Terminology Services

Ag 101 Glossary of American Agriculture

Description:

This glossary is associated with a training developed by EPA's Ag Center which is intended to provide a brief overview of American Agriculture. The training covers the primary commodities and the methods for producing them.

Publishing Organization:

Region 7

Last Update:

September 11, 2007

Program Site:

https://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag-101-overview-agriculture

Terms & Acronyms

Search Terms

Contains Begins Exact Match

	Term
	10 Point Milk and Dairy Beef Residue Prevention Protocol	Definition: Designed by veterinarians and milk producer organizations to avoid contamination of milk with antibiotics. It identifies the 10 points in milk production where milk is at greatest risk for antibiotic contamination of milk.
	Acid Rinse	Definition: Part of the equipment cleaning process for stainless steel and rubber parts, removes fat, protein and minerals and also reduces bacteria.
	Acre	Definition: The unit of measure most typically used to describe land area in the United States. An acre is equivalent to 43,560 square feet and is about 9/10 the size of a football field.
	Acre-Inch	Definition: A volume measurement typically associated with irrigation operations on cropland. An acre-inch is equivalent to 27,154 gallons. When an inch of water is applied to cropland via irrigation, each acre receives 27,154 gallons. (Alternatively, a measure of the volume of water applied to the soil/growing crop using irrigation approximately equivalent to 27,154 gallons.)
	Acute	Definition: Used to describe disease where symptoms are readily evident. Treatment is generally required.
	Aerobic	Definition: Microorganisms that require free oxygen to biodegrade organic matter.
	Agribusiness	Definition: An enterprise that derives a significant portion of its revenues from sales of agricultural products or sales to agricultural producers.
	All in, All out production	Definition: A production system whereby animals are moved into and out of facilities in distinct groups. By preventing the commingling of groups, the hope is to reduce the spread of disease. Facilities are normally cleaned and disinfected thoroughly between groups of animals
	Alley	Definition: A walking area for cattle within a barn such as a loafing alley, feeding alley or cross alley (walkway) from a barn to the milking parlor.
	Alley Scraper	Definition: A V shaped mechanical blade that is dragged over an alley by chain or cable to pull manure to collection channel at the end of the alley (or possibly the center of the barn). The blade then collapses and is drawn back to the opposite end of the alley.
	Anaerobic	Definition: Microorganisms that biodegrade organic matter without free oxygen.
	Anhydrous Ammonia	Definition: A fertilizer used to provide nitrogen for crop production. The product, stored under high pressure as a liquid, changes state during application and is injected into soil as a gas. It is popular due to the fact that it is composed of 82 percent nitrogen compared to other nitrogen fertilizers such as urea that contain only 46% nitrogen and ammonium nitrate with 30-33% nitrogen content.
	Antibiotic	Definition: A metabolic product of one microorganism or a chemical that in low concentrations is detrimental to activities of specific other microorganisms. Examples include penicillin, tetracycline, and streptomycin. Not effective against viruses. A drug that kills microorganisms that cause mastitis or other infectious disease.
	Antibiotic Residues	Definition: The presence of traces of antibiotics or their derivatives in milk or meat.
	Antibiotic Test Kit	Definition: Test kit for use on the farm to detect residues of antibiotics in milk before the milk is picked up for delivery to the plant.
	Artificial Insemination	Definition: Placing semen into the female reproductive tract (usually the cervix or uterus) by means other than natural service. Acronym: AI
	Automatic Detacher or Automatic Take off	Definition: A device for sensing the end of milk flow in the milking machine which shuts of the milking vacuum and releases the milking machine from the cow's udder.
	Average Daily Gain	Definition: Pounds of liveweight gained per day.
	Backgrounding	Definition: Growing program for feeder cattle from the time calves are weaned until they are on a finishing ration in the feedlot. Backgrounding is the management process of feeding the stocker animal.
	Barn Cleaner	Definition: Usually a chain linked system of paddles that moved manure from gutters, up a chute, into a waiting manure spreader. Most often seen in tie-stall or stanchion barns.
	Barrow	Definition: A neutered male is a barrow and the adult male is a boar.
	Bedded Pack	Definition: Open housing in a barn that is commonly used in conjunction with an outside feeding area.
	Bedding	Definition: Material used to absorb moisture and provide cushion. It is easily cleaned to provide a clean, dry surface and reduce the incidence of mastitis. Possible bedding materials include: straw, sawdust, wood chips, sand, ground limestone, separated manure solids, shredded newspaper, corn stalks, bark, peanut hulls, sunflower hulls and rice hulls.
	Beef	Definition: Meat from cattle (bovine species) other than calves. Meat from calves is called veal.
	Biosecurity	Definition: Any of a broad range of practices enforced at a dairy farm to prevent transmittal of pathogens from other sources by feed, cattle, people, or other animals. System of procedures and other means to reduce or eliminate exposure of poultry flocks to any type of infectious agent, whether it be viral, bacterial, fungal, or parasitic in nature.
	Black-out House	Definition: Houses that do not allow any natural light into the building.
	Blind Quarter	Definition: A quarter of an udder that does not secrete milk or one that has an obstruction in the teat that prevents the removal of milk. A nonfunctional mammary gland.
	Boar	Definition: A term for a male domestic swine suitable for breeding.
	Boot	Definition: The time when the head is enclosed by the sheath of the uppermost leaf.
	Bovine	Definition: Refers to a general family grouping of cattle.
	Breed	Definition: Cattle of common origin and having characteristics that distinguish them from other groups within the same species.
	Breeder	Definition: A bird that is utilized to produce offspring.
	Brisket Board	Definition: A raised part of the freestall platform about 6.5 feet in front of rear of the stall to keep cows positioned properly while lying. Usually made of wood or plastic, but occasionally concrete.
	Broiler	Definition: Chicken, sometimes called fryers, reared primarily for meat production. Age to market weight is typically 6 to 8 weeks (5 to 8 pounds), and are the epitome of efficient meat production.
	Broken Udder	Definition: Term used to describe an udder that is loosely attached or pendulous.
	Brooding	Definition: Early period of growth when supplemental heat must be provided, due to the birds inability to generate enough body heat.
	Bt Corn	Definition: Field corn that has received a gene transferred from a naturally-occurring soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis. The gene causes the corn plant to produce one of several insecticidal compounds commonly called Bt toxins. The toxins affect the midgut of particular groups of insects such as European corn borer that can be harmful to corn.
	Bucket Milking System	Definition: A system in which the milk coming from the cow is drawn into a bucket or pail and manually transferred to a collection area or the milk house.
	Bulk Tank	Definition: A refrigerated, stainless steel vessel in which milk is cooled quickly to 2 to 4 C (35 - 39 F) and stored until collected by a bulk tank truck for shipping to the milk plant.
	Bull	Definition: A sexually mature, uncastrated bovine male.
	Bullock	Definition: Young bull, typically less than 20 months of age.
	Bunk	Definition: A feed trough or feeding station for cattle.
	Bunker	Definition: A flat rectangular structure with concrete floors and walls used to ensile and store forages.
	Bunker Silo	Preferred Term: Bunker
	Bushel	Definition: A unit of dry volume typically used to quantify crop yields. One bushel is equivalent to 32 quarts or 2,150.42 cubic inches. A bushel is often used to represent the weight of a particular crop; for example, one bushel of No. 2 yellow shelled corn at 15.5% moisture content weighs 56 lb.
	Byproduct	Definition: Product of considerably less value than the major product. For example, the hide and offal are by-products while beef is the major product.
	Cake Manure	Definition: Surface manure on top of litter, typically only a few inches deep.
	Calf	Definition: A young male or female bovine under 1 year of age. Usually referred to as calves until reaching sexual maturity.
	Calve	Definition: Giving birth to a calf. Same as parturition.
	Cannula	Definition: A special tube designed for placing drugs into the udder through the teat end and streak canal.
	Cash Crop	Definition: An agricultural crop grown to provide revenue from an off-farm source.
	Center Pivot	Definition: A type of irrigation system that consists of a wheel-driven frame that supports a series of sprinkler nozzles. The frame rotates about a central point to distribute water over a large circular area.
	Chalk Sticks	Definition: Used to mark treated, fresh, or special-needs cows.
	Channel Erosion	Definition: Erosion in channels is mostly caused by downward scour due to flow shear stress. Side wall sluffing can also occur during widening of the channel caused by large flows.
	Cheese Curd	Definition: The clumps of casein and other milk components that are formed during the cheese making process. These curds are then pressed into blocks or barrels for proper aging and curing of the cheese.
	Chronic	Definition: Used to describe recurring symptoms or disease.
	Churning	Definition: The process of stirring and agitating cream in the process of making butter. Churning causes the fat globules in cream to clump together and separate from the liquid.
	Clinical	Definition: Symptoms are present, supportive therapy or treatment is necessary.
	Colostrum	Definition: First milk following calving. High in fat, protein, and immunoglobulins that may be directly absorbed by the newborn calf in its first 24 hours of life.
	Commodity Storage	Definition: Usually a steel framed shed that provides storage for commodity feeds, such as cottonseed, brewers grains, chopped hay, etc.
	Composting Pad	Definition: A concrete or hard packed surface that provides an area on which manure and discarded feed may be composted with ready access to aerate the composting materials.
	Concentrates	Definition: High energy or high protein feeds consisting primarily of the seed of the plant, but with out stems and leaves.
	Conformation	Definition: The body form or physical traits of an animal or parts of the animal in the case of udder conformation.
	Conservation Tillage	Definition: Any tillage and planting system that covers 30 percent or more of the soil surface with crop residue, after planting, to reduce soil erosion by water. Where soil erosion by wind is the primary concern, any system that maintains at least 1,000 pounds per acre of flat, small grain residue equivalent on the surface throughout the critical wind erosion period.
	Contagious	Definition: Disease that can be passed from one bird or animal to another through a number of possible ways.
	Conventional Tillage	Definition: Full width tillage that disturbs the entire soil surface and is performed prior to and/or during planting. There is less than 15 percent residue cover after planting, or less than 500 pounds per acre of small grain residue equivalent throughout the critical wind erosion period. Generally involves plowing or intensive (numerous) tillage trips. Weed control is accomplished with crop protection products and/or row cultivation.
	Cooling	Definition: Using ventilation to prevent birds or animals from becoming too hot.
	Corn Belt	Definition: The area of the United States where corn is a principal cash crop, including Iowa, Indiana, most of Illinois, and parts of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
	Coverall	Definition: A brand name, but commonly referring to any of a group of hoop type barns with opaque or mylar fabric covers over a tubular steel frame.
	Cow	Definition: A mature female bovine. Usually referring to any dairy females that have born a calf. Some may consider females having given birth only once as "first-calf heifers" until they have a second calf.
	Cow-Calf Operation	Definition: Management unit that maintains a breeding herd and produces weaned calves.
	Cow Trainer	Definition: A tin or wire structure supported a few inches above a cow to prevent her from soiling the platform of her stall by administering a gentle electric shock if she arches her back to urinate or defecate while too far forward in the stall.
	Crate	Definition: An elevated stall for a calf in an indoor facility.
	Crowd Gate	Definition: A motorized or manual gate at the end of the holding pen that may be moved forward to guide cows toward the entrance to the milking parlor.
	Cull	Definition: To remove a cow from the herd. Culling reasons in clued voluntary culling of cows for low milk production, or involuntary culling of cows for reasons of health or injury.
	Cull Cow	Definition: A cow having been identified to be removed from the herd or having recently left.
	Culture	Definition: In microbiology, a population of microorganisms in a growth medium or the act of growing bacteria in media for identification. A pure culture contains only organisms that initially arose from a single cell. Cultures are used in manufacturing cultured dairy products and most cheeses.
	Dairy Cow	Definition: A bovine from which milk production is intended for human consumption, or is kept for raising replacement dairy heifers.
	Dairy Herd Improvement	Definition: A specific testing plan which requires supervision and compliance with all official DHI rules. Acronym: DHI
	Dairy Herd Improvement Association	Definition: An organization with programs and objectives intended to improve the production and profitability of dairy farming. Aids farmers in keeping milk production and management records. Acronym: DHIA
	Dairy Herd Improvement Registry	Definition: A modification of the DHIA program to make milk production records acceptable by the specific dairy breed associations. Acronym: DHIR
	Dairy Steer	Definition: A neutered male of any of the dairy cattle breeds. The "dairy steers" are raised for meat production and usually managed like beef cattle.
	Dam	Definition: Mother or female parent in a pedigree, normally applies to cattle.
	Denitrification	Definition: The biochemical reduction of nitrate or nitrite to gaseous nitrogen, either as molecular nitrogen or as an oxide of nitrogen.
	Depression	Definition: A low area in a field where surface drainage away from the area does not occur.
	DHI Records	Definition: Generic term used to refer to records computed by the Dairy Record Processing Centers.
	DHI Supervisor	Definition: An officially trained and DHIA-certified employee qualified to collect milk samples and record milk weights on the farm for all official types of testing plans.
	Direct Microscopic Somatic Cell Count	Definition: Microscopic count of the actual number of somatic cells in milk. This system is used to check and verify electronic cell count machines used in DHI laboratories. Acronym: DMSCC
	Dock	Definition: To remove a cow's tail. This practice may keep cows udders cleaner, but may also result in cows being less content, especially in fly season.
	Downer Cow	Definition: A cow unable to arise due to disease or injury.
	Drawbar	Definition: A tractor component typically located at the rear and near the ground that permits attachment of implements for pulling or towing.
	Drawbar Work	Definition: Any operation performed by a tractor that requires force to be exerted by wheels/tracks to propel an implement through or over the soil.
	Drilled	Definition: Planted with a grain drill. Grain drills differ from row crop planters in that they do not meter individual seeds, but drop small groups of seed in a process referred to as bulk metering. Drills plant crops in closely spaced rows (typically seven to 10 inches on center) that will not be mechanically cultivated.
	Dry Cow	Definition: A cow that is not lactating or secreting milk after it has completed a lactation period following calving.
	Dry Lot	Definition: An open lot that may be covered with concrete, but that has no vegetative cover. Generally used as exercise areas in most of US, but may be used as primary cow housing in the more arid climates.
	Edema	Definition: The presence of abnormally large amounts of fluid in the intercellular tissue spaces of the body, as in a swelling of mammary glands commonly accompanying the initiation of the birthing process in many farm animals.
	Electronic Feeders	Definition: Stations in which cows are fed specified amounts of feed by a computer that recognizes their unique electronic identification transponders.
	Ensiling	Definition: The process of creating silage via anaerobic fermentation.
	Environmental	Definition: Derived from the animal's environment, bedding, housing, etc.
	Environmental Control	Definition: Temperature and humidity control in poultry and animal production barns.
	Equipment Sanitization	Definition: The removal of microorganisms and fat, protein, and mineral residues in milking equipment through use of water, heat, and chemicals.
	Estrous	Preferred Term: Heat
	Eutrophication	Definition: The process by which lakes and streams are enriched by nutrients (usually phosphorus and nitrogen) which leads to excessive plant growth.
	Extra-Label Drug Use	Definition: An antibiotic or other chemical used on the advice of a veterinarian in a dosage, route of administration, for a different disease or in some other manner not included on the approved printed package label.
	Fallow	Definition: Plowed, but left unseeded.
	Farrow to Finish Operation	Definition: A production system that contains all production phases, from breeding to gestation to farrowing to nursery to grow-finishing to market.
	Farrowing	Definition: The period from birth to weaning.
	Fed Cattle	Definition: Steers and heifers that have been fed concentrates, usually for 90-120 days in a feedlot.
	Federal, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act	Definition: It specifies the levels of pesticides, chemicals, and naturally occurring poisonous substances in food products. It also regulates the safety of cosmetic products. (Federal Regulations of Chemicals in the Environment) Acronym: FFDCA
	Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act	Definition: The objective of FIFRA is to provide federal control of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. All pesticides used in the United States must be registered (licensed) by EPA. Registration assures that pesticides will be properly labeled and that, if used in accordance with specifications, they will not cause unreasonable harm to the environment. Use of each registered pesticide must be consistent with use directions contained on the label or labeling. (More information from EPA's Agriculture Web site)
	Feed Bunk	Preferred Term: Bunk
	Feed Grain	Definition: Any of a number of grains used for livestock or poultry feed. Corn and sorghum are feed grains.
	Feeder	Definition 1: Cattle that need further feeding prior to slaughter. Definition 2: Producer who feeds cattle.
	Feeder Pig Operation	Definition: Breeder sells pigs out of the nursery phase to a finishing operation to grow them out to market weight.
	Feedlot	Definition: Enterprise in which cattle are fed grain and other concentrates for usually 90-120 days. Feedlots range in size from less than 100-head capacity to many thousands.
	Fibrosis	Definition: Of a condition marked by the presence of interstitial fibrous tissue, especially in the mammary gland resulting from mastitis.
	fibrotic	Preferred Term: Fibrosis
	Finished Cattle	Definition: Fed cattle whose time in the feedlot is completed and are now ready for slaughter.
	Finisher Pig	Definition: Production phase between the nursery and market.
	Finishing Operation	Definition: The operation purchases feeder pigs from a feeder pig operation and feeds them to market weight at 240 to 260 lbs. Historically, producers purchased feeder pigs at auctions, but because of disease transmission concerns, most operations now bypass auctions and buy all of their animals from the same supplier.
	Flat Barn
	Flowering	Definition: This is the stage when the crop starts flowering. In corn, tassel emergence and pollen shedding takes place at this stage. Two to three days after pollen shedding, silk emergence takes place. At this stage, typically occurs 51-56 days after planting the corn seed, pollination between silks (female) and tassels (male) takes place.
	Flush System	Definition: A manure removal system in which an area is cleaned by high volumes of fresh water, or gray water that is recycled from a manure pit or lagoon.
	Food and Drug Administration	Definition: An agency of the U.S. Government responsible for the safety of the human food supply. Acronym: FDA
	Footbath	Definition: A long shallow tub or depression in the concrete where cows walk through a mild solution (usually including copper sulfate or formalin) to promote foot health. Usually located along an alley where cows return from the milking parlor.
	Forage	Definition: Feedstuffs composed primarily of the whole plant, including stems and leaves that are utilized by cattle.
	Forage Crop	Definition: Annual or perennial crops grown primarily to provide feed for livestock. During harvesting operations, most of the aboveground portion of the plant is removed from the field and processed for later feeding.
	Forequarters	Definition: The two front quarters of a cow. Also called the fore udder.
	Forestripping	Definition: Expressing streams of milk from the teat prior to machine milking to determine visual quality and to stimulate "milk letdown."
	Freestalls	Definition: Resting cubicles or "beds" in which dairy cows are free to enter and leave, as opposed to being confined in stanchions or pens.
	Fresh Cow	Definition: A cow that has recently given birth to a calf.
	Fresh Milk	Definition: Dairy products having original qualities unimpaired and those recently produced or processed.
	Fungicide	Definition: Chemical for the control of fungi
	Garget	Definition: A common term for an inflammation of the udder of the cow or the resulting abnormal milk. More accurately referred to as mastitis.
	Genetically-Modified Organism	Definition: A term that refers to plants that have had genes implanted to improve their performance by making them resistant to certain pesticides, diseases, or insects. Acronym: GMO
	Germicidal	Definition: A substance that has the ability to kill germs.
	Gestation	Definition: The period in a female's life from conception to birth.
	Gilt	Definition: In swine, a female is called a gilt until she has borne a litter, after which she is called a sow.
	Gray Water	Definition: Water that is considered waste and not to be used for cleaning milking systems. Usually including recycled water from a lagoon or milk house waste. Even water only used to cool milk in a plate cooler is considered gray water, though it is often fed to cows to reduce total usage.
	Grazing	Definition: Any vegetated land that is grazed or that has the potential to be grazed by animals. (More information from the Forage Information System)
	Greenhouse Barn	Definition: Commonly referring to any of a group of hoop type barns with translucent or plastic covers over a tubular steel frame.
	Grooved Concrete	Definition: Floor surfaces with grooved patterns cut or depressed into concrete to provide better traction for cattle.
	Ground Water	Definition: The water under the surface of the earth that is found within the pore spaces and cracks between the particles of soil, sand, gravel and bedrock.
	Grow-Finish	Definition: The last phase of production before the animals go to market.
	Gully Erosion	Definition: They are formed when channel development has progressed to the point where the gully is too wide and too deep to be tilled across. These channels carry large amounts of water after rains and deposit eroded material at the foot of the gully. They disfigure landscape and make land unfit for growing crops.
	Gutter	Definition: A shallow to deep channel located behind cows in tiestall barns capture manure and urine.
	Hand Mating	Definition: An individual female that is ready to be bred is exposed to an individual boar in a small pen for a few minutes, under the supervision of the producer.
	Hand Milking	Definition: The manual milking of an animal as opposed to the use of mechanical milking devices.
	Handlers	Definition: Processors or dealers of milk who commonly purchase raw milk and sell pasteurized milk and milk products.
	Harvestore Silo	Definition: A brand of oxygen limiting (air tight) upright silos with bottom unloading.
	Hay	Definition: Dried feed consisting of the entire plant that can be used a feed for ruminant animals. Alfalfa, clover, grass, and oat hay are used in dairy rations.
	Heading	Definition: The stage in which the head pushes its way through the flag leaf collar.
	Headlocks	Definition: Self-locking stanchions along a feed alley in which cows voluntarily enter the head slot when going to eat. All cows may be held until herd health work is completed, and then all cows may be simultaneously released. Headlocks may be adjusted to remain open, allowing cows to come an go at will, when restraining the cows is not necessary.
	Heat	Definition: Refers to the estrous period for a female of breeding age. In swine, the first estrous normally occurs 3 to 5 days after the pigs are weaned.
	Heifer	Definition: A bovine female less than three years of age who has not borne a calf. Young cows with their first calves are often called first-calf heifers.
	Herbicide	Definition: Chemical for the control of weeds and other plants
	Herd	Definition: A group of animals (especially cattle), collectively considered as a unit.
	Herringbone
	Herringbone Parlor	Definition: A milking parlor in which cows stand side-by-side, angled towards the pit. This allows milking from the side of the udder.
	Hide	Definition: Skins from cattle.
	Hog	Definition: Generic term, usually applied to growing swine.
	Holding Pen	Definition: An area in which cows congregate prior to entering a milking parlor to be milked.
	Hoop Structure	Definition: A low cost, uninsulated and naturally ventilated building used for older swine. The floor is mostly earthen and typically bedded with straw.
	Hot Quarter	Definition: A quarter of the udder that is infected and may actually feel hard or hot to the touch due to elevated temperatures.
	Hutch	Definition: An individual housing unit for young calves. Often made of white fiberglass or polyvinyl.
	Immunity	Definition: The power an animal has to resist and/or overcome an infection to which most of its species are susceptible. Active immunity is due to the presence of antibodies formed by an animal in response to previous exposure to the disease or through live or modified-live vaccines. Passive immunity is produced by giving the animal preformed or synthetic antibodies as with killed vaccines.
	Inflammation	Definition: Swelling caused by the accumulation of lymph and blood cells at the site of infection or injury.
	Inorganic	Definition: Not capable of sustaining life. Often refers to dirt or soil.
	Insecticide	Definition: Chemical for the control of insects
	Integration	Definition: Bringing together of two or more segments of beef productions and processing under one centrally organized unit.
	Intramuscular	Definition: Injections given in the muscle.
	IPM	Definition: An integrated approach to controlling plant pests using careful monitoring of pests and weeds. It may include use of natural predators, chemical agents and crop rotations.
	Karst	Definition: Areas with shallow ground water, caverns, and sinkholes.
	Lactate	Definition: To secrete or produce milk.
	Lagoon	Definition: Earthen storage structure with sufficient dilution water added to allow microorganisms to biodegrade and treat organic matter.
	Leach	Definition: The downward transport of dissolved or suspended minerals, fertilizers, pesticides and other substances by water percolating through the soil.
	Leg Bands	Definition: Cloth or plastic strips of a bright color used for marking treated cows, fresh cows, or cows needing special handling.
	Legume	Definition: Any of thousands of plant species that have seed pods that split along both sides when ripe. Some of the more common legumes used for human consumption are beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, and soybeans. Others, such as clover and alfalfa, are used as animal feed. Legumes have a unique ability to obtain much or all of their nitrogen requirements from symbiotic nitrogen fixation.
	Letdown	Definition: The process in a cow where physical stimulation causes a release of oxytocin and the contraction of smooth muscles surrounding milk alveoli resulting in fluid pressure within the udder and milk flow.
	Limit Feeding	Definition: Feeding strategy in which pigs are fed a specific amount of food in a specific time period Vs free access to feed. Limit feeding is common in Europe, but normally only used for gestation animals in the U.S.
	Liner	Definition: A flexible sleeve in the milking teat cup or rigid-walled liner holder. Responsible for massaging the teat end and intermittently cutting vacuum at the teat end during milking. Also called an inflation.
	Liner Slips or Squawks	Definition: Slippage of the liner and teat cup during milking. Caused by a sharp change of milking vacuum within the unit or cluster by drawing in air alongside the teat. Generally creates a "squawking" sound.
	Liquid Egg	Definition: Contents of egg (white, yolk, or both) that have been removed and shipped as a product in bulk.
	Litter	Definition 1: The pigs that are born at one time to one sow - normally 8-12 pigs. Definition 2: Substance applied to dirt or concrete flooring systems that is absorbent in nature, including: wood shavings, rice hulls, chopped straw, sand, sawdust, oat hulls, and several other materials.
	Loose Housing	Preferred Term: Open Barns
	Market Weight (Pork)	Definition: 240 to 260 lbs.
	Marketing	Definition: Increasing awareness of a product by advertising.
	Mastitis	Definition: An inflammation of the mammary gland (or glands), usually caused by bacteria.
	Maternity Barn	Definition: A special needs facility where cows can be closely monitored during the period immediately before and after they give birth.
	Mating	Definition: Breeding a sow or gilt after the onset of estrus and before ovulation, may include at least two services by different boars to ensure successful mating.
	Mattress	Definition: Bedding material compacted to 3 to 4 inches and sandwiched in a heavyweight polypropolene or other fabric. Possible fillers include: long or chopped straw, poor quality hay, sawdust, shavings, rice hulls and, most commonly, shredded rubber.
	Meat	Definition: Tissue of the animal body that are used for food.
	Mechanical Ventilation	Definition: The use of fans, either electric or pneumatic, to ventilate houses.
	Milk Handlers	Definition: Processors or dealers of milk who commonly purchase raw milk and sell pasteurized milk and milk products.
	Milk House	Definition: The area near a milking parlor where the bulk milk tank, cleaning units, and equipment are located.
	Milk House Waste	Definition: Water having been used in cleaning the milking equipment and washing the parlor.
	Milking Pit	Definition: A sunken area that houses both the milker and some milking equipment during milking. This places the milker at shoulder level with udders and reduces physical demands.
	Molting	Definition: The process of shedding and then regrowing feathers in laying hens. It corresponds with a period of no egg laying.
	Mulch Tillage	Definition: Full-width tillage involving one or more tillage trips which disturbs all of the soil surface and is done prior to and/or during planting. Tillage tools such as chisels, field cultivators, disks, sweeps or blades are used. Weed control is accomplished with crop protection products and/or cultivation.
	Mutualism	Definition: A symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit.
	Mycoplasma	Definition: An organism capable of causing mastitis.
	Natural Ventilation	Definition: Air circulation is provided by opening barn doors or windows and allowing the wind to draw through the barn.
	Nematocide	Definition: Chemical for the control of parasitic worms
	Nitrification	Definition: The biochemical oxidation of ammonium to nitrate, predominantly by autotrophic bacteria.
	No-Tillage	Definition: Crop production system in which the soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting. At the time of planting, a narrow strip up to 1/3 as wide as the space between planted rows (strips may involve only residue disturbance or may include soil disturbance) is engaged by a specially equipped planter. Planting or drilling is accomplished using disc openers, coulter(s), row cleaners, in-row chisels, or roto-tillers. Weed control is accomplished primarily with crop protection products. Other common terms used to describe No-till include direct seeding, slot planting, zero-till, row-till, and slot-till.
	Non-Point Source Management Program	Definition: Under the Non-point Source Management Program, states can receive funding to control non-point sources of pollution to protect surface and ground water, including programs to control pesticide contamination of the ground and surface water.
	Non-Productive Sow Days	Definition: Days a sow is neither lactating or gestating.
	Non-Return Dip Cup	Definition: A dip cup that does not allow the liquid to reenter and potentially contaminate the storage container.
	Nursery	Definition: The growth phase immediately after weaning until pigs enter the grow-finish building. Many larger operations are eliminating the nursery phase and placing newly weaned pigs in a growing building where they stay till marketed.
	Open Barns	Definition: Open spaced shelter in which cattle are free to move about or rest wherever they might prefer, usually on a pack of bedding and manure. Organic - A substance that contains carbon and capable of sustaining life.
	Organic Material	Definition: Substances containing plant or animal substance. In the context of milking equipment this usually refers to manure.
	Over the Counter Drugs	Definition: Medications available without prescription.
	Oxytocin	Definition: A naturally secreted hormone that is important in milk letdown and the contraction of the smooth uterine muscles during the birthing process.
	Paddocks	Definition: Subdivision of a pasture designed to provide short-duration grazing followed by an appropriate (related to species, soil type and weather conditions) rest period for re-growth and stand maintenance.
	Paint Sticks	Definition: Contain liquid or chalky paint used for marking treated cows.
	Parakeratosis	Definition: Any abnormality of the horny layer of the outer skin which prevents the formation of keratin.
	Parallel
	Parallel Parlor	Definition: A raised milking area or platform where the cow stands perpendicular to the operator and milking units are attached between the rear legs. This may also be referred to as a side-by-side.
	Parlor	Definition: The specialized area on the dairy farm where milking is performed. Parlors come in many types: Flat Barn, Walk-through, Herringbone, Parallel, Swing and Rotary.
	Pasture	Definition: Land used primarily for the production of domesticated forage plants for livestock (in contrast to rangeland, where vegetation is naturally-occurring and is dominated by grasses and perhaps shrubs.)
	Pastureland	Preferred Term: Pasture
	Pathogen	Definition: Any microorganism that produces disease (bacteria, viruses, yeasts, molds and parasites).
	Peak Egg Production	Definition: The point in a hen's laying cycle where she will lay the highest percentage of eggs.
	Pen	Definition: Most swine are grouped together in pens, whether kept in a shelter or in a fenced open lot. The number of animals penned together may be less than 10 to several hundred, but is normally between 15 and 30.
	Pen Mating	Definition: Boar is placed in a pen with group of sows to allow for breeding.
	Pendulous Udder	Definition: A loosely attached udder.
	Pesticide	Definition: A general name for agricultural chemicals that include: Herbicide, Insecticide, Fungicide, Nematocide, and Rodenticide.
	Pesticide Handlers	Definition: Refers to individuals who mix, load, apply, or otherwise handle pesticides.
	Pig	Definition: Term usually applied to young, immature swine.
	Piglet	Definition: The offspring of a male boar and a female sow are called piglets, or just pigs.
	Pipeline	Definition: A stainless steel or glass pipe used for transporting milk.
	Pit	Definition: A contained unit usually with concrete walls in which liquid or semi-liquid manure is stored.
	Plate Cooler	Definition: A heat exchanger in which water at ground temperature or chilled water is used to cool milk prior to its movement to the bulk milk tank.
	Point Source Contamination	Definition: The Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program controls direct discharges into navigable waters. Direct discharges or "point source" discharges are from sources such as pipes and sewers.
	Post-Milking Teat Dip	Definition: A product applied after milking to protect the teat from contagious pathogens that may have come into contact with the teat during the milking process.
	Postemergence	Definition: Refers to the timing of pest control operations. Postemergence operations are accomplished during the period subsequent to the emergence of a crop from the soil and must be completed prior to point at which crop growth stage prohibits in-field travel (unless alternative application means - aerial or irrigation-based - are used).
	Poult	Definition: A baby turkey.
	Power Takeoff	Definition: A splined shaft that extends from a tractor drive train and is designed to couple with the splined drive shaft of an implement. The connection permits mechanical power to be transmitted from tractor to implement. Acronym: PTO
	Pre-Milking Teat Dip	Definition: A product applied in preparation for milking to clean the teat and reduce the spread of disease and maintain healthy teats.
	Preemergence	Definition: Refers to the timing of pest control operations. Preemergence operations are accomplished during the period subsequent to the planting of a crop and prior to the emergence of that crop from the soil.
	Preplant	Definition: Refers to the timing of pest control operations. Preplant operations are accomplished during the period subsequent to the harvest of one season's crop and prior to the planting of the next season's crop.
	Prescription Drugs	Definition: Drugs that the FDA has determined must be used only under the direction and supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
	Primary Tillage	Definition: The mechanical manipulation of soil that displaces and shatters soil to reduce soil strength and to bury or mix plant materials and crop chemicals in the tillage layer. Tends to leave a rough soil surface that is smoothed by secondary tillage.
	Puberty	Definition: Time of first estrus in sows, usually occurring at 6 mo. of age.
	Pullet	Definition: A laying hen before it lays its first egg.
	Rapid Exit	Definition: Panels or rails that raise to release all cows on one side of the milking parlor at once.
	Ration	Definition: Feed fed to an animal during a 24-hour period.
	Replacement Heifers	Definition: Often ones being raised to replace the cows currently in the herd.
	Return Alley	Definition: The alley through which cows must pass when moving from the milking parlor back to the cow housing area after milking.
	Ridge Tillage	Definition: The soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting except for strips up to 1/3 of the row width. Planting is completed on the ridge and usually involves the removal of the top of the ridge. Planting is completed with sweeps, disk openers, coulters, or row cleaners. Residue is left on the surface between ridges. Weed control is accomplished with crop protection products (frequently banded) and/or cultivation. Ridges are rebuilt during row cultivation.
	Rill Erosion	Definition: The removal of soil by concentrated water running through little streamlets, or headcuts. Detachment in a rill occurs if the sediment in the flow is below the amount the load can transport and if the flow exceeds the soil's resistance to detachment. As detachment continues or flow increases, rills will become wider and deeper.
	Ring Feeder	Definition: A steel hoop with individual head gates that may be placed over a large round bale of hay when feeding it.
	Robotic Parlor	Definition: A completely automated system for milking cows that requires limited human contact.
	Rodenticide	Definition: Chemical for the control of rodents
	Rotary
	Rotary Parlor	Definition: A raised, round rotating platform or carousel on which cows ride while being milked.
	Roughage	Definition: Feed that is high in fiber, low in digestible nutrients, and low in energy (e.g., hay, straw, silage, and pasture).
	Row Crop	Definition: Agricultural crop planted, usually with mechanical planting devices, in individual rows that are spaced to permit machine traffic during the early parts of the growing season
	Ruminant	Definition: Mammal whose stomach has four parts-rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. These animals chew their cud or regurgitate partially digested food for further breakdown in the mouth. Ruminant animals include cattle, sheep, goats, deer and camels.
	Safe Drinking Water Act	Definition: The objective of the Safe Drinking Water Act is to protect public health by establishing safe limits (based on the quality of water at the tap) for contaminants that may have an adverse effect on human health, and to prevent contamination of surface and ground sources of drinking water.
	Sand Separator	Definition: A mechanical device or series of course ways used to settle sand from sand-laden manure.
	Scrape-and-Haul	Definition: Manure handling system in which manure is scrape manually or with a skidloader, placed in a solid manure spreader and directly applied to appropriate crop land.
	Secondary Tillage	Definition: The mechanical manipulation of soil that follows primary tillage. Performed at shallower depths than primary tillage, secondary tillage can provide additional soil pulverization, crop chemical mixing, soil surface leveling, and firming, and weed control. In conventional tillage systems, the final secondary tillage pass is used to prepare a seedbed.
	Seeded	Definition: Generic term for introducing seed into the soil-air-water matrix, typically via a mechanized process that will maximize the likelihood of subsequent seed germination and plant growth.
	Segregated Early Weaning	Definition: Removal of pigs from mother at 10-14 days of age in order to reduce transmission of disease from the mother to her offspring. The milk produced immediately after birth helps to protect the pigs from disease, but this protection decrease over time.
	Self-Propelled	Definition: A term that is typically applied to farm machines with integral power units that are capable of moving about as well as performing some other simultaneous operation such as harvesting or spraying a crop.
	Sensitivity Tests	Definition: Tests used to determine the most effective method of treatment of disease by testing the resistance of the microorganism to classes of antibiotics.
	Separator	Definition 1: Formerly a centrifuge device used to remove the fat from milk on the farm, but now used primarily at processing plants. Definition 2: A device used to separate manure into solids and effluent and accomplish by trickling manure over a sloped screen or mechanically forcing through a screen.
	Service	Definition: Breeding, the deposition of boar semen into the female. Breeding may be by done naturally by a boar or artificially by the manager, using semen obtained from a local boar or purchased from a supplier. Producers often use artificial insemination as a way to bring new genetics into their herd, without the biosecurity concerns involved with bringing new animals onto their farm.
	Settling Pond	Definition: A manure pit where the flow rate of liquid manure is slowed to allow suspended materials to collect at the bottom where they can later be removed.
	Shoat	Definition: A young pig, just after weaning.
	Sidedress	Definition: When a readily available form of nitrogen, normally urea, is injected beside the growing row of plants, usually corn.
	Silage	Definition: A feed prepared by chopping green forage (e.g. grass, legumes, field corn) and placing the material in a structure or container designed to exclude air. The material then undergoes fermentation, retarding spoilage. Silage has a water content of between 60 and 80%.
	Silage Bags	Definition: Large plastic tubes in which forages are fermented. Plastic is removed and discarded as the ensiled feed is fed.
	Silking	Definition: It is considered the first reproductive stage
	Silo	Definition: A storage facility for silage. Usually referring to upright concrete or fiberglass silos.
	Sinkhole	Definition: A surface depression caused by a collapse of soil or overlying formation above fractured or cavernous bedrock.
	Sire	Definition: Father or male parent in a pedigree.
	Slotted Floor	Definition: A concrete floor design in which slats are positioned in the floor so that animal traffic can work manure through the narrow openings (slots) between the slats and into a collection pit located beneath the floor of the barn.
	Soil Test	Definition: A soil test indicates the availability of nutrients present in the soil and the availability of those nutrients to crops grown there.
	Somatic Cell Count	Definition: The number of white blood cells per milliliter of milk or measurement of the number of somatic cells present in a sample of milk. A high concentration of more than 500,000 somatic cells per milliliter of milk indicates abnormal condition in the udder. This serves as an indicator of mastitis infection when elevated above 200,000. Acronym: SCC
	Somatic Cell Score	Definition: A logarithmic representation of the SCC, often referred to as linear scores because they are linearly related to milk production loss.
	Somatic Cells	Definition: The combination of the leukocytes (white blood cells) from blood and the epithelial cells from the secretory tissue of the udder which indicate the presence of infection or injury in the animal.
	Sow	Definition: In swine, the term sow refers to a female after she has borne a litter.
	Sown	Definition: Planted using a broadcast seeding machine that distributes seed upon the soil surface. The seed may then be incorporated into the soil to ensure adequate seed-soil contact for germination.
	Sphincter	Definition: A ring-shaped muscle that allows an opening to close tightly, such as the sphincter muscle in the lower end of a cow's teat.
	Stall	Definition: A cow housing cubicle.
	Stanchion	Definition: A device with two rails that was closed around a cows neck after she entered a stall and to keep her restrained in the stall.
	Standing Heat	Definition: A sow or gilt will assume a rigid stance and maintain it during servicing if she is ready to be bred.
	Steer	Definition: Bovine male castrated prior to puberty.
	Step-Up Parlor	Definition: Cows step onto raised platforms for milking. The milking units are attached from the side.
	Sterile	Definition: Clean, free of any living organisms. Also means unable to reproduce.
	Stocker	Definition: Weaned cattle that are fed high-roughage diets (including grazing) before going into the feedlot.
	Streak canal	Definition: Small canal located in the end of each teat, through which the milk passes immediately prior to expulsion. Also called the teat meatus.
	Strip Cup	Definition: A small cup or device to collect forestrippings and which makes abnormal milk easier to observe.
	Strip Tillage	Definition: The process in which only a narrow strip of land needed for the crop row is tilled.
	Subclinical	Definition: A disease condition without symptoms but often resulting in decreased production or impaired milk quality.
	Subcutaneous	Definition: Under the skin.
	Subway	Definition: An area beneath the milking pit that houses milk meters, pipelines, vacuum lines and transfer tanks to reduce noise and improve the milker's ability to move around in the pit.
	Superhutches	Definition: Calf housing structures, often open on one side, designed for a small number of calves when first grouped immediately after weaning.
	Supplemental Heat	Definition: Furnace or radiant heat provided to maintain a comfortable temperature for the animals
	Swing
	Swing Parlor	Definition: Parlor characterized by having the milking units positioned in the middle of the parlor for use by cows on both sides.
	Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation	Definition: Symbiotic nitrogen fixation occurs in plants that harbor nitrogen-fixing bacteria within their tissues. The best studied example is the association between legumes and bacteria in the genus Rhizobium. Each of these is able to survive independently (soil nitrates much then be available to the legume), but life together is clearly beneficial to both. Only together can nitrogen fixation take place. A symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit is called mutualism.
	Tail Bands	Definition: Used for marking treated cows. Rubber bands are sometimes used to dock cow's tails.
	Tandem Parlor	Definition: Parlor design where cows line up head to tail in individually opening stalls.
	Tasseling	Definition: A condition when the tassel-like male flowers emerge.
	Teat	Definition: The appendage on the udder through which milk from the udder flows.
	Teat Dip	Definition: Pre and Post-milking Substance that kills bacteria and helps to seal the teat end to prevent entry of bacteria into the udder between milkings. May contain emollients to improve teat end condition for use in cold, winter conditions.
	Teat Sealant	Definition: A product that forms a mechanical barrier on the teat end to protect the teat. Generally used at dry-off after antibiotic infusion.
	Throughput	Definition: The number of cows that can be milked in a parlor in a given period of time.
	Tie Stall Parlor	Definition: Facility is frequently used for both housing and milking. Cows are tied and milked with the cow and operator on the same level.
	Tillage	Definition: The mechanical manipulation of soil performed to nurture crops. Tillage can be performed to accomplish a number of tasks including: seedbed preparation, weed control, and crop chemical incorporation.
	Total Mixed Ration	Definition: Ration formulated to meet requirements of the cow in which all of the ingredients are blended together in a mixer. Acronym: TMR
	Toxic	Definition: Harmful.
	Transgenic Crop	Definition: Contains a gene or genes which have been artificially inserted instead of the plant acquiring the gene(s) through pollination. The inserted gene(s) may come from an unrelated plant or from a completely different species.
	Transition Cow	Definition: The time in a cow's life from 2 months before, to 1 month after, her expected calving date.
	Transition Housing	Definition: Barns designed especially for transition cows, often including a maternity area.
	Tromp Sheds	Preferred Term: Open Barns
	Tunnel Ventilation	Definition: Placement of large fans at end of building to draw air from one end to the other.
	Udder	Definition: The encased group of mammary glands provided with teats or nipples as in a cow, ewe, mare or sow. Also referred to as a bag.
	Urea	Definition: A form of nitrogen that converts readily to ammonium.
	Value-Added Products	Definition: A general term that refers to agricultural products that have increased in value due to processing. Examples include corn oil and soybean meal.
	Veal	Definition: A calf (usually male) that is raised on milk and is intended to be used for meat at a young age. Veal meat is served at many restaurants and is very popular in cultural cuisine.
	Ventilation	Definition: The circulation of air through a building in order to expel noxious air and admit clean, fresh air.
	Walk-through
	Walk Through Parlor	Definition: Upon completion of milking, cows walk through the front of the stall to exit.
	Weaning	Definition: The process of removing the pigs from the sow and moving them to the nursery.
	Wild boar	Definition: These wild hogs are still found in parts of the United States. Pigs used in modern pork production are thought to be descendants of the European wild boar. Wild boars are considered to be descendants of European wild boars introduced into the U.S. for sport hunting, or the hybrid offspring of escaped domestic hogs.
	Withdrawal Time	Definition: Time required after the last drug treatment to lower drug residues to acceptable levels. These times are established using healthy animals according to label directions. An amount of time required following use of a medication in an animal before milk or meat can be entered into the human food supply. Ensures residues are maintained at levels approved by the USDA.
	Yeast	Definition: An organism that can grow and develop in the udder, causing mastitis.

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