AAEA – American Agricultural Economics Association
AAFCO – American Association of Feed Control Officials
AAM – American Agriculture Movement.
AAMP – American Association of Meat Processors.
AARCC – Alternative Agriculture Research and Commercialization Corporation.
ABA – American Bakers Association.
ABA – American Bankers Association.
# Abandoned wells
Abandoned
drainage wells and abandoned water wells on vacant farmsteads are of
particular concern for agriculture. Abandoned wells can present both
safety risks and a direct conduit by which groundwater can be
contaminated by surface runoff. A number of states have incentive
and/or regulatory programs to cap or seal abandoned wells.
AC – Area conservationist
ACA – Agricultural Credit Association
ACE – Agriculture in Concert with the Environment
# Acid deposition / acid rain
Abnormally
acidic (low pH) precipitation (or dry deposition) resulting from
emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds that transform during
chemical processes in the atmosphere. Acid deposition can affect the
chemistry of soils and acidify lakes, adversely affecting forests and
fish. It does not adversely affect cropland. The Clean Air Act includes
a program focused on controlling precursor emissions of acid
deposition-primarily sulfur oxides from coal-fired electric utilities.
# ACP
ACP – Agricultural Conservation Program
# ACPA
ACPA – American Crop Protection Association
# Acquired lands
Acquired
lands are lands in federal ownership that were obtained by the federal
government through purchase, condemnation, gift, or exchange. One
category of public lands.
# AMS
The
Agricultural Marketing Service is the USDA agency that establishes
standards for grades of cotton, tobacco, meat, dairy products, eggs,
fruits, and vegetables. It also operates inspection and grading
services and market news services, and provides supervisory
administration for federal marketing orders.
# APHIS
The
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is a USDA agency established
to conduct inspections and regulatory and control programs to protect
animal and plant health. It administers quarantine and eradication
programs, and certifies that U.S. exports meet importing countries’
animal and plant health standards
# Balance of payments
An
accounting statement measuring the value of goods, services and capital
exchanged between a country and all foreign countries. A nation is said
to have either: (1) a balance of payments deficit if it sends abroad
less in goods, services, and capital than it receives from foreigners;
or (2) a balance of payments surplus if it sends abroad more in goods,
services, and capital than it receives.
# CCA
The
Consultative Committee on Agriculture’s (CCA) purpose is to provide a
high-level forum to strengthen bilateral agriculture trade relations
between Canada and the United States of America through cooperation and
coordination by facilitating discussion and cooperation on matters
related to agriculture between the two countries
# CCC
The
Commodity Credit Corporation is a wholly owned government corporation
created in 1933 to stabilize, support, and protect farm income and
prices (federally chartered by the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter
Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-806, June 29, 1948)). The CCC, which has no staff,
is essentially a financing institution for USDA’s farm price and income
support commodity programs, and agricultural export subsidies.
# CMG
A
full service convention and trade show management company. CMG has
provided consulting and staffing resources to NASDA in support of the
USFES program since 1991 when NASDA decided to join FMI in an annual
show.
# DOC
The
Department of Commerce is the federal executive department charged with
promoting U.S. economic development and technological advancement.
# E. coli 0157:H7 (Escherichia Coli 0157:H7)
A
bacterium that lives harmlessly in the intestines of animals such as
cattle, reptiles, and birds. However, in humans the bacterium, which
can be transmitted through foods, can cause bloody diarrhea, and also
lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life threatening disease.
Although other known strains of E. coli are thought to be harmless to
humans, the 0157:H7 strain is particularly virulent and dangerous. It
has been implicated in several major outbreaks of food borne illness in
recent years. After a 1993 outbreak in the West, caused by the
consumption of undercooked hamburgers, resulted in hundreds of
illnesses and several deaths, USDA began regularly testing samples of
ground beef for the pathogen. USDA, as part of its new hazard analysis
and critical control point (HACCP) rule, also now requires all meat and
poultry slaughter plants to regularly test carcasses for generic E.
coli (as opposed to the 0157:H7 strain) in order to verify that their
sanitary systems are effectively controlling fecal contamination.
# EMP
The
Emerging Markets Program is funded by FAS through cooperator and other
groups for the purpose of expanding export and trade opportunities in
emerging market countries (as defined by per capita income).
# EPA
The
Environmental Protection Agency is an independent federal government
agency established in 1970 and charged with coordinating effective
governmental action concerning the environment, including setting
standards, promulgating and enforcing regulations, and initiating and
implementing environmental programs. Two areas of jurisdiction that
most directly affect agricultural production are the registration of
pesticides and implementation of the Clean Water Act.
# FAS
The
Foreign Agricultural Service is USDA’s agency which deals with trade
promotion, trade policy for U.S. food and agricultural products, and
tracks international agricultural production.
# FMI
The
Food Marketing Institute is a nonprofit association conducting programs
in research, education, industry relations, and public affairs on
behalf of its 1,500 members – food retailers and wholesalers. FMI’s
U.S. member companies operate approximately 21,000 retail food stores.
FMI’s international membership includes 200 companies operating in 60
countries.
# Food Export USA – Northeast
A
private, not-for-profit international trade development organization
whose mission is to coordinate and consolidate export marketing and
promotion programs in the Northeastern region of the United States.
# Free on board (F.O.B. or f.o.b.)
Indicates
that the seller assumes all responsibilities and costs up to the
specific point or stage of delivery named including transportation,
packing, insuring, etc. A wide variety of f.o.b. terms is used, such as
f.o.b. factor Detroit, f.o.b. cars New York, f.o.b. ship Norfolk. “Free
on board vessel,” under most P.L. 480 grain contracts, means delivery
at the discharge end of the loading spout.
# Gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer
An
analytical technique for identifying the molecular composition and
concentrations of various chemicals in water and soil samples.
# Habitat
The
place where a population (e.g., human, animal, plant, microorganism)
lives, characterized by physical features (e.g., desert) and/or
dominant plants (e.g., deciduous forest).
# Identity preserved (IP)
This
is the designation given to bulk commodities marketed in a manner that
isolates and preserves the identity of a shipment, presumably because
of unique characteristics that have value otherwise lost through
commingling during normal storage, handling and shipping procedures.
# Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF)
Created
in 1978, the facility is a cooperative effort between USDA’s World
Agricultural Outlook Board and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce to collect, on an
ongoing basis, global weather data and agricultural information to
determine the impact of weather conditions on crop and livestock
production. JAWF reports are followed closely not only by producers but
also by commodity traders.
# Karnal bunt
A
fungus disease of wheat that reduces yields and causes an unpalatable
but harmless flavor in flour milled from infected kernels. Appearance
of the disease in the United States in early 1996 resulted in the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service implementing an emergency
quarantine, inspection, and certification program for wheat moving out
of the infested areas, along with regulations on sanitizing machinery
and storage facilities. Many foreign countries have a zero tolerance
for karnal bunt in import shipments.
# Land capability (classification)
The
quality of soil resources for agricultural use is commonly expressed as
land capability classes and subclasses, which show, in a general way,
the suitability of soils for most kinds of field crops. Soils are
grouped according to their limitations when they are used to grow field
crops, the risk of damage when they are used, and the way they respond
to treatment. Capability classes, the broadest groups, are designated
by Roman numerals I through VIII, with I being the best soils and VIII
being the poorest.
# Mad cow disease
The common term used for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
# MAP
The
Market Access Program is funded by FAS through cooperator groups (like
NASDA and NASDA’s state regional trade groups) for the purpose of
expanding export opportunities for US food and agricultural interests.
# MASDA
The
Midwestern Association of State Departments of Agriculture is the
regional organization representing the Midwestern State Departments of
Agriculture
# MIATCO
The
Mid-America International Agri-Trade Council is a private,
not-for-profit international trade development organization whose
mission is to coordinate and consolidate export marketing and promotion
programs in the Midwestern region of the United States.
# NASDA
The
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture whose members
are the Commissioners, Secretaries, and Directors of agriculture in all
50 states and 4 U.S. territories.
# NASS
The
National Agricultural Statistics Service is USDA agency that collects
and publishes statistics on the U.S. food and fiber system, with
offices located in each state’s department of agriculture.
# NEASDA
The
Northeastern Association of State Departments of Agriculture is a
regional organization representing the Northeastern State Departments
of Agriculture.
# NRA
The
National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for
the restaurant industry, which include 858,000 restaurants and 11.8
million employees in the US. NRA works to represent, educate and
promote the industry.
# NRA
The
National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for
the restaurant industry, which include 858,000 restaurants and 11.8
million employees in the US. NRA works to represent, educate and
promote the industry.
# NRCS
The
Natural Resources Conservation Service is a USDA agency responsible for
developing and carrying out national soil and water programs in
cooperation with landowners, operators, and others.
# Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
The
U.S. Department of Labor agency responsible for administering the
Occupational Safety and Health Act (P.L. 91-596). According to OSHA,
farming is the nation’s most hazardous occupation. Agriculture is the
largest occupational group in the U.S., with some 10 to 20 million
people depending upon one’s criteria of “agriculture.” The
intrinsically seasonal nature of many segments of agriculture not only
causes the size of this workforce to vary temporally and often
geographically via migrant work groups, but usually also has major
effects on the nature and intensity of the work itself. OSHA has issued
safety standards relating to agricultural operations.
# P.L. 480 (or Public Law 480)
P.L.
83-480 (July 10, 1954), also called Food for Peace, is the common name
for food aid programs established by the Agricultural Trade Development
and Assistance Act of 1954, which seeks to expand foreign markets for
U.S. agricultural products, combat hunger, and encourage economic
development in developing countries. Title I makes export credit
available on concessional terms, for example, at low interest rates for
up to 30 years. Donations for emergency food relief and non-emergency
humanitarian assistance are provided under Title II. Title III
authorizes a Food for Development program that provides
government-to-government grant food assistance to least developed
countries. The FAIR Act of 1996 extends the authority to enter into new
P.L. 480 agreements through 2002.
# Qualified Through Verification
An
AMS pilot program (since 1996) for the fresh-cut produce industry,
enabling them to gain official certification of the wholesomeness of
their products to improve marketing opportunities. Under this
voluntary, fee-for-service program, AMS, using HACCP-based principles,
first inspects the company’s facilities to ensure they are properly
designed, are consistent with the Food and Drug Administration’s good
manufacturing practices, have on-site microbiological testing, follow
accepted sanitary operating procedures, and so forth. Ongoing
monitoring, including periodic unannounced site visits, sampling, and
audits by AMS are intended to ensure that the firm maintains its QTV
status, which then authorizes it to use an official AMS mark, the QTV
shield, on product labels and in advertisements.
# Range Betterment Fund
Money
collected from livestock grazing on federal lands and used for
rangeland improvements. The Bureau of Land Management calls these funds
Range Improvement Funds and uses them solely for labor, materials, and
final survey and design of projects to improve rangelands. The Forest
Service calls these funds Range Betterment Funds and uses them for
planning and building rangeland improvements.
# Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
P.L.
93-523 (December 16, 1974) as amended, is the key federal law for
protecting public water systems from harmful contaminants. First
enacted in 1974, the Act, as amended, is administered by the
Environmental Protection Agency through regulatory programs that
establish standards and treatment requirements for drinking water
contaminants, control underground injection of wastes that might
contaminate water supplies, and protect ground and surface water
sources. Regulated public water systems under the Act are those that
have at least 15 service connections or regularly serve 25 or more
individuals. The 1996 amendments (P.L. 104-182) broadened the
definition of “public water system” to include systems that deliver
water through pipes or “other constructed conveyances,” which includes
agricultural irrigation systems that convey water that is used for
residential purposes (unless alternative water is provided for drinking
and cooking; or unless water for drinking, cooking, and bathing is
treated). The 1996 amendments also require states to identify, to the
extent practicable, origins of contaminants in areas providing source
waters for public water systems to determine the susceptibility of
systems to contamination; such areas could include farmland.
# SASDA
The
Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture is the
regional organization representing the Southern State Departments of
Agriculture
# SUSTA
The
Southern United States Trade Association is a private, not-for-profit
international trade development organization whose mission is to
coordinate and consolidate export marketing and promotion programs in
the Southern region of the United States.
# T value (T level)
For
a specific soil, the maximum average annual soil loss expressed as tons
per acre per year that will permit current production levels to be
maintained economically and indefinitely; the soil loss tolerance
level. T values range from 2 to 5 tons per acre per year. According to
the 1992 national resources inventory, about 63 million acres of highly
erodible cropland are still eroding at more than their T value,
including 21 million acres that are still eroding at three times T.
# UES
Unified
Export Strategy is submitted by FAS cooperator groups who seek funding
through the MAP, EMP and other export development programs
# UES
Unified
Export Strategy is submitted by FAS cooperator groups who seek funding
through the MAP, EMP and other export development programs.
# Value-added agriculture
A
concept that has gained currency in the small farm policy debate, in
response to the concern that the farm value of the consumer food dollar
continues to decrease (which, some small farm advocates contend, is due
to the excessive profit-taking by processors and retailers). Value
added agriculture might be any means to capture a larger share of the
consumer food dollar by farmers. Examples include direct marketing;
farmer ownership of processing facilities; and producing farm products
with a higher intrinsic value (such as identity-preserved grains,
organic produce, free-range chickens; etc.), for which buyers are
willing to pay a higher price than for more traditional farm
commodities.
# Value-added products
In
general, products that have increased in value because of processing;
such products include wheat flour and soybean oil. Livestock are
considered value added products because they have increased the value
of pasture and feed grains going into them. The terms value-added and
high-value are often used synonymously.
# Value-based pricing
Packers
are increasingly using this method of determining how much to pay
cattle and hog producers for animals. Rather than simply paying a fixed
rate based on the weight of the animals, value-based pricing attempts
to establish the individual merits of each animal (or lot) purchased,
factoring quality characteristics such as yield, fat thickness, likely
grade (such as choice, select, etc.) into a formula to arrive at the
price that will be paid. Under this system, the producer assumes the
financial responsibility that the animals, once slaughtered, will meet
these criteria. In traditional pricing methods, it is the packer that
bears the greater financial risks associated with the uncertain quality
of the animals purchased.
# Variable import levy
A
charge levied on imports that raises their price to a level at least as
high as the domestic price. Such levies are adjusted frequently (hence
“variable”) in response to changes in world market prices, and are
imposed to defend administered prices set above world market prices.
Under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, the variable levies
of the EU have been converted into fixed tariffs or tariff-rate quotas.
# VAT
VAT – Value-added tax
# Vegetative controls
Nonpoint source pollution control practices that involve planting cover crops to reduce erosion and minimize loss of pollutants.
# VER
VER – Voluntary export restraint agreement.
# Vertical coordination
The
process of ensuring that each successive stage in the production,
processing, and marketing of a product is appropriately managed and
interrelated to the next, so that decisions about what to produce, and
how much, are communicated as efficiently as possible from the consumer
to the producer. Agricultural economists believe that vertical
coordination of markets is particularly important in the food industry
because of its complexity, the large number of firms that participate
in one or more stages, and the relative perishability of the products
involved. Vertical integration is a type of vertical coordination, but
the latter does not necessarily require that a single organization own
or control all of the stages. For example, the use of contracts and
marketing agreements between buyers and sellers, and the availability
of timely, accurate price and other market information are methods for
achieving vertical coordination.
# Vertical integration
The
integrating of successive stages of the production and marketing
functions under the ownership or control of a single management
organization. For example, much of the broiler industry is highly
vertically integrated in that processing companies own or control the
activities from production and hatching of eggs, through the growth and
feeding of the chickens, to slaughter, processing, and wholesale
marketing.
# Vesicular stomatitis
Vesicular
stomatitis is a viral disease that can affect horses, swine, cattle,
and other ruminants. It causes affected livestock to develop blisters
in the mouth and on the dental pad, hooves, and teats. These blisters
swell and break, leaving raw tissue that causes affected animals to
become lame and to refuse food and water. The disease also is of
concern because its symptoms are similar to those of foot-and-mouth
disease, a devastating foreign disease of clovenhoofed animals that was
eradicated from the United States in 1929. The only way to diagnose and
differentiate these diseases is through laboratory tests. There was an
occurrence of vesicular stomatitis in the southwestern United States in
1985, in 1995, and again in 1998. People who handle infected animals
also can become infected. APHIS is working with state officials to
identify all cases of the disease and prevent its spread.
# Veterinary biologics
Vaccines,
antigens, antitoxins and other preparations made from living organisms
(or genetically engineered) and intended for use in diagnosing,
treating, or immunizing animals. Unlike some pharmaceutical products,
such as antibiotics, most biologics leave no residues in animals.
Veterinary biologics are regulated by the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, which licenses the facilities that produce them and
conducts a program to ensure that animal vaccines and other veterinary
biologics are safe, pure, potent, and effective.
# Veterinary equivalency
The
mutual recognition by two or more countries that each party’s safety
and sanitation standards for animal products, even where not identical,
provide an equivalent level of protection to public and animal health.
Aimed at facilitating trade, the practical effect of veterinary
equivalency is that each country’s individual products and facilities
will not have to submit to the separate standards of importing
countries and to cumbersome and costly inspections by foreign
reviewers. Veterinary equivalency has been a contentious issue for the
United States and European Union (EU); the two parties in 1997 agreed
in principle to an agreement recognizing each other’s standards, but it
had not been finalized by early 1999 due to a series of unresolved
technical disputes.
# VFD
VFD – Veterinary Feed Directive
# Visegrad Countries
The
countries that entered into an agreement to coordinate their policies
with a view to apply for membership in the EU. The countries in the
original Visegrad agreement were Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia
(now the Czech and Slovak Republics).
# VOC
VOC – Volatile organic compounds.
# Voluntary export restraint arrangement (VER)
An
arrangement, usually a negotiated bilateral agreement, between
countries in which suppliers or their government in an exporting
country agree to limit to predetermined levels their exports of a
particular product to an importing country. Under the Uruguay Round
Agreement on Agriculture, VERs are to be converted into fixed tariffs
or tariff-rate quotas.
# Vomitoxin
Deoxynivalenol
(DON), also referred to as vomitoxin, is a naturally occurring
mycotoxin produced by several species of Fusarium fungi. Wet and cool
weather from flowering time to maturity promotes infection, resulting
in scab or head blight in barley, wheat, oats, and rye. Wheat infected
with scab has a tendency to have lighter weight kernels, some of which
are removed during normal harvesting and cleaning operations. Vomitoxin
does not represent a threat to public health among the general
population. However, it can-in rare cases-produce acute temporary
nausea and vomiting in humans and animals. Food and Drug Administration
does not have an advisory level for vomitoxin in raw wheat intended for
milling purposes, and relies on processors to reduce the level in
finished products for human consumption to a level that does not exceed
1 part-per-million (ppm). Advisory levels also exist for animal feeds.
# WAOB
WAOB – World Agricultural Outlook Board.
# Warehouse receipt
A
document certifying possession of a commodity in a licensed warehouse.
Some warehouse receipts are recognized for delivery purposes by a
commodity futures exchange.
# WASDA
The
Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture is the regional
organization representing the Western State Departments of Agriculture
# WASDE
The
acronym for World Supply and Demand Estimates, the official monthly
report on supply, demand, prices and other data for major agricultural
commodities published by the World Agricultural Outlook Board.
# Wash versus trim
USDA
requires that any time fecal contamination is detected during meat and
poultry processing, it must be removed from the carcass. At issue is
how this rule has been applied and enforced by USDA in meat and poultry
plants. For a number of years, poultry processors have been permitted
to either rinse (wash) off or cut (trim) away such contamination, but
beef processors have only been permitted to (trim) it with a
knife-which they argue costs them money in lost product weight and
imposes a requirement that poultry producers do not have to meet. The
policy jargon for this debate is “wash versus trim.” USDA, early in
1997, clarified its zero tolerance rule for poultry; a year earlier it
gave beef plants permission to use a new high-temperature vacuuming
method to remove fecal contamination in lieu of cutting it off.
# Waste treatment pond
A
shallow lagoon or similar storage facility, often man-made, used to
treat liquid agricultural wastes, particularly liquid manure from
livestock production farms, through the interaction of sunlight, wind,
algae, and oxygen. Through natural biological processes, microscopic
organisms consume wastes present in the water.
# Water 2000 Initiative
The
program administered by the Rural Utilities Service whose goal is to
improve the quality of drinking water in distressed rural areas with
the most serious safe drinking water problems.
# Water Bank Program (WBP)
A
program to set aside wetlands for a period of 10 years (renewable) for
conservation purposes. Participants receive annual rental payments. As
these contracts expire, participants are offered the opportunity to
place the land in the Wetland Reserve Program.
# Water Quality Incentives Program
This
program was authorized in the FACT Act of 1990 and is administered by
the Farm Service Agency. It was repealed and replaced by the
Environmental Quality Incentives Program in the FAIR Act of 1996. It
provided cost-share assistance to implement comprehensive water quality
protection plans and was funded by earmarking a portion of the
Agricultural Conservation Program.
# Water Quality Initiative
A
multi-agency effort, initiated by USDA in 1990, to determine
relationships between agricultural activities and water quality, and
develop and implement strategies that protect surface and groundwater
quality. This program, which builds on earlier USDA water quality
protection efforts, includes research activities, projects involving
landowners, and information and data development. Landowners
participate in demonstration projects, hydrologic unit area projects,
water quality special projects, and water quality incentive projects.
# Water quality standards
State-adopted
and the Environmental Protection Agency-approved ambient standards for
water bodies. The standards prescribe the use of the water body and
establish the water quality criteria that must be met to protect
designated uses, and contain policies to protect against degradation of
water quality once standards are attained and maintained.
# Water service contract
A
type of contract, authorized by the Reclamation Project Act of 1939,
whereby water is furnished for irrigation or municipal or miscellaneous
purposes at rates to produce revenue sufficient to cover charges
reimbursable to the federal government.
# Waterfowl production areas
# Watershed
The
total land area, regardless of size, above a given point on a waterway
that contributes runoff water to the flow at that point. It is a major
subdivision of a drainage basin. The United States is generally divided
into 18 major drainage areas and 160 principal river drainage basins
containing about 12,700 smaller watersheds.
# Watershed and Flood Prevention Act of 1954
P.L.
83-566 (August 4, 1954) established USDA’s small watershed program
administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service; purposes of
projects built under this authority include flood reduction, sediment
and erosion control, and water conservation. Since its inception, over
$4.2 billion has been appropriated to this program which has
constructed more than 1,600 projects. Also known as the PL-566 program.
# Watershed and flood prevention operations
A
program area of the Natural Resources Conservation Service that
includes Flood Prevention Operations (under the Flood Control Act of
1944, P.L. 78-534), Emergency Watershed Protection, and Small Watershed
Operations (under the Watershed and Flood Prevention Act of 1954. These
programs have built small watershed projects that reduce floods,
protect watersheds, improve water quality, reduce soil erosion, improve
water supply, and provide recreation. They involve strong partnerships
with local interests.
# Wellhead protection area
# WEQ
WEQ – Wind erosion equation
# Wetlands
Areas
of predominantly hydric soils that can support a prevalence of
water-loving plants, know as hydrophitic vegetation. Transitional
between terrestrial and aquatic systems are wetlands typified by a
water table at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow
water at least part of the year. Types of wetlands are distinguished by
water patterns (the frequency and length of flooding) and location in
relation to upland areas and water bodies. Wetlands perform many
functions including wildlife and fish habitat, storage and conveyance
of flood waters, sediment and pollution control, and recreation. Under
the swampbuster program, landowners may produce crops in these areas,
but only if the water patterns, or hydrology, in the wetland area is
not altered and any woody vegetation is not removed.
# Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)
A
program authorized by FACT Act of 1990 to provide long-term protection
for wetlands. Producers enrolling in the program must agree to
implement an approved wetlands restoration and protection plan. In
return, participating producers receive payments based on the
difference in the value of their land caused by placing an easement on
a portion of it. The FAIR Act of 1996 limits enrollment of the WRP to
975,000 acres. USDA is required to divide new enrollments among
permanent easements, 30-year easements, and restoration cost-share
agreements. Previously, all enrollment had been permanent easements.
# Wet-milling
A
process in which feed material is steeped in water, with or without
sulphur dioxide, to soften the seed kernel in order to help separate
the kernel’s various components. For example, wet-milling plants can
separate a bushel of corn into more than 31 pounds of starch (which in
turn can be converted into corn sweeteners or ethanol), 15 pounds of
animal feed, and nearly 2 pounds of corn oil.
# WUSATA
The
Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association is a private,
not-for-profit international trade development organization whose
mission is to coordinate and consolidate export marketing and promotion
programs in the Western region of the United States
# Yield
The
number of bushels (or pounds or hundredweight) that a farmer harvests
per acre. Under the Food Security Act of 1985, the farm program payment
yield was the farmer’s average yield for the 1981-1985 crop years,
excluding the years when the yields were highest and lowest. Payment
yields used to implement farm programs have remained frozen at the
level fixed in the 1985 farm bill ever since.
# Yield monitoring
Collecting
data on the amount of production at regular intervals combined with GPS
readings. The resulting yield map is basic to decisions about
fertilization, pest control, and other adjustments in a system of
precision farming.
# Zero tolerance
In
food safety policy, a “zero tolerance” standard generally means that if
a potentially dangerous substance (whether microbiological, chemical,
or other) is present in or on a product, that product will be
considered adulterated and unfit for human consumption. In the meat and
poultry inspection program, “zero tolerance” usually refers to USDA’s
rule that permits no visible signs of fecal contamination (feces) on
meat and poultry carcasses. See wash versus trim.
# Zero, 50/85-92 provisions
Refers
to the 50/85 and 50/92 commodity program provisions for rice and cotton
and the 0/85 and 0/92 commodity program provisions for wheat and feed
grains that were in effect in various forms from 1986 through 1995.
Under these provisions farmers could idle all or part of their
permitted acreage, putting the land in a conserving use, and receive
deficiency payments as if up to 92% of the permitted acreage had been
planted. A minimum planting requirement of 50% of maximum payment
acreage applied for rice and cotton. Under the FAIR Act of 1996,
producers have no planting requirements but must observe appropriate
conservation practices if the land remains idle.
# Zoonotic diseases