from the wild plant into the domestic relative by crossbreeding.

cropdusting:

The use of an to apply protective chemicals or other amendments, especially and, to  from above. Such aircraft may include either fixed-wing airplanes or helicopters, but are typically highly specialized and purpose-built to distribute very large amounts of liquid product over very large land areas in a relatively efficient manner.

crop-lien system: A farm financing scheme whereby money is loaned at the beginning of a to pay for farming operations, with the subsequent harvest used as collateral for the loan.

cropping:

cryophilous crop:

cull:

cultipacker:

cultivar:

cultivation: The act of improving an area of land for or by, especially through the deliberate growing of plants (but not necessarily excluding other types of agriculture). Land upon which plants are sown, nurtured, or harvested, or more broadly any land dedicated to agricultural purposes, is said to be cultivated. Another name for, especially the shallow, selective of fields.

cultural control:

cultured meat:

custom harvesting: The contracting of independent operators of farm equipment to crops, especially, on a particular farm. Custom harvesters provide their own or other machinery and often charge for their work by the, with additional charges for high.

D
dairy cattle: bred or raised specifically for production, from which any of a variety of products can be made. This is in contrast to cattle raised for other purposes, such as for or so that they can be employed as.

dam: The female parent of an animal. The term is used alongside, especially for domestic mammals such as and horses.

damping off: A disease of newly germinated caused by any of a variety of fungi (e.g. Rhizoctonia or Aphanomyces) which spread in warm, damp conditions and parasitize roots and lower stems. Damping off is a common cause of seedling loss in.

dead hedge:

dead stock: All implements, tools, appliances, and used on a particular farm; sometimes inclusive of seed,, and feedingstuffs.

deadheading: The practice of dead or spent flowers from a live plant in order to encourage further flowering, to prevent seed development, or to improve the plant's appearance. See also.

deblossoming:

The practice of flowers, spent or unspent, from live plants for any reason, especially to encourage or improve the subsequent growth, reproduction, health, or appearance of the plant's non-flower parts. Deblossoming is often done in order to divert the plant's limited resources away from sexual reproduction and towards vegetative propagation, e.g. by roots and runners; early in a plant's life in order to allow it to establish and grow to maturity before dedicating resources to reproduction; or near the end of the  in order to maximize the size and quality of existing fruits, seeds, or other useful crop parts by diverting energy and nutrients away from new buds that will likely not have time to develop into useful crops anyway.

defoliant: Any chemical which causes leaves or other foliage to detach and drop from a plant. Defoliants are sometimes used on very leafy trees and shrubs to make finding and the non-leaf crop parts easier.

deintensified farming: Any agricultural operation which was formerly but has since become deliberately.

dessert crop: Any that is (or historically was) grown or used only for special occasions, as an elite or luxury item, or for pleasure rather than sustenance. Examples of crops historically considered dessert crops include coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and tobacco.

detasseling: In maize farming, the process of removing the pollen-producing flowers, known as tassels, from the tops of maize plants in order to prevent self-pollination. It is used as a strategy to ensure that the detasseled plants are receptive to pollen from non-self sources, e.g. from different when creating  varieties.

dewatering: The removal of water from a plant by pressing and compacting layers of plant material for long periods of time. Dewatering can be significantly cheaper than other artificial drying techniques.

diatomaceous earth:

A naturally occurring siliceous sedimentary rock consisting of the fossilized shells of microscopic single-celled algae known as diatoms, generally in the form of a crumbly, abrasive powder composed of silica, alumina, and iron oxides. It has many applications in agriculture, including as an anti-caking additive in and stored grain, as an organic, and as a or, where its low density and high porosity allow it to retain water and nutrients, circulate oxygen, and drain quickly.

dibber:

A handheld pointed wooden or plastic stick used to make small holes in soil so that seeds, seedlings, or small bulbs can be planted in them.

digeponics:

digital agriculture:

The use of electronic sensors, computers, and information technology to digitally collect, store, analyze, and share agricultural data.

dipping: The process of immersing a live animal into a bath containing a liquid formulation of insecticide (and sometimes also fungicide), usually a dilute solution of organophosphorus compounds, as a means of removing lice, ticks, or other ectoparasites which may otherwise cause disease. Sheep are commonly treated in a, and in a.

dockage: Waste material which is removed from as it is being processed, prior to.

docking:

The intentional removal of all or part of an animal's tail by any of a variety of methods, usually by cutting with a knife or scalpel, applying a hot iron, or constricting blood circulation with a rubber ring to cause the tail to fall off. Docking of is performed in order to reduce potentially harmful tail biting behaviors between cohabitating pigs; in and, it is often practiced with the rationale that shorter tails are less likely to trap dirt and feces and transfer them to other body parts (e.g. the udder in ), thereby reducing pathogen infestation and improving the animal's cleanliness and well-being and consequently the quality of any products harvested from the animal, though the efficacy of docking for these purposes has not been conclusively demonstrated.

doddie:

A hornless or, especially one that has been.

doe:

An adult female.

dogie:

A stray or motherless. See also.

domestication:

dovecote:

A man-made structure intended to house domestic pigeons or doves, usually consisting of a sheltered space with one or more holes allowing the birds to nest inside, either free-standing or built into the side or roof of a building.

draff: Refuse obtained as a byproduct of the distillation of and used as an, especially left over from the brewing process.

draft animal:

An animal used to pull heavy loads such as wagons or, usually a horse,, donkey, , or camel.

dressed weight:

drip irrigation:

A type of system that supplies water and/or liquid solution to crops by allowing it to leak slowly from perforated plastic or rubber tubes into the soil surrounding the plants' roots, with the primary goal of delivering water directly to the  and thereby minimizing wasting due to evaporation and  (which are often significant problems in  and ). Drip systems distribute water through a network of valves, pipes, emitters, and flexible, lightweight tubing called drip line or drip tape, which can be positioned above or buried below the soil surface. Drip irrigation is most commonly used in small-scale outdoor operations,, and, where it is often much more efficient than alternative irrigation methods and has the advantage of allowing water and fertilizers to be applied gradually, uniformly, and in precise quantities to each individual plant.

droving:

dry cow: A which has ceased to produce from a particular lactation, especially because it is within 60 days of  and beginning a new lactation.

dry milling:

dryland farming:

dubbing:

dynamic compaction: A method of increasing the density of soil deposits by repeatedly dropping a very heavy weight onto the ground at regularly spaced locations, which can compress underground voids, improve soil structure and stability, and prevent settling and undesirable soil movement beneath buildings. It has many applications, including in agriculture, where it can be used to increase water and retention in, especially when subsurface constraints make alternative methods of compaction inappropriate.

E
earlage: A high-energy for cattle composed of ears of maize (both and cobs) chopped into small pieces and fermented into.

earmark: A cut or notch made in, or a tag attached to, one or both ears of a animal (most commonly,, , and ) as an easily visible mark of identification, usually to indicate age, sex, medical status, or ownership. Compare.

earthing up: See.

ecological sanitation:

ecology: The scientific study of interactions between biological organisms and their biotic and abiotic environments. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes biology, geography, and Earth science.

economic maturity: The optimum time at which to harvest a tree or stand of trees (or any other perennial plants), as determined by the age at which the growth rate slows enough to cause the average annual profit over the life of the stand to begin to decrease.

edaphology: The scientific study of the influence of soils on living organisms, particularly plants, and of how soils are used and modified by humans for agriculture.

edge effects: Changes in ecological characteristics (e.g. population or community structure) associated with the boundary between two dissimilar habitat types, ecosystems, or agricultural land uses, potentially affecting the biological and ecological traits of the resident plant or animal communities.

effective precipitation: The portion of the cumulative or mean total precipitation received within a specified area, on a particular or, or by an individual plant during a given time period that is or becomes available for plant growth because it is stored in the soil within the of the plants or persists on the surface long enough to eventually drain into and occupy that rooting depth before it is lost by evaporating or.

emblements:

energy crop: Any grown exclusively as a source of fuel for the purpose of energy production. Such crops are processed into solid, liquid, or gaseous (as with bioethanol and biogas) which are then burned to generate power or heat for human purposes.

ensilaging: See.

entire:

(of a domestic animal) Not neutered or castrated; capable of giving rise to via copulation.

environmental science:

ewe: A female, especially one that is sexually mature.

exclosure: An area of land from which grazing or browsing animals, often domestic but sometimes wild animals such as deer, are excluded by or other means. Fenced exclosures are common in areas, where it is the landowner's responsibility to keep unwanted animals off their land.

extensive agriculture:

Any system of agricultural production that uses small inputs of labor, fertilizer, and/or capital relative to the land area used for production, in contrast to.

F
factory farming: See.

fallow: (adj.) The condition of any which is deliberately not planted or which is left for one or more production cycles or, usually with the intent of allowing the soil to restore depleted nutrients and other organic matter that is critical for ecological function, while retaining moisture and disrupting the life cycles of agricultural pests by temporarily removing their hosts. Fallowing is an important technique in. (n.) Any period of time during which arable land is not used for cultivation.

fallow crop: A that is grown in widely spaced rows so that it is possible to and cultivate between the rows.

family farm: A which on average produces a harvest sufficient to support one family, or a farm which is owned and/or operated by a single family, as opposed to farms operated as,, or in other institutionalized forms.

farm: An area of land devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food or other. In common usage the term may include,, , , and , , and even industrial operations such as wind farms.

farm assurance: A type of agricultural product certification that emphasizes the principles of quality assurance and signals to consumers that the certified producer has adhered to a particular set of standards and principles during production, such as in.

farm crisis: A period of economic recession for an agricultural industry, characterized chiefly by low prices and/or low incomes for operations.

farm gate value: The market value of an agricultural product minus the subsequent costs of transporting, storing, marketing, and selling the product to a consumer; the net value of the product as it is at the "farm gate", i.e. upon leaving the agricultural operation, before such costs are added to the market price. The market or retail price paid by the consumer is often far higher than the amount the farmer actually receives for the product, particularly if the farmer sells to a retailer rather than directly to the end consumer as in.

farm stand:

A type of retail outlet which sells fresh directly from a particular or group of farms. Direct sales to consumers allow farmers to retain a larger portion of the resulting profit than they can usually obtain by selling to a wholesaler. See also.

farm water: Water that is committed for use in agriculture of any type. Farm water may include water used in the of crops as well as in the watering of.

farmer: A person who owns or works on a ; more broadly, anyone who participates in agricultural production, especially the raising of,, or.

farmers' co-op: See.

farmers' market: A retail marketplace, often outdoors, where farmers are able to sell fresh, live plants and animals, and sometimes prepared foods and other agricultural products directly to consumers (rather than to a wholesaler). These markets are often community-organized businesses consisting of multiple operated independently by individual farmers, who are free to set up a booth or table and sell their own goods at prices they set themselves.

farming: The practice of intentionally performing an agricultural activity, such as growing or raising, on land dedicated to the purpose, known as a. The term is often used very loosely to refer to many different agricultural processes of different scales and with different goals, or, in the broadest sense, as a synonym for in general.

farmland: See.

farmstead: The set of buildings and service areas associated with a or other agricultural holding, traditionally including residential accommodations such as a for the operator's family as well as any of various buildings dedicated to the particularities of agricultural production, including pens, yards,, and  for housing  or ;, , and  for storing , , or ; garages and sheds for storing farm vehicles and equipment; and other structures involved in the processing of raw materials into commercial products. The farmstead as a whole typically consists of a core complex of such buildings as well as clusters of.

farm-to-table: A social movement which promotes the consumption of locally produced foods, and particularly the serving of such foods at public establishments such as restaurants and school cafeterias. This is usually accomplished by purchasing food directly from the farmers or producers (rather than an intermediate retailer), or by the restaurant or school cultivating its own food. Farm-to-table often emphasizes food traceability, sustainability, freshness, and environmental awareness. The idea is central to the practice of locavorism.

farrow: A young domestic, or a litter of newborn pigs. See also.

farrowing: The process of giving birth in, by which a pregnant gives birth to a.

fatling: A young animal, e.g. a or, that has been fattened in preparation for.

fattening: See.

feather meal: A protein supplement included in some formulated and as a nitrogen source, made by grinding and drying  feathers under elevated heat and pressure.

fed cattle: at the time they leave a, i.e. after fattening and, when they are ready to be sold for.

feed: See.

feed grain: Any grown specifically so that it can be used as to feed. Corn, barley, and sorghum are commonly grown for this purpose.

feedlot:

An animal feeding operation consisting of a densely concentrated area of enclosures or pens containing individual animals, which is used for the efficient raising, fattening, and of numerous prior to, especially, but also , horses, , and.

fencerow: The area of ground immediately adjacent to a that is left unmowed or untilled because it is difficult or inconvenient to maneuver large in this space without removing or damaging the fence. Grasses and weeds are therefore able to grow unrestricted in this area, often providing shelter for birds and wild animals, unless more precise tools are employed.

fertigation:

fertilizer:

Any natural or synthetic material that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply one or more nutrients essential to the growth of plants.

field: Any area of land, enclosed or otherwise, used for agricultural purposes, such as for the cultivation of or as a paddock for.

field crop: Any grown on a larger scale than in, such as, , or cotton.

field day: A large public trade show for the agricultural industry at which agricultural equipment, techniques, and business ideas are exhibited and demonstrated.

filly: An immature female horse, too young to be called a (generally less than four or five years old).

filter strip:

A strip of grass or other dense, permanent vegetation lining the edge of an agricultural field and acting as a buffer zone between the field and its surrounding environment, usually designed with the primary goal of controlling non-point source pollution by filtering agricultural before it drains into an adjacent body of water, e.g. a pond, lake, stream, diversion terrace, or irrigation canal. The roots of the vegetation trap and remove including fertilizers and pesticides from the runoff and may also help reduce sediment erosion, thereby preventing the contamination and  of natural ecosystems.

finishing:

The bringing of such as up to, or the weight at which they are ready to be, by feeding them. Some ranching operations specialize in finishing, buying young from a breeder, fattening them on  or, and then selling them to a.

fire farming: The use of fire to clear patches of land for cultivation. See also ' and '.

fired: (of a plant's lower stems or stalks) Extremely dry or desiccated due to drought or nutrient deficiency.

fish emulsion: A nutrient-rich emulsion used as a for plant crops, produced from the liquid remains of fish which have been industrially processed for fish oil or.

fish farming: See.

flat planting: The of seed upon flat, land using a  that minimizes disturbance to the smooth soil surface.

flood irrigation: Any method of that covers the entire cultivated soil surface with water, usually to a specific depth and for a specific duration. Flood irrigation may be carefully controlled, as with and, or may simply rely on natural flooding in adjacent rivers and streams.

fleece:

floriculture:

A branch of involving the of flowering plants and ornamental plants for gardens and landscaping as well as for commercial floristry.

flushing: In, the practice of changing the diet fed to female prior to breeding, with the intention of stimulating the estrous cycle and increasing ovulation rate.

foal: A young animal (a horse or donkey) of either sex, usually less than one year old. A male foal may be called a and a female foal may be called a, though these terms may also be used for juvenile animals that are older than one year of age.

foaling: The process of giving birth in horses or donkeys, by which a pregnant gives birth to a.

fodder:

Any agricultural foodstuff used to feed domesticated, and more specifically food given to the animals directly (such as, , , and ), as opposed to that which they for themselves.

food chain:

food security: The availability of edible food within a country or other geographic area and the ability of humans within that area to access, afford, and attain sufficient, safe, and nutritious foodstuffs, either by gathering, producing, or importing them, in order to meet their dietary needs for active and healthy lifestyles.

food systems: The totality of interconnected principles, processes, and infrastructures that influence food, nutrition, health, and agriculture in human communities; i.e. the complete set of components involved in feeding a human population, including the growth, management, harvesting, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, marketing, consumption, and disposal of agricultural food products and food-related items. Food systems encompass the entire range of actors and their value-adding activities in the lifespan of a food product from production to consumption, and thus operate within and are influenced by numerous social, political, economic, technological, and environmental contexts at various steps in the process.

foodscaping:

The practice of integrating edible plants into ornamental landscapes, cultivating them not only for the food they produce but also for their aesthetic qualities.

foodshed: The geographic region which produces most or all of the food consumed in a particular place or by a particular population, by analogy with a watershed.

food-feed system: An integrated - production system in which crops are harvested for human consumption and then the or byproducts are used as for livestock, often on the same or nearby agricultural land.

foliar feeding: The practice of providing supplemental nutrition to plants by applying liquid directly to their leaves, stems, or bark, as opposed to their roots, which are the usual target for conventional fertilizing methods. Most plants are perfectly capable of absorbing nutrients through these aboveground parts, and there may be good reasons to prefer that the nutrients travel by these routes rather than through the soil surrounding the roots.

forage: Any plant material, especially leaves and stems, eaten by, especially that which is grazed by animals in. In a looser sense it may also include (plant material deliberately cut and given to animals as food).

forcing: The practice of intentionally breaking the dormancy of a cultivated plant and encouraging germination, active growth, and/or flowering and fruiting outside of its natural (e.g. in the winter). This involves exposing a seed or other propagule, or a mature plant, to a specific sequence of carefully controlled environmental conditions (e.g. ) intended to simulate the environmental cues the plant normally receives at the beginning of its seasonal growth cycle, which trigger the internal chemical reactions that cause it to grow and develop. The term is used particularly in the indoor of plants that grow from bulbs, corms, or rhizomes, but can also refer more broadly to the off-season cultivation of any plant or propagule.

forest farming: A practice in involving the cultivation of high-value specialty under a forest canopy that is deliberately modified or maintained to provide habitat and shade levels which enhance crop. Most crops produced by such methods are non-timber forest products or niche crops such as ginseng and certain varieties of mushroom.

free range: A method of animal farming and in which the animals are permitted to roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in enclosures, for at least part of each day. Though in practice the outdoor ranging area is usually fenced-in and therefore technically also an enclosure, free-range systems offer the opportunity for extensive locomotion, fresh air, and sunlight that is otherwise reduced or entirely prevented by indoor housing systems. The term may apply to farming for meat, eggs, or dairy products; in, it is sometimes used interchangeably with.

freemartin: An infertile female animal (a ) that shows masculinized behavior, in particular one that is born as a twin to a male animal and, despite being phenotypically female, is actually a genetic chimera, having acquired some XY cells by exchange of cellular material with the male twin in utero, causing various hormonal alterations to normal female reproductive development.

frost control: Any of a variety of measures taken to reduce or prevent damage to agricultural crops caused by extremely cold temperatures, especially plants on farms, in gardens, and in orchards. Common frost control methods include covering crop plants with, keeping soils wet with continuous, and providing supplementary heat sources such as.

fruticulture: See.

fryer: A chicken of either sex between 8 and 12 weeks of age and weighing 3 to 4 lb, especially one raised specifically for meat production. The term is often used interchangeably with.

fuelwood: Any wood used or intended for use in cooking, heating, or power generation, valuable for its combustibility (i.e. its ability to produce large amounts of energy when burned). It may come from trees cultivated specifically for this purpose, or from wild trees and shrubs, either as trimmings from the woody trunks and branches of live plants or from dead logs, brush, or other woody debris.

fungiculture: The of fungi with the goal of producing any of a variety of products that can be used by humans, such as foods, medicines, or scientific research materials.

fur farming: The practice of breeding or raising certain animal species in order to harvest their fur.

furrow irrigation: A type of which relies on long, shallow, parallel channels, known as furrows, dug into the soil along the length of an agricultural field to deliver water to crops planted on the ridges between the furrows. Water is applied to one end of the furrows, which are often aligned in the direction of the field's predominant natural slope, and flows down the furrows by gravity. Furrow irrigation is particularly suited to broadacre such as cotton, maize, and sugarcane.

G
garden: Any indoor or outdoor space reserved for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of wild or domesticated plants and other organisms; i.e. a plot of land dedicated to, being managed and maintained by humans in a practice known as, generally on a scale smaller than most farming operations.

gardening: The practice of growing and cultivating plants in a, indoors or outdoors, whether for consumption of the produce or for aesthetic reasons, and often as a hobby or to make use of available space on residential, commercial, or civic land. Gardening involves active participation in the entire process of cultivation and tends to be labor-intensive, which distinguishes it from the much larger-scale mechanized or automated operations often encountered in and forestry.

gelding: A castrated male horse, or more generally any animal deliberately made sterile, especially one that was castrated before reaching reproductive maturity. The process of castrating or neutering an animal for any reason, commonly for mitigating aggressive behavior and/or preventing unwanted intercourse in very large domestic livestock such as cattle and horses.

genetically modified organism (GMO):

germination: The sprouting of a from a plant seed, the development of a sporeling from a spore, or the growth of a pollen tube from the pollen grain of a seed plant.

gestation crate:

An enclosure in which a domestic used for breeding is confined during pregnancy. Often these cages are not much larger than the sow herself, being designed to maximize breeding efficiency for industrial-scale production, and hence are banned in some jurisdictions for being detrimental to animal welfare. See also.

gilt: A young female, usually less than one year old.

ginning:

glasshouse: See.

gleaning: The practice of collecting unharvested crops from fields or obtaining unused agricultural products from farmers, processors, or retailers, often for distribution to food banks or charitable organizations.

glyphosate: An organophosphorus compound widely used as a broad-spectrum systemic and crop desiccant, especially to kill annual broadleaf weeds and grasses that compete with crop plants. It is the primary ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.

goad:

A pointed stick, sometimes electrified, used to or guide, especially, both and grazing herds.

gobbler: A mature male turkey.

good agricultural practice (GAP): Any collection of specific principles or methods applied by agricultural producers in order to create food or non-food products that are safe, healthy, and wholesome for consumers while also taking into account economic, social, and environmental. GAPs may be applied to a wide range of production systems and at different scales, and often vary with geographical context.

grain: Any small, hard, dry seed (with or without the outer shell or other parts of the fruit) that is harvested for human or animal consumption, or the plant from which these seeds are harvested. Crops considered grains include all (such as maize, wheat, and rice) as well as (amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa), certain legumes (soybeans and lentils), and certain oilseed plants (rapeseed and flax).

grain drying: The process of removing or reducing the moisture content of harvested to prevent spoilage during storage. Drying may occur by natural means, e.g. exposing the grain to air and sunshine, or by artificial fuel- or electric-powered processes, or both.

grain elevator: A tower containing a or pneumatic conveyor designed to carry harvested upwards from a lower level (often from some type of transport) and deposit it into a  or other storage facility. A complex of agricultural buildings containing such a tower, as well as offices, weighbridges, and storage facilities, or an organization that operates or controls multiple elevators in different locations.

grain leg:

granary: A storage facility for or.

grass-fed:

grazier: A person engaged in and the raising of livestock. See also.

grazing: A type of herbivory in which the herbivore feeds on grasses and other non-woody vegetation, as opposed to, which involves feeding on taller trees and shrubs. A method of animal which relies on this type of herbivory, whereby domestic such as cattle are allowed to roam freely, often on wild  that is unsuitable for farming, in order to graze wild grasses and other.

grease wool: recently from a, before any processing.

green chop: that is cut or harvested in the field while still green and succulent and then fed directly to as fresh (in contrast to  and other types of feed which have been dried and stored). If wrapped and allowed to ferment, it can be made into.

green manure: A type of created by leaving uprooted or dehisced to wither and decay in an agricultural  so that they can serve as a  or natural. Plants used for green manure are often grown specifically for this purpose; the mature plant tissues may be  and mixed into the soil while green or shortly after flowering.

Green Revolution:

The dramatic increase in agricultural production that occurred worldwide during the second half of the 20th century, primarily due to the adoption of modern scientific methods of and large-scale management techniques; the development of of many crop plants (especially  grains); the expansion of  infrastructures; the mechanization of many agricultural tasks with modern ; and the increase in the availability and use of   such as  and, all of which led to a marked increase in production rates, farm, food quality and consistency, and crop prices in most parts of the world. The Green Revolution also accordingly led to an increase in land conversion and consolidation and the emergence of mass-market, as well as to concerns about sustainability and the impact of agricultural practices on public health and the environment.

greenhouse:

grist: that has been separated from its in preparation for grinding in a ; less commonly, the term is also used to describe grain after the process of grinding, i.e. grain that has already been ground.

gristmill: A that grinds ( that has been separated from its ) into flour and. The term may refer to either the grinding mechanism itself or the building that contains it.

groundcover: Wild or cultivated plants covering an area of land, thereby protecting the soil beneath from erosion and drought. See also.

growing degree-days (GDD):

growing season: The part of the year during which local weather conditions (i.e. temperature and precipitation) permit the normal growth of plants in a given location. Though the timing of plant growth and reproduction can vary widely by species, many local plant species show considerable phenological overlap, and so the term is commonly used to refer to a single generic season that encompasses a majority of the plants or crops growing in a given location. In many places, the local "growing season" is defined as the period of time between the average date of the last frost (typically in the spring or early summer) and the average date of the first frost (typically in the autumn).

H
hake bar: A coupling device which links a trailed to a.

hardpan:

Any dense, resistant layer of soil, usually found below the uppermost, that is difficult to dig or till and largely impervious to water and root growth. Hardpans can vary in thickness and depth below the surface; some form naturally from deposits such as silica that fuse and bind the soil particles, while others are human-made such as those caused by chronic as a result of repeated, heavy traffic, or pollution.

harrow: A farm implement used to break up and smooth out the surface of a plot of soil. Harrowing often follows coarser, generally with the purpose of breaking up large lumps of soil so as to provide a better that is suitable for use as a, and sometimes also to remove weeds or to cover seed after.

harvest index: The weight of the portion of a grain crop as a percentage of the total above-ground dry weight of the crop plants at maturity.

harvested acres: For a particular, the number of acres of cropland that are actually, as opposed to but not harvested. At the national level, this statistic is usually lower than the total number of planted acres due to abandonment caused by weather damage or low market prices at some point during the, or because the crop is repurposed for livestock.

harvesting: The process of gathering a ripe from an agricultural area such as a or. Harvesting is often the most labor-intensive activity of the or utilizes the most expensive and sophisticated  or. In general usage, the term may also include immediate practices such as cleaning, sorting, packing, cooling, and storing the gathered crops.

hay: Grasses, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored as for animals, especially.

hay bucking:

hay fever: Another name for allergic rhinitis, a type of inflammation predominantly in the nose and eyes resulting from an immune reaction to any of a wide variety of airborne allergens, including but not limited to pollen grains from grasses and other plants. The term is often used to describe the sudden onset of symptoms following inhalation of the dry particulate dust associated with manufacturing and handling, though it is now also used colloquially to refer to allergic reactions of any cause.

hay knife: A handheld agricultural tool consisting of a long-bladed knife, sometimes with a serrated edge, that is used for cutting or sawing through compact bundles,, or of or.

hay rake: A type of used to collect cut or  into  for later collection (e.g. by a ) and/or to "fluff up" the hay so that it dries more quickly.

hay steaming: A method of treating harvested by placing it in an airtight vessel and exposing it to high-temperature moisture, which dampens the respirable dust that occurs naturally in dried hay, preventing it from becoming airborne and thereby reducing its inhalation by humans and livestock, and also potentially killing bacterial or fungal spores which may be present.

haycock:

A small pile of, uncompressed and left to dry in a field.

haylage: with a high dry-matter content, made from the same grasses or legumes from which is made (such as alfalfa, timothy, and others) but not dried as much as hay nor as little as direct-chop/green-chop silage (before being ensiled).

hayloft:

A storage area in the upper part of a or, used for storing or other.

hayrack:

hayseed: The of grasses and legumes that are used for producing, especially when shaken from mown hay, and therefore sometimes inclusive of seed.

haystack:

headland:

A wide strip of land at each end of a planted used for turning or maneuvering large farm machinery such as. The headland runs perpendicular to the lay of the field and may itself be planted at the beginning of the season; in such cases it is usually the first area to be in order to minimize crop damage.

headrace:

hectare (ha): A metric unit of area defined as the area of a square with sides of 100 x, equivalent to 10000 sqm, or about 2.47.

heifer: An adult that has not yet given birth to her first.

heirloom plant:

heliciculture: The cultivation of land snails with the goal of producing any of a variety of products that can be used by humans, usually food or cosmetics, or as a form of.

hemerochory: The distribution by humans, intentionally or unintentionally, of cultivated plants or their seeds, cuttings, or propagules into habitats they have been unable to colonize through their natural mechanisms of spread, but in which they are nonetheless able to survive and propagate without additional support from human activities.

hen: A mature female chicken or other fowl. A female lobster.

herbicide: A intended to kill or prevent the proliferation of unwanted plants such as, by any of a wide variety of mechanisms. The most common herbicides are chemical substances which are applied directly to the foliage, stems, or roots of the target plant or to the soil or water around it. Selective herbicides are designed to be effective only against particular plant species or taxa, while leaving other plants such as agricultural crops relatively unharmed; in contrast, non-selective or broad-spectrum herbicides are capable of harming many or all types of plants, including crops, such that care must be taken when applying them so as to avoid harming valuable or desirable species. The use of chemical herbicides is a major aspect of agricultural.

herbicide resistance:

herding:

hide: The skin of an animal, especially when removed from the animal and or treated for human use, after which it is also known as. Domestic animals, particularly cattle, horses, sheep, and goats, are sometimes raised specifically for their hides.

high tunnel: See.

high-yielding variety (HYV):

hill farming: A type of practiced in hilly, upland areas unsuitable for intensive management, typically involving the of  and especially sheep.

hilling:

The piling of soil around the base of a plant, creating a small mound or ridge of earth, so as to aid plant growth in any of a variety of ways, often to improve retention of water or.

hinny: A domestic hybrid equine that is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey; i.e. the reciprocal cross to the.

hobby farm: A small or that is operated without the expectation of it being a primary source of food or income. Hobby farms may provide a secondary income or may be maintained for other reasons, e.g. in order to provide recreational land for people or animals, or simply for the pleasure of doing so, i.e. as a hobby or passion project.

hoe: A handheld tool or farm generally consisting of a flat, moderately sharpened metal blade, often square or pointed, that is attached at an acute angle to a long handle intended to be held with two hands. Hoes come in many shapes and sizes and are widely used in agriculture and horticulture for a huge variety of purposes, including digging, shaping, and soil,,  crops by cutting stems or roots, and clearing the soil after harvest by burying or raking.

hog: Another name for a or domesticated, especially one weighing at least 120 lb and being prepared for market.

hog off: To harvest a crop by allowing domestic pigs to eat it when the grain is nearly ripe, often because it is a poor crop that is not worth harvesting for market.

hogget: A domestic between one and two years old that has not yet been, or the meat or wool of such an animal.

homegrown: Cultivated or produced locally, as with crops or livestock raised on one's own property (especially on land that also serves as the grower's place of residence, e.g. in a household garden), on a nearby farm, or in the same state or nation where they are offered for sale and consumption.

honey plant: Any plant used by bees as a source of nectar for making honey, especially one that imparts a distinctive flavor to the honey made from it; examples include alfalfa, buckwheat, clover, goldenrod, mesquite, and sumac.

honey wagon: See.

hoophouse: See.

hop kiln: See.

horticulture: The of plants for any purpose, including for food, materials, and decoration. Horticulturists apply a variety of knowledge, skills, and technologies relevant to plant growth and propagation, typically in managed, in order to grow plants for  purposes, for profit, for scientific research, or for personal or social needs.

hotbed: An area of decaying organic matter (e.g. ) that is warmer than its surroundings as a result of the decomposition of organic substances by microorganisms. Hotbeds enclosed by a small glass cover are often used as a kind of natural.

hothouse: A heated.

humus:

hundredweight (cwt):

husbandry:

hybrid: An offspring resulting from sexual reproduction between parent organisms belonging to different breeds, strains, varieties, species, or genera, thereby combining different biological characteristics in a single organism. The traits of hybrids are often mixtures of their parents' traits or are intermediate between them, though they may also differ substantially from either parent, as with.

hybrid vigor:

Improved or increased size, strength, durability,, or any other biological function or quality in a offspring, relative to the same characteristics as observed in its parents.

hydroponics:

hydroseeding:

I
idle land: Land that is,, or generally in a condition suitable for the of agricultural crops without first requiring major modifications such as clearing of vegetation or rocks or drainage of water, but which nonetheless is not being cultivated, , or used as.

incubator: In the industry, a heated space in which newly laid eggs are placed in order to keep them warm and sheltered prior to hatching, simulating natural avian incubation in a controlled environment at optimal temperature and humidity and sometimes featuring an automated mechanism capable of periodically turning the eggs as well.

indicator species: Any species whose natural (i.e. uncultivated) presence or status can reveal the qualitative health or condition of its local environment, often by suggesting the existence of one or more specific environmental characteristics, e.g. wetness, salinity, acidity, etc.

industrial agriculture:

industrial crop:

Any that is specifically grown in order to yield a useful product for human industrial processes, such as fuels, fibers, oils, rubber, chemicals, resins, waxes, or dyes; the term generally also includes.

input:

insecticide: A intended to kill or incapacitate insects, either by targeting adult insects or by preventing the growth and development of insect eggs or larvae. Insecticides may be effective against a broad spectrum of different types of insects or may target particular species or taxa. In common usage, the term may also include pesticides intended for other kinds of arthropods which are not technically insects, such as mites and ticks. See also.

intact: See.

integrated farming:

intensive agriculture:

Any system of agricultural production that uses relatively large inputs of labor, fertilizer, and/or capital per unit land area and is, accordingly, characterized by high production, in contrast to. In the developed world, most commercial agriculture is intensive in one or more ways.

intensive animal farming:

intercropping:

A type of involving the cultivation of two or more crops in proximity, usually with the goal of producing a greater within a given area of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop.

irrigation: The application of controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals, especially for the purposes of growing agricultural, maintaining landscapes, or revegetating disturbed or drought-affected soils. Irrigation systems may also be used as a means of protecting crops from frost, suppressing the growth of weeds, preventing soil consolidation, cooling, and controlling airborne dust.

J
jack: A male donkey.

jenny:

A female donkey.

K
kernel:

kid: A juvenile of either sex.

kidding: The process of giving birth in, by which a pregnant gives birth to a.

L
lamb: A young, usually less than one year old. The meat from a young sheep less than one year old; or, in common usage, from a sheep of any age.

lambing: The process of giving birth in, by which a pregnant gives birth to a.

land improvement:

landrace: A traditional variety of a species that has become locally adapted over time to its specific natural and agricultural environment and has remained isolated from other wild and domesticated populations of the species. Landraces are often distinguished from and  in the standardized sense, although the term landrace breed is sometimes used when referring to cattle. Compare.

lard: A white, semi-solid fat product obtained by the fatty tissue of, comparable to the derived from cattle or sheep.

layer: A mature female chicken that lays eggs regularly. A good layer typically produces 200–250 eggs per year.

leaching:

liming: The application of calcium- and magnesium-rich minerals (collectively known as ) to soil, in any of a variety of forms, including marl, chalk, limestone, burnt lime, or hydrated lime, usually as a means of increasing soil pH. By acting as bases, these materials can help to neutralize very acidic soils, improving plant growth and increasing the activity of soil microbes. Structure liming can also improve aggregate stability in clay soils.

linear aeration:

lint:

liquid manure: A mixture of animal faeces and various other organic matter such as, commonly aged in a and then diluted with water, which is used as an agricultural.

livestock: Any animals raised in an agricultural setting in order to produce labor and/or agricultural commodities such as meat, milk, eggs, fur, leather, and wool. In certain contexts the term may be used more narrowly to refer exclusively to animals that are bred for consumption, or only to farmed ruminants such as and goats; sheep, pigs, and horses are also often considered livestock, while  and fish are usually excluded.

living mulch: A that is or undersown with a main crop in an agricultural field with the intention of filling the same role as ordinary, namely  and regulation of soil temperature and moisture content. Whereas most cover crops are grown while the soil lies and then buried or removed prior to planting a, living mulch is not removed but rather grown simultaneously with the cash crop.

lodging: The tendency of the normally erect stems of certain crop plants, especially such as wheat, rye, and barley, to bend over and break near ground level and become flattened against the ground, which makes them very difficult to harvest and can dramatically reduce. Lodging is most commonly caused by adverse weather conditions such as heavy rainfall, hail, and strong winds, but may also occur due to trampling by animals.

lumber:

lynchet:

A type of agricultural made from earth, or a strip of green, unploughed land left between two areas of land, often used to mark a temporary boundary between.

M
magnanery: A building or property dedicated to, in which silk is cultivated and/or manufactured.

malt:

malt house:

A building where cereal is converted into through the process of.

manger:

A trough or bin used to hold animal which permits animals to eat from it; or a structure or building containing such troughs, where numerous livestock are able to feed simultaneously.

manure: Any organic matter that is used as an in agriculture, typically consisting of animal excreta,, and/or. Manures contribute to soil fertility by adding organic compounds and nutrients such as nitrogen which are essential for plant growth and for the development of ecological networks with soil microorganisms.

manure spreader:

A machine used to distribute over an agricultural field as. Modern manure spreaders typically consist of a trailer towed behind a with a conveyor and/or rotating mechanism driven by the tractor's.

marc: The solid that results from processing fruits, sugarcane, or sugar beets, and in particular from trampling and squeezing grapes or olives to extract juice. Marc residues have found many uses, including as livestock feed.

mare: A mature female horse, donkey, or other equine animal.

mariculture: A specialized branch of involving the cultivation of marine organisms in the open ocean, enclosed sections of the ocean, or saltwater tanks or raceways, with the goal of producing any of a variety of products that can be used by humans, most commonly foods but also non-food products such as jewellery and cosmetics. Mariculture includes the farming of marine fish, shellfish, molluscs such as clams and oysters, and seaweed, among many other organisms.

mash: A consisting of a complete ration of ground, soybean meal, alfalfa meal, byproducts from meat processing, skimmed milk, limestone, salt, and/or fish oil, often fortified with vitamins and minerals.

mast: The fruit of forest trees and shrubs, e.g. acorns and nuts, especially when accumulated on the ground.

maternity pen: A warm, well-bedded enclosure in which pregnant animals about to give birth are kept isolated, preventing other animals from disturbing the mother or otherwise interfering with the birthing process.

matron: An adult female horse (a ) that has given birth to a.

maverick: An,, or on , especially one separated from its mother.

meadow: An open field covered primarily by native grasses, herbs, and other vegetation, with few or no trees and shrubs. Meadows may occur naturally but may also be maintained or artificially created by humans for the production of or or to serve as  for.

mechanized agriculture:

The use of agricultural machinery to mechanize the work of agriculture, thereby substantially increasing the productivity of an agricultural operation. Modern mechanized agriculture may make use of tractors,,, computers, and satellite imagery, among other technologies.

merchantable volume: In, the amount of wood in a tree or stand of trees (typically expressed in units of volume, e.g. ) that is of a quality suitable for harvesting and marketing as. The term is most commonly used to describe an estimated with respect to a particular economic context, which may vary as market conditions and consumer preferences change.

micro-irrigation:

middlings:

milk:

milk cow: A kept primarily for the purpose of producing for home use or limited commercial sale, especially when belonging to a herd of cattle being raised for other purposes.

milking: The process of extracting, either manually or by, from the mammary glands of lactating mammals, especially , , , and water buffalo, or more rarely camels, horses, or donkeys. Lactation occurs naturally in all sexually mature female mammals, though in usable quantities only during or immediately after pregnancy. Milking is the fundamental activity underlying the industry.

milking parlor: An enclosed, dedicated space where animals are.

milkshed:

mill: Any structure or device used to break solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting.

milling:

millrace:

minimum tillage: A type of designed to conserve soil quality by minimizing the amount of soil manipulation necessary for successful crop production, typically by completely avoiding primary tillage and practicing only minimal secondary tillage.

minor crop: A crop plant that is high in value but is not widely grown. Many fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts may be considered minor crops.

miticide: See.

mixed farming: The simultaneous and for meat, eggs, or milk on the same farm, especially on the same or adjacent lands, and often reusing or recycling the products of one operation to supply the other, e.g. by using some part of the crop harvest for animal, or by using animal  as a crop.

monocropping:

The practice of growing a single crop repeatedly on the same land for many consecutive growing seasons. Monocropping allows farmers to optimize their time and labor by applying the same, growing methods, machinery, pest controls, etc. to the same crop in the same spaces year after year, but also forgoes the potential benefits of natural diversity and may eventually prove unsustainable by exhausting soil nutrients and requiring increasingly large inputs to compensate.

monoculture: The practice of growing or raising a single crop or livestock species, variety, or breed on a particular area of land at a time. Contrast.

mote: Waste material from the process, primarily from lint cleaning.

mouldboard:

mouthing: The process of inspecting an animal's teeth to determine its age, as is commonly done with sheep and horses.

mulch: Any layer of material applied to the surface of soil for the purpose of conserving soil moisture, improving soil health and fertility, reducing growth, and/or enhancing the soil's aesthetic appeal. Mulches are usually organic in nature (e.g.,, and ) though  and other types of artificial mulch are also common.

muley: A.

multigerm seed: Any type of seed product sold as a cluster of seeds fused together and which produces more than one plant when it germinates, after which the multiple plants are typically reduced to individual plants by a process called singling.

multiple cropping: The practice of growing two or more on the same area of land in the same (as opposed to growing ); the crops may be harvested at the same time or at different times. It is a form of. See also.

N
nanny goat: See.

naps: Large, tangled masses of fibers present in cotton, often a consequence of ginning cotton which has not dried sufficiently. Compare.

natural growth promoter (NGP):

neps: Very small, snarled or knotted clusters of fibers present in cotton which are difficult to detect, looking like dots or specks in the, and equally difficult to remove. Neps are generally a more serious concern than naps because if not detected they will appear as defects in the finished yarn or fabric.

net farm income: The return, both monetary and non-monetary, to farm operators for their labor, management, and capital, after all production expenses have been paid; i.e. minus production expenses. It includes net income from sales of the farm's agricultural products as well as net income attributed to the rental value of farm dwellings, the value of any commodities consumed on the farm, depreciation, and inventory changes. The term is used primarily in United States agricultural policy.

non-program crop: Any agricultural crop or commodity not covered by a federally funded commodity program. Contrast.

northern vigor: The phenomenon by which certain varieties of plants adapted to high-latitude climates produce hardier, better-tasting, or higher-yield crops when grown in lower-latitude climates. The effect has been observed in many types of produce grown in the northern United States and Canada, including potatoes, strawberries, and garlic.

no-till farming: Any method of growing or maintaining without disturbing the soil through, and typically involving minimal or no  preparation. Though soil tillage is widely practiced in modern agriculture, proponents assert that in certain contexts no-till or low-till techniques can increase the soil's retention of water and organic matter and reduce soil erosion.

noxious weed: A or other undesirable plant that is harmful to cultivated crops or other useful plants (by acting as a parasitic plant, strongly outcompeting other plants, or releasing allelopathic chemicals into the soil) or to (by poisoning or causing other injury). Many places specify which weeds are noxious and require land users to take steps to control these species.

NPK:

nurse cow: A which is in order to supply milk to nursing  other than her own.

nurse crop: Any annual plant used to assist in the establishment of a perennial crop. Nurse crops may help to reduce the incidence of weeds, prevent soil erosion, and shade the perennial crop's seedlings from excessive sunlight; often the nurse crop itself is harvested for a particular product.

nursery:

nutrient pollution: The contamination, particularly of surface water sources, by excessive inputs of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Sources of nutrient pollution include from agricultural fields and pastures (where large quantities of nutrient-rich are commonly applied), discharges from septic tanks and, and emissions from combustion.

O
oast:

A building designed for kilning or drying harvested hops for use in the brewing of beer.

off-farm stocks: Harvested or produced by a particular farm or agricultural operation which have been removed from the farm where they were produced and stored off-site in temporary or permanent storage, e.g. at,, or other processing facilities, regardless of their ownership or intended use. This includes supplies of grain which have been sold or distributed to consumers or retailers as well as supplies which have not yet been sold but for which there is no available storage space on the farmer's property. Compare.

oilseed crop:

olericulture: The of vegetables (i.e. non-woody herbaceous plants) for food, or the science that studies the growing of these plants as edible.

once grown seed: Seed obtained from plants that have been grown from a intended for use only by the farmer on his own farm, and not for resale.

once-over tillage: An operation in which a field is tilled and planted or in quick succession.

on-farm stocks: Harvested or which are stored on-site in temporary or permanent storage at or near the same farm where they were grown, regardless of their ownership or intended use. This includes supplies of grain which have already been sold but not yet distributed to consumers or retailers as well as supplies kept for the farmer's own use, and in the broadest sense may also include grain which is still growing in the field and has not yet been harvested. Compare.

on-the-hoof: (of livestock) Sold live for.

open: (of livestock) Fertile but not yet pregnant; able to be impregnated.

open range: A type of on which, particularly, roam freely regardless of land ownership and without being enclosed by. Where open range is prescribed by law, the land owner (and not the animal owner) is responsible for erecting fences to keep animals off of private or public property.

orchard: Any intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Most orchards are planted with a single variety of fruit- or nut-producing tree, and are often laid out in a regular grid with wide spacing and grazed or mown grass or bare soil between individual trees to make maintenance and harvesting easy.

orchardry: The of trees or shrubs in an, with the goal of producing any a variety of products that can be used by humans, especially foods.

organic farming:

organic fertilizer:

orthodox seed:

outbuilding: Any building that is part of an agricultural or residential complex but is detached or distant from other structures, especially one dedicated to some practical purpose and isolated by necessity or convenience on a remote part of a large property. Common agricultural outbuildings include,, cellars, , , sheds, and housing for farm laborers.

outfarm:

out-wintering pad (OWP):

ox:

A animal of either sex which is trained and used as a, especially for, , , pulling carts or wagons, or hauling loads. Oxen are most commonly castrated adult male cattle, though and  may also be employed as oxen.

P
packinghouse: A building in which agricultural (e.g. fruits and vegetables) is packaged for sale prior to distribution to market. Other forms of processing such as cleaning may also take place in the same facility.

paddy field:

pannage: The practice of releasing, especially pigs, into a wild forest so that they can feed on fallen such as acorns, beechnuts, and chestnuts.

pasteurization: The practice of applying moderate heat to and other heat-sensitive liquids in order to reduce the native microbial load. Pasteurization uses temperatures which are much lower than in conventional sterilization techniques but still high enough to deactivate or denature the proteins and other molecules used by bacteria and other microorganisms, usually not killing them outright but significantly slowing their growth and reproduction, thereby delaying the inevitable onset of and extending the product's shelf-life.

pastoral farming:

A sedentary form of in which are raised on the same  for most or all of their lives, rather than continuously being moved as in traditional nomadic pastoralism. Pastoral farmers typically have some form of ownership of the land they use, giving them an economic incentive to the land to meet the needs of their animals (e.g. by ).

pastoralism: A type of animal in which of domestic animals are released onto large areas of vegetated outdoor land, known as, for, traditionally by fully or partially nomadic peoples who move around with their herds, and generally in places where environmental conditions such as aridity, poor soils, and extreme temperatures make growing crops difficult or impossible.

pasture: Any land used for, especially enclosed tracts of grazed by domesticated such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine. Pasture vegetation mainly consists of grasses and forbs and is typically grazed throughout the summer. Pasture is often distinguished from, but may in the broadest sense include, other agricultural land types such as, , or other unenclosed pastoral areas.

pastureland: A type of used as for  animals.

pegging:

pellet mill:

A type of or machine press used to compress and mold bulk quantities of powdered or fine-grained material into compact, high-density, homogeneous units called pellets, which are often much easier to store, transport, and distribute than in their original form. Many agricultural materials are commonly pelletized, including fertilizers and pesticides. is usually milled from a feed mixture into small pellets the size of a kernel of corn so as to ensure a uniform ration for each fed animal.

perishable:

perlite: An amorphous glass mineral of volcanic origin with a relatively high water content and the unusual property of expanding to many times its original volume when heated sufficiently. Expanded perlite is commonly used as a in, where its low density and high permeability help to improve drainage and prevent. It is also sometimes used alone as a for starting cuttings or in.

permaculture: An approach to land management that adopts arrangements observed in healthy natural ecosystems, with particular emphasis on utilizing creative design principles derived from whole systems thinking. Permaculture principles are often employed in,, and , but the concept has a wide range of applications, including in ecological engineering, water resource management, and architecture.

permanent crop: Any produced from a perennial plant which produces crops repeatedly over multiple seasons, rather than having to be replanted after each.

permanent wilting point (PWP):

pesticide: Any chemical or biological agent used to deter, incapacitate, kill, sterilize, or otherwise discourage the activity or proliferation of one or more target organisms considered pests by humans, which includes used to control,, , , , antimicrobials for bacteria and viruses, and any other substance intended to control a pathogen of any kind. Pesticides are widely used in agriculture to protect or  from pathogens which may cause or transmit disease or destroy crop value, though they are also used for a huge variety of other purposes. Some are applied directly to the pest, while others are applied to the crop or animal itself, or to the air or soil around it. Pesticide use may also have drawbacks, including unintended or off-target effects such as toxicity to humans.

pesticide refuge:

pharming:

The use of genetic engineering technologies to insert one or more genes that code for useful pharmaceuticals into a host plant or animal that would otherwise not express those genes, thereby creating a. Crops modified in this way are sometimes called pharma crops.

pig:

piglet: A young domestic of either sex. See also.

pigsty: See.

pineapple pit: A method of cultivating pineapples in temperate climates, consisting of a trench dug into the ground and covered with transparent glass, with two internal walls dividing it into three troughs. Pineapples are grown in the central trough while the outer troughs are filled with fresh manure, which gives off heat as it decomposes, keeping the central trough warm and humid.

pinery: A natural or cultivated pine forest which is harvested for timber. A where pineapples are grown, or another name for a.

pioneer crop: A grown to improve the general fertility of a parcel of land prior to another, typically more valuable crop on the same land. Farmers often permit livestock to the pioneer crop in the hope that their dung will add soil nutrients.

pisciculture:

A branch of involving the raising of fish in tanks, enclosures, or hatcheries with the goal of producing any of a variety of products that can be used by humans, most commonly food.

pitchfork: A two-handed with between two and five long, thin tines and a long handle, used to efficiently pitch or toss large clumps of loose material such as,, leaves, or. Pitchforks are used for a wide variety of tasks such as feeding and.

plant breeding:

plantation: A large-scale estate which specializes in, most commonly cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane, opium, fruit trees, rubber trees, and forest trees.

plashing: See.

plastic mulch: An artificial consisting of a thin film of plastic polymers, used in both crop production and landscaping for the same reasons as natural mulches, i.e. to suppress, conserve water, and maintain soil integrity. Crops grow through regularly spaced holes cut in the plastic film. It is most commonly used with, often in conjunction with.

plasticulture: The practice of using plastic materials in agricultural applications. Plastics are used for a huge variety of purposes in all types of agriculture, including as irrigation,, , and packaging, , and , among numerous others.

pleaching:

The practice of interweaving the living and dead branches of a hedgerow so that they become tangled, either for the purpose of strengthening the hedge by forming a natural fence or wall which continues to thicken as it grows, or for ornamental reasons.

plough:

Any farm implement used to loosen or overturn soil in preparation for seed or, a practice known as. Ploughs typically consist of a series of blades attached to a wooden or metallic frame, often with wheels, which is then pushed or pulled either by humans, by draft animals, or, on modern farms, with a.

plough pan:

A hard layer in the caused by excessive compression due to repeated at the same depth over multiple consecutive. See also.

plough planting:

A system in which a planting or apparatus is mounted directly behind a  such that a field is ploughed and sown simultaneously in a single step, with no intervening. See also.

ploughing:

The use of a in the cultivation of agricultural land. Ploughing is an ancient and fundamental agricultural technique, the primary purpose of which is to evenly distribute fresh nutrients, moisture, and air through the uppermost layers of the soil while also burying and  to decay. Modern ploughed fields are typically left to dry and then prior to planting. The use of a plough usually leaves the soil with a rough, unfinished look and parallel trenches called ; conventional, intensive ploughing practices may contribute to soil erosion and the formation of.

ploughshare:

The large metal blade that is the leading edge of the of a, used to cut through large amounts of soil to the bottom of the. Certain ploughs have a immediately preceding the ploughshare.

plug:

plunge dip:



poddy:

A that has been orphaned by the loss of its mother. See also.

pollarding:

polled: Born, used when describing of a species that is normally horned, e.g. in cattle, goats, and sheep. The term may refer to animals that have been selectively bred to be naturally hornless or, in the broadest sense, to otherwise horned animals that have had their horn buds removed after birth by.

pollen drift: Unintentional cross-pollination of wild plants by crop plants or vice versa, or between distinct crop varieties or cultivars, through natural mechanisms of pollen dispersal (e.g. wind or insects).

polyculture: The practice of growing or raising more than one species, variety, or breed at the same time and place, often in imitation of the biodiversity of natural ecosystems. Contrast.

polytunnel:

A type of in the form of a typically semi-circular, elongated tunnel made from a steel frame covered with transparent polyethylene; temperature, humidity, and air circulation can be adjusted by the opening and closing of doors or vents. Polytunnels are used in similar ways to glass greenhouses and, e.g. for or as. Though primarily designed to provide temperature increases ranging from 5 to 35 C-change above the outdoor air temperature, they can also protect plants (and animals) against extreme weather and the drying effect of wind.

pomology:

The study of fruit and its cultivation.

pork: The meat of or.

postemergent: Occurring after the stage in a plant's life when the first leaves emerge from beneath the soil. The term is used in particular to describe a class of intended to be applied to which are already leafy or established. Post-emergent herbicides such as glyphosate typically work by killing the cells of mature leaves, thereby inhibiting photosynthesis and causing the whole plant to die; they are generally ineffective on very young plants and seeds. Contrast.

postharvest: The stage of commercial crop production immediately following, including cooling, drying, cleaning, sorting, packing, and/or any other processing and handling activities necessary for the crop to become marketable. Postharvest treatment largely determines a crop's final quality and how and whether it can be sold. Any activities that occur after agricultural products leave or are sold from the farm or ranch where they were produced.

post-harvest losses:

poult: A young turkey, especially one too young for its sex to be determined.

poultry: Any birds cultivated by humans for their meat, eggs, or feathers, most commonly various species of fowl, especially chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and pigeons.

poundage quota: A quantitative limit on the amount of an agricultural commodity (e.g. tobacco or peanuts) that can be produced and/or marketed under the provisions of a governmental.

power take-off (PTO): A device, commonly found on tractors but also sometimes on farm trucks or other vehicles, that transmits electrical and/or mechanical energy from a power source (e.g. a running engine) to an attached implement or a separate machine which is either pulled behind on a trailer or mounted on the vehicle itself. Modern tractors almost always have a power take-off, which can be connected to a wide variety of equipment to supply power for virtually any automatable agricultural task, e.g.,, , compacting, distributing agrochemicals, harvesting, etc.

precision agriculture (PA):

A large-scale agricultural management strategy based on observing, measuring, and responding to inter- and intra-field variability in and with the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while preserving resources. Precision agriculture relies on advanced technologies such as GPS, remote sensing, satellite imagery, multispectral imagery, and to collect data on numerous agricultural variables and to generate datasets and maps of spatial variability which can then be used by variable-rate (and often fully automated) applications to optimally distribute resources.

precision seeding: A method of that involves placing seed with attention to precise spacing and depth, either by hand or mechanically, as opposed to. Precision seeding usually requires less seed and avoids overcrowding and the need for thinning, but is best suited for plants with very high germination rates in order to make full use of the seeded area.

precleaning: Removing unwanted foreign material such as weeds, seeds, dirt, stems, and cobs from harvested before it is dried.

preemergent: Occurring before, or before the stage in a plant's life when the first leaves emerge from beneath the soil. The term is used in particular to describe a class of intended to be applied to before their leaves have become established. Pre-emergent herbicides such as paraquat work by inhibiting one or more enzymes that are active in cell division only in new ; they do not inhibit germination from seed itself, nor are they effective on established, mature plants. Contrast.

preharvest:

prices paid index: An economic index used to monitor and indicate changes in the prices paid by farmers for goods and services used in crop and livestock production as well as those needed for farm family living. In addition to the prices of common farm such as, the index also includes interest on debt, taxes payable on farm real estate, and wage rates paid to hired labor. It is used to calculate the price of many fees and fines required by agricultural law, e.g. fees for grazing livestock on federal land.

prices received index: An economic index used to monitor and indicate changes in the prices received by farmers for their products at the point of first sale, usually the farm itself or a local market. Together with the, it is used to calculate the.

prilled: Pelletized and sold in the form of small, round, solid globules, as is common with many,, and other.

primary tillage: Any general-purpose that is relatively deep and thorough and which leaves the soil surface with a rough, unfinished texture, such as, as opposed to subsequent, shallower, and more selective. Primary tillage is usually performed immediately after the last, with the objectives of loosening, softening, and aerating the soil to a particular depth, incorporating and/or , and killing.

priming: The process of moistening in order to initiate prior to  in soil or other substrate. The process of removing ripened leaves from tobacco plants by hand.

prod: See.

produce: A generalized term used to refer to a variety of -produced food, usually including fruits and vegetables and sometimes also and other products, especially implying that such foods are fresh and generally in the same state as when and where they were.

profit crop: See.

program crop: A crop for which are paid by a government agency to participating producers, e.g. wheat, corn, barley, grain sorghum, oats, upland cotton, and rice. Contrast.

protein crop: Any plant whose harvested products naturally contain high concentrations of proteins or amino acids and are therefore important as or in helping to meet the nutritional requirements of humans or domestic animals. Many and  are considered protein crops.

provender: See.

pruning: The selective removal of certain unwanted plant parts or tissues, such as branches, buds, or roots, from crops or landscape plants during cultivation for any of a variety of reasons, including controlling or redirecting growth, improving or sustaining the plant's health or appearance, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing juvenile plants for, and increasing the or quality of harvestable flowers and fruits. See also ', ', and.

pseudocereal:

puddling:

pullet: An immature female chicken.

push–pull technology: An agricultural pest control strategy that utilizes the of repellent "push" plants and attractive "pull" plants to divert pests, typically insects, away from vulnerable. For example, noxious plants (e.g. catnip and Desmodium) may be planted between rows of a valuable crop to repel or "push" certain herbivorous insects away from the cereal, while a more preferable  (e.g. some Brachiaria grasses) is simultaneously planted around the perimeter of the field to attract or "pull" in the insects and keep them there.

Q
quern-stone:

R
rafter: To a field with so that the earth removed from each furrow is turned over onto the adjacent unplowed ground.

rainfed field: An unirrigated field depending solely on natural precipitation for its water supply, generally surrounded by to prevent.

raised-bed gardening: A type of in which the soil surface is raised above the surrounding ground level and usually enclosed in some way within a structure known as a raised bed. Such elevated allow gardeners to separate their gardens from the surrounding environment and therefore easily maintain the condition and properties of the soil by optimizing density, nutrient levels, and water infiltration and drainage, and adding a barrier to the movement of pests and pathogens from adjacent natural soils; they may also be desirable because they do not require digging into the ground, which may be difficult or impractical in some places due to the presence of rocks or tree roots or the risk of damaging buried utility lines.

ram: An adult male of breeding age.

ramification:

ranch:

rancher: A person who owns or works on a, or who breeds or raises for sale.

ranching: The practice of raising such as,, and horses on an area of land called a.

rangeland:

Any grassland, shrubland, woodland, wetland, or desert area that is by domestic or wild animals and is generally not suitable for cultivating crops. Rangelands are generally less intensively managed than lands in that they are dominated primarily by native vegetation rather than by plants established by humans, and typically are not subjected to agricultural practices such as  and the use of.

ratooning: The practice of harvesting a crop plant (particularly a monocot species) by cutting most of the above-ground portion of the plant but leaving the roots and the shoot apices intact so as to allow the plant to recover and produce a fresh crop in a subsequent growing season. This procedure usually can be sustained only for a few seasons, as tends to decline with each season. Ratoon crops include sugarcane, pineapples, and bananas.

reaping:

recalcitrant seed: Seeds that cannot survive the effects of drying or freezing (generally, temperatures less than 10 C) and which therefore cannot be stored for long periods of time because they tend to rapidly lose viability. Recalcitrant seeds do not acquire desiccation tolerance during development and often shed from their parent plants with a relatively high moisture content, making them especially vulnerable to moisture loss. Contrast.

registered livestock:

registered seed:

remainder: See.

rendering:

residue: See.

residue-to-product ratio:

ribbon farm:

riddle: To grade and sort (e.g. potatoes) according to size, using a sieve.

ridge-till:

ridging: See.

ripper: See.

roaster: A large chicken raised for its meat and suitable for roasting, generally at least 12 weeks old and weighing at least 4 lb. Compare.

roguing: The practice of identifying and removing plants with undesirable characteristics (e.g. plants that are diseased or of an unwanted shape, color, or variety) from agricultural fields, often by hand. The plants, known as rogues, are removed to preserve the quality of the desirable plants, often by way of preventing undesirable characteristics from propagating into subsequent generations.

roller: An agricultural implement, typically -drawn, used for flattening an area of land by breaking up large clumps of soil, pushing stones into the soil, and generally creating a smooth, firm, especially following or.

rooster: An adult male chicken.

root pruning: The mechanical severing or trimming of plant roots, either intentionally or unintentionally, often by the passage of an agricultural implement through soil. When deliberate, it is often done so as to make a plant easier to or to slow its growth.

root zone:

rotation crop:

rotational grazing: The practice of periodically moving herds of between enclosed sections of  known as paddocks, allowing the animals to graze the new paddock while the unoccupied paddocks recover and regrow vegetation, as opposed to allowing continuous grazing of the same land indefinitely or feeding the animals in a. See also.

roughage: Any animal feedstuff with high fiber content, such as or.

row cover: Any flexible, transparent or semi-transparent material, such as fabric or plastic sheeting, that is used as a protective covering to shield plants from extreme temperatures and wind, as well as from insect damage and large herbivores. Row cover can also provide a limited amount of warming in the same way as, by creating a microclimate for the covered plants.

row crop: Any that can be planted in rows wide enough to allow it to be or otherwise cultivated by agricultural machinery specifically designed for that purpose. Such crops are generally by  rather than by.

ruralism: The advocacy of rural lifestyles, including care of forests and nature. See also.

S
scalping:

scarify: To stir a soil surface with an implement possessing tines, e.g. a wire rake, but without turning the soil over completely, often to remove shallow-rooted weeds. To use a sharp tool to create a nick or slit in the hard outer coat of a seed in order to aid the penetration of moisture to the endosperm and thereby speed up.

scion: An aerial or above-ground plant structure, e.g. a stem or branchlet, that is grafted onto the rootstock of another plant.

scythe: A handheld agricultural tool designed with one or more curved blades, sharp on the inside edge, used for mowing grass or harvesting crops, especially crops prior to. The action of the scythe has largely been automated in modern agricultural machinery such as and. The scythe is similar to a, but has a longer handle intended to be used with two hands instead of one.

season extension: Any method that allows a to be grown and/or beyond its natural outdoor  or harvest season. Season extension practices most commonly aim to overcome low temperatures or inadequate sunlight in climates where cold weather and shorter days limit the growing season in the spring and fall, but can also include techniques designed to address other seasonally varying conditions such as precipitation and consumer demand, or simply to keep mature crops alive until immediately before the harvest (as opposed to applying food preservation technologies to prevent  during storage).

second: To between rows of that have previously been thinned out.

secondary tillage:

seed cotton: Raw cotton which has been harvested but not yet or processed in any other way, containing, seeds, and possibly foreign matter.

seed crop: A grown specifically so that seeds can be harvested from the mature plants, as opposed to crops grown for their edible or usable non-seed parts, without regard for the quality or quantity of any seeds they may produce. A secondary seed crop may be maintained alongside a primary in order to ensure an adequate supply of seeds for future plantings and/or to manage crop phenotypes by the artificial selection of seeds from parents with desirable characteristics.

seed dressing: The process of coating seeds with clay, biofertilizers, pesticides, or inert materials to give them a uniform shape and to increase their size and weight in order to improve visibility, ease of planting, germination rates, and resistance to disease.

seed drill: A mounted or tractor-drawn machine that automates the action of crop seeds, usually by permitting a specified quantity of seed to pass through a hopper with each rotation of a drive wheel and then through tubes that extend to the soil surface, where the seeds are deposited and covered with soil to a precise depth. The result is a series of evenly spaced rows with seeds distributed uniformly between them.

seed enhancement:

seedbed:

The local soil environment in which seeds are, often including not only the soil but also a specially built, , or used to the seeds in a controlled environment before  the resulting  into more natural soils in a garden or field. The use of seedbeds can substantially increase germination rates.

seeding: See.

seedling: The young plant that from a plant embryo contained within a seed.

seedlot: A quantity of seeds, cones, or any other plant propagule of the same species, source, or quality, especially a quantity representing a single collection collected on the same date and at the same location, or even from the same individual plant.

sericulture: The of silkworms with the goal of producing silk.

set: In, the total amount of blossoms or fruits growing on one or more cultivated trees at a particular time, or the total amount produced by or harvested from one or more trees during a or production cycle; an approximate quantification of a tree or orchard's total.

setting: (of a ) In the process of incubating eggs.

shade house: Any structure with a roof or covering that partially obstructs light from reaching the space beneath it (e.g. a mesh fabric or wood slats), providing partial shade to plants or animals living inside. Shade houses are commonly used in to provide optimal conditions for the growth of shade-loving plants, attenuating direct sunlight and keeping temperatures cool while still permitting air circulation and enough light for photosynthesis to occur.

share: See.

sharecropping: A type of in which a landowner allows a to cultivate a portion of his or her land in return for a share of the  produced on that land.

sharefarming:

shattering: The natural detachment and dispersal of a plant's fruit or seeds upon reaching maturity, i.e. when the fruit is ripe. For agricultural crops where the harvested seed is valuable, such as cereal, shattering is usually undesirable because natural dispersal mechanisms often scatter the small seeds haphazardly over the ground, making it difficult or impossible to collect, while seed that remains attached to the plant is much easier to harvest. Hence farmers try to time the harvest to occur immediately before their crops begin to shatter. Heavy rain and strong winds may cause premature shattering, which can result in significant yield losses.

sheaf: A bundle of cut stems from a crop (especially wheat) which have been bound together after, traditionally by or  but on some modern farms by machines such as a. Multiple sheaves are then "shocked" or arranged into conical to allow the grain to dry before.

shearing:

shearing shed:

shearling: A or one-year-old. The from a recently shorn sheep or that has been tanned or dressed with the wool left on, having a suede surface on one side and clipped fur on the other.

sheep dip:

sheep station:

sheet mulching:

shelterbelt: See.

shifting cultivation: A type of agriculture in which specific plots of land are cleared and temporarily, often by methods and for just a few, then abandoned and allowed to lie, reverting to their natural vegetation over many more seasons, while the cultivator migrates to a new plot.

shoat: A young domestic of either sex, usually from the age of up to five months old and weighing 50 to 160 lb.

shock: See.

shrinkage:

sickle: A handheld agricultural tool designed with one or more curved blades, sharp on the inside edge, and typically used for crops or cutting succulent  for feeding livestock. The sickle is similar to a, but used with one hand instead of two.

sickle feather: Either of a pair of long, curved feathers in the tail feathers of a.

side dressing:

silage: A type of animal made from the green foliage of crop plants preserved by a process of fermentation and storage called ensilage, ensiling, or silaging, which typically involves piling and compressing large amounts of cut green vegetation in an oxygen-poor environment, such as a pit or or a bale wrapped tightly with plastic film. Silage is usually made from maize, sorghum, or other, using the entire green plant (not just the grain).

silo: Any structure designed for storing bulk materials. In agriculture, tower silos are commonly used to store fermented known as.

silviculture: The practice of managing or directly controlling the establishment, growth, composition, and quality of natural or deliberately planted forests for any of a number of reasons, especially timber production but also for the of other forest.

sire: The male parent of an animal. The term is used alongside, especially for domestic mammals such as and horses.

site-specific crop management (SSCM): See.

slash-and-burn:

slash-and-char:

slaughter: The killing,, and of domestic, usually for food but also for other reasons, including harvesting or  animals that are diseased or otherwise unsuitable for consumption.

slaughter weight:

slaughterhouse:

sled row:

An unplanted left between planted rows in a tobacco field to allow people and machinery to access the plants in the middle of the field. Usually, two sled rows are left for every four rows of tobacco plants.

slip: A cutting, shoot, or leaf capable of vegetative propagation when rooted.

slurry: Liquid waste from animals that is stored in tanks or, treated, and then distributed as a, often by a tractor-hauled machine such as a.

slurry pit:

A hole, tank, reservoir, or other holding area, often lined with concrete but open to the air, into which liquid and other unusable organic byproducts of agricultural operations, known as, is dumped and then allowed to decompose naturally over a long period of time into a nutrient-rich solution that can with further treatment be reused as a. The decomposition process often releases toxic gases, necessitating the use of personal protective equipment when working near slurry pits.

smallholding:

smother crop: A dense, fast-growing plant species capable and often cultivated specifically for the purpose of suppressing the growth of by competing strongly with the weeds for access to light, water, and nutrients. An ideal smother crop competes with the weeds but not with other crops. Once it has served its purpose, it may be ploughed into the soil as along with any weeds that may have survived. Smother crops are an example of.

smudge pot: Any heat-producing device placed between the trees of an to keep the trees warm and prevent the accumulation of frost on fruits and flowers, which are often highly vulnerable to damage from cold temperatures. Historically, smudge pots burned petroleum to produce an open flame at the top of a long chimney, though colloquially the term now encompasses modern methods, which usually rely on propane or electric space heaters instead.

soil amendment:

Any product which is added to soil to improve the soil's quality, especially its fertility and mechanics, either to make poor soils more usable or to maintain soils that are already in good condition. In the broadest sense, the term includes all organic and synthetic and all other soil additives.

soil compaction: The degradation of soil structure, generally by an increase in bulk density and/or decrease in porosity, due to externally or internally applied loads. Conventional agricultural methods, especially the repeated use of heavy machinery, often lead to the compaction of, creating impermeable underground layers that severely restrict water and nutrient cycles and thereby adversely affect crop growth, yield, and quality, not to mention numerous off-site ecological processes.

soil inoculant:

soil science: The scientific study of soil as a natural resource, including its formation, classification, and mapping; the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils; and how these properties relate to the use and management of soils for agricultural purposes.

soil solarization:

sow: A mature female.

sow stall: See.

sowing:

The process of distributing seeds (or any other type of propagule) of plants in or upon an area of fertile soil, either by hand or by mechanical methods. Sowing is one of the first steps in any seasonal agricultural operation.

spaying:

spoilage: The process by which an agricultural product (typically food) becomes unsuitable for use or ingestion by the consumer. Natural decomposition of agricultural crops by bacteria and fungi is the most common cause of food spoilage. Depending on the type of product, shelf life may be significantly increased with proper packaging and storage and by the application of various food preservation techniques.

sprigging:

springer: A pregnant, especially a, that is due to soon.

sprinkler irrigation: The overhead application of water to a crop by any of a wide range of mechanisms and designs, encompassing both stationary and moving, which are often fully or partially automated, e.g. and systems.

sprout damage: The undesirable of wheat kernels that often occurs on unharvested wheat when wet field conditions persist in the final stage of crop maturation, just prior to and during the. Recently cut wheat that has been left lying in the field prior to is particularly vulnerable;  and drying the cut stalks as quickly as possible is therefore often a high priority for wheat farmers. Sprouted kernels contain extremely high concentrations of the enzyme alpha-amylase, which can negatively impact the wheat's baking quality; the presence of this enzyme can be determined by the test.

stable: A building divided into separate stalls in which domestic, especially, are kept, sheltering them from the elements and giving them a private space where they can reside during illness or pregnancy.

stag: A male animal (a ) that has been castrated relatively late in life, e.g. after reaching maturity, as opposed to the normal practice of castrating males while they are still. Compare.

stallion: An adult male horse or donkey that has not been, especially one used for breeding purposes.

staple fiber:

staple food:

A food that is eaten routinely and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given population or demographic, generally supplying a significant proportion of the basic nutrients needed for survival or health. Specific staple foods vary by location and culture, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that can be stored over long periods of time without decaying; examples include, starchy tubers or root vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products.

steer: A male animal (a ) that has been castrated, usually as a young so as to yield better-quality meat later in life. Compare.

stocker: Any being prior to, especially a  or.

stockyard:

stook:

An upright conical or tent-like arrangement of of the cut stalks of a crop, placed so as to keep the grain-heads off the ground prior to collection for. Stooked grains typically include wheat, barley, oats, and maize.

storage clamp: A compact pile, mound, or heap of materials, especially one used for the temporary storage of such as potatoes, turnips, and rutabagas.

Storie index:

stover: The leaves, stalks, and other of certain crops, especially maize, sorghum, and soybean, that are left in a field after harvesting. It may be used as a or, directly grazed by livestock, or dried and collected as.

stratification:

straw: An agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of plants after the and  have been removed. Straw has numerous different uses, including as,, bedding and for livestock, and construction material.

strip cropping:

stubble-mulching: The practice of leaving the stubble or essentially in place on a plot of cropland as a or surface cover during a  period. Stubble-mulching can prevent soil erosion and conserve soil moisture.

stud:

stumpage:

sty:

A small outdoor enclosure in which domestic are raised as livestock, generally little more than a fenced-in area of bare dirt or mud.

subirrigation:

The practice of delivering water through ditches or pipelines directly into porous underground spaces within a 's ; more broadly, any method of supplying water to plants from underneath the soil surface, including those grown in pots and containers, as opposed to supplying it at the surface or from above.

subsistence agriculture: Agricultural production that is practiced in order to meet the needs of the farmer or producer, as opposed to that practiced in order to generate profit by selling the agricultural products to consumers. Subsistence agriculture usually refers to farmers growing food crops strictly for use by themselves and their families, typically on, with the output of the farm targeted principally at fulfilling basic survival needs and local requirements, and generally implies small amounts of, use of crude or traditional farming tools, reliance on unskilled labor (often family members), low , and little or no. It primarily occurs in the developing world, though most modern subsistence farmers also participate in trade to some degree.

subsoiler:

A -mounted farm implement used for soil at depths much below the levels normally worked by, , or. While most such tools break up and turn over surface soil to a depth of 15 –, subsoilers can often extend the action to as deep as 75 cm. They typically consist of three or more heavy, curved shanks fitted with replaceable points and sometimes with horizontal wings, which are used to lift and shatter the that builds up in deeper layers due to.

succession planting:

suckle: To supply or take milk from the breast or udder of an animal, used especially to describe the nourishment of newborn mammals including and.

suckling: An infant or young animal that milk for most or all of its nourishment; one that has not yet been.

sugar bush: A natural or cultivated stand of maple trees used for the production of maple syrup.

summer fallow:

summer range:

sun-cured:

(of a food) Having been dried by a process in which the freshly harvested food (e.g. tomatoes) is exposed to direct sunlight in open air, often for multiple days, causing most of the water of the to be lost by evaporation.

super seeder:

support price: A legislated minimum price for a particular commodity, maintained through a variety of mechanisms, such as minimum import prices, nonrecourse loans, and purchase programs.

sustainable agriculture:

swampbusting: The drainage of a natural swamp or wetland in order to make the land for the cultivation of agricultural crops, or to render it usable for any other purpose.

swathe:

swather:

A type of agricultural machinery that cuts or small and forms them into a, with the goal of decreasing the time required for  the crop to a moisture content suitable for harvesting and storage. A bar or  cuts the stems of the crop, and a reel helps the cut stems fall neatly onto a conveyor, which then deposits them into a windrow with all stems oriented in the same direction. The mown strip left behind is called the.

sweetening: The of additional seed of the same crop into a previously sown field without disrupting the original planting, in order to supplement thinly planted areas which did not or are not expected to at the same density as the rest of the field. Even when the original seed is uniformly sown, it may fail to establish at the expected density due to low viability or adverse weather conditions such as a late frost.

swill: A mixture of water and discarded kitchen refuse that is fed to livestock (especially ); or any liquid food for animals.

swine:

Any member of several species of omnivorous mammals of the family Suidae, having cloven hooves, flat snouts, and thick hides covered with sparse, coarse hair; the term may be applied to such animals both collectively and individually. Adult males are called and adult females are called. Domestic swine are commonly raised for their meat, known as, and wild swine are often hunted.

T
tailing: See.

tailrace: A manmade channel or built to carry water away from a,, turbine, or mining operation. Compare.

tailwater: In and, water that drains from the lower end of the furrows, having instead of penetrating the soil. It is sometimes subsequently usable for the irrigation of lower-lying land. The water immediately downstream of a dam, spillway, bridge, culvert, or any other hydraulic structure, or the water that passes through a.

tallow: Fat from the tissue of slaughtered,, or other to be used in the manufacture of candles, soap, or any of a variety of other products.

tame hay: cut from domesticated, cultivated plants such as clover, timothy, or alfalfa, as opposed to, which is cut from wild or native grasses.

tankage: A highly nutritive animal concentrate made of processed meat byproducts.

teart: Plants or soils that contain high concentrations of molybdenum, or the poisoning of livestock that graze on vegetation grown in these soils.

tedder:

A -drawn machine that uses rapidly moving -like tines to aerate or "wuffle" freshly cut on the ground in a process known as, typically prior to. Use of a tedder allows the hay to dry more quickly, which can result in improved aroma and color.

tedding: The spreading of material across an agricultural field, especially to act as a fertilizer, or certain crops (e.g. and flax) to help them dry on the ground before collecting them. Traditionally tedding was done manually with tools such as, but in modern practice it is often done by a mechanized or.

tempering:

One of several steps in the of certain crops such as wheat and maize, in which moisture is added to the  in order to aid the removal of  from the endosperm.

tenant farmer: A person who operates and resides on owned by a landlord. Tenant farming involves a contract between the landowner and the tenant farmer in which the landowner contributes his land and often a measure of operating capital and management in exchange for the tenant farmer's labor. The tenant farmer may also pay rent to the landowner, though the form and measures of payment and the rights the tenant has to the land vary widely with local custom.

tensiometer: An instrument used in management to measure the amount of moisture in cultivated soil and thereby provide an indicator of how much and how frequently to irrigate.

terrace: A sloped plane such as a hillside that has been landscaped into a series of flat surfaces or platforms resembling steps, i.e. successively receding as one travels uphill, and following the lateral contours of the topography. Graduated terraces are commonly built to create level spaces for agriculture in hilly or mountainous terrain. The shaping of a natural landscape into terraces is known as terracing.

threshing: The process of loosening the edible part of a or other crop from the to which it is attached, without removing the bran. In grain cultivation, threshing immediately follows and precedes.

threshing floor:

threshing machine:

threshing stone:

tillage: The preparation of agricultural soil by any of various types of mechanical agitation, whether human-powered, animal-powered, or mechanised, such as digging,,, , and. In this sense, it is also referred to as tilling. The land that is tilled.

tiller: A stem or shoot which arises from the base or crown of a grass plant, especially any shoot that emerges after the initial parent shoot germinates from a seed. Many grass species, including such as barley, produce multiple tillers which grow laterally from the same dense tuft in moist soils, a form of vegetative propagation known as tillering. Colloquially, any used for soil, e.g. a.

tilth: The physical texture, structure, and general condition of soil with respect to its suitability for planting or growing a, as indicated by parameters such as moisture content, aeration, soil aggregate stability, rate of water infiltration, and drainage. Soil with good tilth has large pore spaces allowing air and water movement, yet is also capable of holding water and plant nutrients for substantial periods of time. The primary objective of is to improve tilth by mechanical manipulation of the soil, with the goal of increasing crop ;, , and can also positively impact tilth. When applied excessively, however, these practices may have the opposite effect, causing the soil to lose its structure and become.

timber: See.

tobacco barn: A specially designed for air-curing tobacco plants.

tom: A young male turkey, usually less than one year old.

topographical tetrazolium test:

A test of seed viability in which ungerminated seeds are nicked and then soaked in an aqueous solution containing triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC), a chemical indicator which is reduced by the activity of dehydrogenase enzymes in living tissues, changing their color from white to red, but remains unreacted in metabolically inactive or necrotic tissues. A seed embryo that stains red is assumed to be metabolically active and therefore likely to germinate. The TTC assay is used in agriculture for quick estimations of viability without having to wait for actual germination, which can often take days or weeks, but may also yield misleading or unreliable results in certain plant species.

topping: The removal by mowing or cutting of the aerial parts of a plant, i.e. the uppermost parts of the canopy, including the highest or most distal ends of shoots, stems, stalks, trunks, or branches, for any of a variety of reasons, especially in order to prevent the development of terminal reproductive structures such as flowers and fruits, with the ultimate aim of diverting the plant's resources to the growth of other structures such as roots and leaves, or of preventing unwanted dispersal of seeds. are commonly topped to prevent their seeds from contaminating the soil they are covering. Topping is also done for health and aesthetic reasons. See also ', ' and.

topsoil: The uppermost layer of soil, widely variable in depth but typically less dense and more pliable than layers below it, making it easy to but also more susceptible to erosion. In many places topsoils will form naturally from a mixture of organic and inorganic material over time, but it may also be added to a ground surface or created by.

tractor: A type of heavy engineering vehicle designed specifically to deliver very high tractive effort or torque at slow speeds for the purpose of hauling a trailer or machinery, especially one which provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks. Modern tractors serve a wide variety of different functions, with many types of agricultural implements and machinery able to be towed behind or mounted on a tractor, such as,, and ; the tractor may also provide a source of electrical power if the implement is mechanized.

transhumance: A type of involving the seasonal movement of between fixed summer and winter.

transplanter:

transplanting:

trap crop: Any plant that is cultivated in order to attract the attention of agricultural pests, usually insects, and thereby distract them away from nearby. In small farms or gardens, this practice can help save the primary crop from decimation by pests without the use of.

tree farm: A wild forest that is managed for timber production, or a or where trees are deliberately planted and cultivated for commercial sale, either for timber or as ornamental plants.

tree wrapping: The practice of completely covering the lower trunk of a tree (commonly a sapling) or any other sensitive plant with, crêpe paper, burlap, or plastic, generally in order to protect it from cold temperatures, wind,, or insects.

trellis:

A lattice or framework of interwoven or intersecting rods of wood, bamboo, metal, or plastic used to support or display climbing plants, especially trees and shrubs but also garden crops such as tomatoes.

trench silo: A long, deep trench dug in the ground, often in a hillside, and sometimes lined with wooden or concrete retaining walls to be used as an in-ground for storing. They are common in arid climates where the ground is well-drained.

trickle irrigation: See.

trough: See.

truck farm: A that grows vegetables or fruits and then ships the harvested, often in boxes hauled by trucks, to one or more markets for sale to consumers (as opposed to selling the produce at the farm itself, as with a ).

turnrow: See.

twibill: A type of which pairs a vertical axe blade with a horizontal adze blade.

U
urban agriculture:

U-Pick: See.

V
vapor drift: The unintentional diffusion of vapors from an area where are applied (generally by large-scale fumigation methods) to adjacent areas, which can harm non-target crops or animals, as well as humans.

Vavilovian mimicry: A form of mimicry in plants in which a or unwanted plant species evolves to share one or more characteristics with a domesticated plant species, often an agricultural, through many generations of unintentional selection caused by the practice of. The deliberate removal of weeds from crop fields against traits that distinguish the weed from the crop plant, because weeds that physically or chemically resemble the crop plant, or otherwise follow the same phenology or growth habit, are more likely to escape notice by the farmer, evade chemical or mechanical removal, and thereby survive to reproduce.

veal: The meat of, as opposed to the of older.

vealer: A, especially of a, that is usually raised on milk only and at less than four months old and less than 350 lb, to be sold as.

vermicompost: A type of produced as a result of the decomposition processes performed by certain species of earthworms as they feed on decaying organic matter. The final product, typically a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and worm castings, is popular as a and.

vermiculite:

vermiculture: The cultivation of worms, usually red wigglers and other types of earthworms, for the purpose of producing.

vermiponics:

vernalization:

vertical farming: The practice of growing in vertically stacked layers, usually indoors as a type of and by incorporating soilless farming techniques such as,, and.

vineyard: A plantation or plot of land where grapevines are grown for the cultivation of grapes, particularly for winemaking.

virtual water: The total volume of freshwater used in the production of a food or non-food agricultural product, represented figuratively and in most cases estimated rather than directly measured. Virtual water may include the water physically embodied in the product itself (e.g. inside a fruit) as well as any water used during production which does not ultimately become part of the product (e.g. all water consumed in the process of irrigation, whether actually uptaken by the crop or not).

viticulture:

The practice and study of the cultivation of grapes, especially for use in winemaking.

volunteer: Any plant, especially a feral plant or crop descendant, that grows in an agricultural field or garden unintentionally, rather than by deliberate planting by a farmer or gardener. Volunteers often grow from seeds that have been dispersed by the wind or animals or inadvertently mixed into. Unlike, volunteers are not necessarily unwanted, and may even be encouraged to grow, especially if they show desirable characteristics that can be selected to produce new.

W
walking tractor:

A self-propelled, two-wheeled vehicle with a single axle, designed to pull and supply power to any of a variety of which are mounted upon or towed behind it, including ploughs, seeders, cultivators, harvesters, or other trailers, with the operator either walking behind it or riding the implement being towed. These tractors, usually much smaller and cheaper than four-wheeled tractors, are best suited for small fields and relatively light-duty tasks.

warm-up ration: A ration of and/or fed to free-range  to prepare them for placement in a, where they will be fed on similar rations consisting entirely of.

water rights: The right of a landowner to make use of the banks, bed, or waters of a water source, e.g. a river, stream, pond, spring, or underground aquifer. The water source need not necessarily be contained within or border on the user's property, as human-made reservoirs, aqueducts, and other water distribution systems have made it possible to allocate water to places outside of the source's natural drainage basin. Water rights are of major significance for managing, especially in arid regions, though the legal principles regulating access and usage vary widely by jurisdiction.

water wheel:

waterlogging:

water-meadow: A flat area of grassland that is periodically flooded through the use of controlled in order to increase. The technique is practiced primarily in Europe.

watermill:

A powered by the movement of water through a or turbine, which drives the grinding or crushing mechanism.

water-wheel irrigation: See.

weaning: The gradual introduction of an infant mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's ; the infant is considered to be fully weaned, and may be called a, once it is no longer nursed on any breast milk. More generally the term can also refer to the physical separation of a calf from its mother, whether by putting them in different herds or for any other reason.

weanling:

An animal which has recently been, especially a young horse (a ), usually between six months and one year of age. The term is also sometimes used to refer to newly weaned and.

weed: Any plant considered undesirable in a particular context, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals. Plants considered weeds may include those that are hazardous to humans or animals; harbor pests or diseases; are difficult to control in managed environments; are aesthetically unappealing; or are simply a general nuisance, having negative characteristics that outweigh their positive ones. Such plants tend to reproduce quickly and produce large numbers of seeds, and often have biological characteristics that allow them to thrive in disturbed environments or that make them difficult to destroy or eradicate. is of great importance in agriculture and horticulture, since weeds may compete with cultivated crops for soil, sunlight, water, nutrients, or other resources and cause significant losses in crop. Methods of controlling weed populations include manually or mechanically damaging or removing them, smothering them with mulch, deeply or  the soil, burning them, applying chemical, and periodically  or  the land.

weed control:

weed of cultivation: Any plant considered a that is well-adapted to environments in which the land is for growing some other plant. See also.

weeder: Any of a variety of hand-operated, towed, or power-driven agricultural implements used to pull, cut, dig, or otherwise remove from an area intended for cultivation.

weeding: The destruction or removal of by manual or mechanical means, often with the use of implements such as or, but also simply by manually pulling them from the ground; or, in the broadest sense, any type of  applied to existing populations of weeds, including chemical.

wether: A castrated male or.

wet-milling: A operation in which plant material containing seeds is steeped in water, with or without sulfur dioxide, in order to soften the seed kernels and separate the material into its various components. The technique is commonly used to convert maize into products that can be used as.

wild hay: cut from wild or native grasses, as opposed to, which is cut from cultivated crops.

wildcrafting: The human practice of for uncultivated plants or fungi from their natural or "wild" habitats, primarily for food or medicine.

wildculture:

wildling: A crop which has begun growing, unintentionally, outside of managed agricultural lands or the area where it was intended to be cultivated.

wilting point: See.

windbreak:

One or more rows of closely spaced trees or shrubs planted in such a way as to provide shelter from the wind to an adjacent agricultural field, thereby protecting the area from excessive cold and soil erosion. Windbreaks commonly take the form of hedgerows planted around the edges of fields on farms, but may also be made from artificial materials such as large canvas panels. Aside from decreasing wind speeds, they may also be designed to separate farms from motorways or to collect snowdrifts that will provide water to dry farmland when the snow melts in the spring.

windmill: A powered by the wind, using large vanes called sails or blades to catch the movement of the air and convert it into rotational energy which drives a turbine. Traditionally, windmills were used specifically as to mill, but in modern usage the term may encompass many other wind-powered devices which are not used for milling.

windrow: A row of cut or mown or small crop that is allowed to dry in a  before being,, or rolled. Windrows may be built deliberately after cutting, or they may form automatically as a result of the method by which the crop is mown.

windrower: See.

windsnap: The breaking of the bole or trunk of a tree by very strong winds, a type of. Compare.

windthrow: The uprooting of a tree by very strong winds, a type of. Compare.

winnowing: The process, performed either manually or mechanically, by which the economic fraction of a grain crop (i.e. the ) is separated from the undesirable. Traditional manual winnowing involves throwing the unseparated mixture into the air so that the wind blows away the lighter chaff, while the heavier grains fall back to the ground for recovery. In modern agriculture, winnowing is often entirely mechanized. It is the final of the three major steps of grain, following and.

winter range:

wool:

wool alien:

X
xeriscaping: The practice of gardening or landscaping so as to reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental water from. Xeriscaping requires the selection of plants whose natural requirements are appropriate to the local climate, with a particular emphasis on water conservation, and focuses on designing and maintaining the land in such a way as to avoid losing water to evaporation and runoff.

Y
yean: To give birth. The term is used especially of sheep and goats.

yeanling: A newborn sheep or goat (i.e. a or ).

yearling: A male or female horse, donkey, animal, or any other domestic mammal that is too young to breed, generally between one and two years of age.

yield:

yield mapping:

You-Pick: