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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 of seal abandoned wells.

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.

Acid soil - Soil with a pH of less than 7.0.

Acquired lands - Lands in federal ownership that were obtained by the federal government through purchase, condemnation, gift, or exchange. One category of public lands.

Acre - 1 acre = 43,560 sq. ft = 208.7 ft.² = 0.405 hectares; or 640 acres = 1 sq. mile (called a section).

Acre-foot - The volume of water that would cover one acre of land (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot, equivalent to 325,851 gallons of water. an acre-foot is the basic measure of agricultural water use. On average, irrigators apply almost 2 feet of water on each acre through the crop growing season; the amount ranges from 4 feet in the Southwest to a half foot in some eastern states. Water withdrawn for irrigation from ground and surface sources totals about 150 maf (million acre-feet) of water annually.

Acreage allotment - Under provisions of permanent commodity price support law, a farm's acreage allotment is its share, based on its previous production, of the national acreage needed to produce sufficient supplies of a particular crop. Under the FAIR Act of 1996, acreage allotments are not applicable to the contract commodities, peanuts or sugar. However, acreage allotments still apply to tobacco.

Acreage base (or base acres) - A farm's average planted acreage for a specific crop over the previous five years (for wheat or feed grains) or three years (for cotton or rice), plus land not planted because of certain acreage reduction or diversion programs. Commodity acreage bases were eliminated by the FAIR Act of 1996.

Acreage conservation reserve - The cropland acreage diverted from production under the acreage reduction program.

Acreage diversion program - Historically, commodity programs included provisions to reduce commodity supplies by diverting acreage to non-crop uses. Examples include paid diversion, unpaid diversion, set-aside, and acreage reduction programs. The FAIR Act of 1996 eliminated authority for the USDA to implement annual acreage reduction programs. The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers for the long-term conversion of fragile crop land to conserving uses and is not considered to be an acreage diversion program.

Acreage limitation - With respect to commodity policy, acreage limitation might refer to planting constraints under an acreage reduction program, set-aside, or paid land diversion. In relation to water policy, it is the maximum number of acres that may be irrigated with less than full-cost water from Bureau of Reclamation projects. Generally, the acreage limitation for individuals or legal entities representing 25 people or fewer is 960 acres; however, amounts vary depending on a landowner's legal status. Also referred to as ownership limitation, ownership entitlement, or non-full-cost entitlement.

Acreage Reduction Program (ARP) - A no longer authorized annual cropland retirement program for wheat, feed grains, cotton, or rice in which farmers participating in the commodity programs (in order to be eligible for nonrecourse loans and deficiency payments) were mandated to idle a crop-specific, nationally-set portion of their base acreage during years of surplus. The idled acreage (called the acreage conservation reserve) was devoted to a conserving use. The goal was to reduce supplies, thereby raising market prices. Additionally, idled acres did not earn deficiency payments, thus reducing the commodity program costs. ARP was criticized for diminishing the U.S. competitive position in export markets. The FAIR Act of 1996 did not reauthorize authority for ARPs. ARP differed from a set-aside program in that under a set-aside program reductions were based upon current year plantings, and did not require farmers to reduce their plantings of a specific crop.

Action levels - As opposed to tolerances (which are established for pesticide residues occurring as a direct result of proper usage), action levels are set for inadvertent residues resulting from previous legal use or accidental contamination. At the action level set by the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and USDA are required to take enforcement action against the contaminated food or agricultural commodity. The term is also used in regulatory programs.

Active ingredient - In any pesticide product, the component that kills, or otherwise controls, target pests. Pesticides are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency primarily on the basis of active ingredients.

Actual Production History (APH) - A measure of an individual farmer's annual production of a commodity over a multi-year period. The APH serves as the basis for the farmer's "normal" crop yield in the crop insurance program. When the actual crop yield deviates by more than a certain percentage from the APH, an insured producer is eligible for an indemnity (loss) payment.

Actuarially sound - The financial goal of any insurance program (including the federal crop insurance program) is to operate on an actuarially sound basis; that is, total premiums collected should more than offset total indemnities paid out.

Acute toxicity - The ability of a substance to cause harmful effects soon after a single exposure or dose. Also, any sever poisonous effect resulting from a singe short-tem exposure to a toxic substance.

Additional peanuts - Peanuts sold from a farm in any marketing year in excess of the amount of quota peanuts sold from that farm. Additional peanuts must be exported or crushed into oil and meal. Additionals are eligible only for the lower of two price support levels available under the peanut price support program. The lower additionals loan rate is set to ensure that the CCC does not incur losses on their sale and disposal. In setting this support level of $175 per ton, USDA is also required to take into account the demand for peanut oil and meal, expected prices of other vegetable oils and protein meals, and the demand for peanuts in foreign markets. Under the FAIR Act of 1996, price support loans for additional peanuts remain available.

Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) Pilot Program - A pilot revenue insurance program first implemented in 1999 by USDA on a limited basis. It allows farmers to receive a guarantee of a percentage of their revenue for multiple commodities, including some livestock revenue, rather than just the revenue from an individual commodity.

Adjusted world price - As part of the upland cotton and the rice marketing assistance loan programs, USDA calculates and publishes, on a weekly basis, what is known as the adjusted world price (AWP). The AWP is the prevailing world price for upland cotton, adjusted to account for U.S. quality and location. Producers who have taken out USDA marketing assistance loans may choose to repay them at either the lesser of the established loan rate for upland cotton, plus interest, or the announced AWP for that week. The AWP for cotton also is used for determining Step 2 payments.

Administrative convergence - USDA in 198 was developing a plan to consolidate the administrative function (e.g., accounting, budgeting, procurement, personnel) of its field service agencies at the state level under one office, to be called the Support Service Bureau. Currently, separate administrative structures provide support to these agencies. USDA has named this effort its "Administrative Convergence Plan", or simply "administrative convergence." The term also has been used to describe any USDA effort to streamline, or combine under one entity, the administrative functions of one or more of its agencies.

Administrative Procedure Act - P.L. 79-404 (July 11, 1946), as amended, establishes, among other things, minimum procedural requirements or models for federal agency rulemaking and certain types of hearings. For instance, the APA establishes procedures for informal rulemaking, which may include notice-and-comment requirements, or formal rulemaking, which includes trial-type hearings. Exemptions from rulemaking requirements are included in the Act. The APA provides standards for judicial review of final agency action. The provisions of the APA apply to USDA rulemaking, unless exempted under the provisions of another statute. For example, hearings conducted by the USDA's National Appeals Division (NAD) are not governed by the APA. The final determination of the NAD is reviewable and enforceable by a U.S. District Court in accordance with the judicial review provisions of the APA.

Adulterated Food - Generally, impure, unsafe, or unwholesome; however, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Poultry Products Inspection Act contain separate language defining in very specific (and lengthy) terms how the term "adulterated" will be applied to the foods each of these laws regulates. Products that are adulterated under these laws' definitions cannot enter into commerce for human food use.

Advance deficiency payments - Initial payments (ranging from 30 to 50% of the total payment) made to crop producers when they signed up for federal commodity programs. If the total deficiency payment was eventually calculated to be less than the advance deficiency payment, the producer was required to refund the difference. The FAIR Act of 1996 replaces the target price/deficiency payment subsidy mechanism with production flexibility contract payments.

Advance recourse loans - Price-support loans made early in a crop year to farmers to enable them to hold their crops for later sale, usually within the marketing year. Farmers must repay the recourse loan with interest and reclaim their collateral.

Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) - A 45-member group appointed by the President to provide advice on matters of trade policy and related issues, including trade agreements. The 1974 Trade Act requires the ACTPN's establishment and broad representation of key economic sectors affected by trade. Below ACTPN are seven policy committees, including the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC). The Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee is made up of farm sector and industry representatives.

Affirmative defense - A legal argument a defendant to a legal preceding can raise which provides a protection or defense for the conduct in question. In actions for the costs of cleaning up groundwater contamination state law may provide an affirmative defense for farmers who use pesticides according to label directions and apply fertilizers based on the results of soil tests.

Aflatoxin - Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring mycotoxin produced by two types of mold: aspergillus flavus and aspergillus parasiticus. Aspergillus flavus is common and widespread in nature and is most often found when certain grains are grown under stressful conditions such as drought. Favorable conditions for mold growth include high moisture content and high temperature. At least 13 different types of aflatoxin are produced in nature with aflatoxin B1 considered as the most toxic. While the presence of Aspergillus flavus does not always indicate harmful levels of aflatoxin it does mean that the potential for aflatoxin production is present. The Food and Drug Administration has established action levels for aflatoxin present in food or feed to protect human and animal health. The FDA will consider action if aflatoxin levels exceed: 20 ppb for corn and other grains intended for immature animals (including immature poultry) and for dairy animals, or when its destination is not known; 20 ppb for animal feeds, other than corn or cottonseed meal; 100 ppb for corn and other grains intended for breeding beef cattle, breeding swine, or mature poultry; 200 ppb for corn and other grains intended for finishing swine of 100 pounds or greater; 300 ppb for corn and other grains intended for finishing (i.e., feedlot) beef cattle and for cottonseed meal intended for beef cattle, swine or poultry. All corn exported from the United States is required to be tested for aflatoxin. Aflatoxin testing services are available nationwide, upon request and for a fee using several different types of test kits approved by GIPSA.

Africa: Seeds of Hope Act - Passed by Congress on October 20, 1998, the Act supports sustainable, broad-based agricultural and rural development in the sub-Saharan Africa through social and economic development in a way that strengthens and expands market-led economic growth and reduces poverty.

African Food Security Initiative - A U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-sponsored initiative to improve child nutrition and increase agricultural income of rural people throughout Africa by increasing agricultural production, increasing small farmers' access to the market, and expanding agricultural trade and investment.

Agency for International Development (AID or USAID) - An independent agency of the executive branch, established in 1961, that administers U.S. international development and humanitarian assistance programs. The activities often involve joint efforts with private voluntary organizations (PVOs). USAID administers commodity donations for humanitarian or development purposes under Titles II and III of P.L. 480, or Food for Peace, and commodity import programs.

Agreement on Agriculture - Part of the Uruguay Round agreement covering issues related to agriculture, e.g., market access, export subsidies, and internal support.

Aggregate Measure of Support - An index that measures the monetary value of the extent of government support to a sector. The AMS, as defined in the Agreement on Agriculture, includes both budgetary outlays as well as revenue transfers from consumers to producers as a result of policies that distort market prices.

Agribusiness - Agriculturally related businesses that supply farm inputs (such as fertilizer or equipment) or are involved in the marketing of farm products (such as warehouses, processors, wholesalers, transporters, and retailers). Farms are not usually included when the term agribusiness is used.

Agricultural Act of 1949 - P.L. 89-439 (October 31, 1949), along with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, makes up the major part of the permanent law that mandates commodity price and farm income support. The original 1949 Act designated mandatory support for basic commodities and the following nonbasic commodities: wool and mohair, tung nuts, honey, Irish potatoes (excluded in the Agricultural Act of 1954), and milk, butterfat, and their products. Periodic farm bills (most recently the FAIR Act of 1996) make temporary changes in the levels and design of commodity programs.

Agricultural Act of 1954 - P.L. 83-690 (August 28, 1954) established a flexible price support for basic commodities (excluding tobacco) at 82.5-90% of parity and authorized a Commodity Credit Corporation reserve for foreign and domestic relief. Title VII was designated the National Wool Act of 1954 and provided for a new price support program for wool and mohair to encourage increased domestic production. Price support for wool and mohair continued through marketing year 1995, at which time it was phased down and terminated under the explicit mandate of P.L. 103-130 (November 1, 1993).

Agricultural Act of 1956 - P.L. 84-540 (May 28, 1956) created the Soil Bank Program (Title I of was called the Soil Bank Act), addressed the disposal of CCC inventories of surplus stocks, contained commodity support program provisions, and forestry provisions. The Soil Bank Act authorized short- and long-term removal of land from production with annual rental payments to participants (Acreage Reserve Program and Conservation Reserve Program, respectively). The Acreage Reserve Program, for wheat, corn, rice, cotton, peanuts, and several types of tobacco, allowed producers to retire land on an annual basis in crop years 1956 through 1959 in return for payments. The Conservation Reserve Program allowed producers to retire cropland under contracts of 3, 5, or 10 years in return for annual payments. The Soil Bank Act was repealed by Section 601 of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1965. The Conservation Reserve portion of the Soil Bank was a model for the subsequent Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), enacted in 1985.

Agricultural Act of 1970 - P.L. 91-524 (November 30, 1970) initiated a significant change in commodity support policy. This 3-year farm bill replaced some of the more restrictive and mandatory features of acreage allotments, planting restrictions, and marketing quotas with voluntary annual cropland set-asides and marketing certificate payments to achieve parity prices (the precursor to target prices and deficiency payments). For the first time, the law adopted an annual payment limitation per producer (set at $55,000 per crop). The Act also amended and extended the authority of the Class I differential in federal milk marketing order areas.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) of 1933 - P.L. 73-10 (May 12, 1933) was the New Deal initiative to assist the farm sector during the Great Depression. This was the first comprehensive effort to raise and stabilize farm prices and income. The law created and authorized the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to (1) enter into voluntary agreements to pay farmers to reduce production of designated "basic" commodities (cotton, wheat,corn, rice, tobacco, hogs, and milk), (2) to make advance payments to farmers who stored crops on the farm, (3) to create marketing agreements between farmers and middlemen, and (4) to levy processing taxes to pay for production adjustment and market development. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) was incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware on October 17, 1933, to carry out financial activities, including making nonrecourse loans on the basic crops. Support for other commodities was authorized upon recommendation by the Secretary with the President's approval. Commodity loan programs carried out by the CCC for 1933-37 included cotton, corn, rosin, turpentine, tobacco, peanuts, dates, figs, and prunes. The provisions for production control and processing taxes in the Act were later declared unconstitutional in the Hoosac Mills decision of 1936. Congress responded by adopting the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936, the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1937, and the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, all of which remain as permanent law.

Agricultural Adjustment Act Amendment of 1935 - P.L. 74-320 (August 24, 1935) made several important and lasting changes to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. Section 22 of the law gave the President authority to impose quotas when imports interfered with commodity programs designed to raise prices and farm income. Section 32 was designed to widen market outlets for surplus agricultural commodities by permanently appropriating funds to purchase commodities for primarily child nutrition programs. Section 22 has been superseded, but Section 32 continues to operate.

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 - P.L. 75-430 (February 16, 1938) was enacted as an alternative and replacement for the farm subsidy policies found unworkable in the AAA legislation of 1933. The 1938 Act was the first to make price support mandatory for corn, cotton, and wheat to help maintain a sufficient supply in low production periods along with marketing quotas to keep supply in line with market demand. It established permissive supports for butter, dates, figs, hops, turpentine, rosin, pecans, prunes, raisins, barley, rye, grain sorghum, wool, winter cover-crop seeds, mohair, peanuts, and tobacco for the 1938-40 period. Also, Title V of the Act established the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. The 1938 Act is considered part of permanent legislation for commodity programs and farm income support (along with the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and the Agricultural Act of 1949). Provisions of this law are often superseded by more current legislation (such as the FAIR Act of 1996). However, if the current legislation expires and new legislation is not enacted, the law reverts back to the permanent provisions of the 1938 Act.

Agricultural Attaché, Counselor, or Trade Officer - An agricultural expert, employed by the Foreign Agricultural Service, on the staff of an U.S. embassy, consulate, or agricultural trade office.

Agricultural chemicals - Used generally to refer to both pesticides and fertilizers and in some situations may include animal drugs.

Agricultural Conservation Program (ACP) - Administered by the Farm Service Agency, this largest and oldest conservation cost-sharing program paid farmers up to $3,500 per year as an incentive to install approved conservation practices. It was terminated in the FAIR Act of 1996 and replaced by a new Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 - P.L. 100-233 (January 6, 1988) was enacted in response to the severe financial crisis of the early- to mid-1980s which affected both farmers and their lending institutions. The Act authorized a $4 billion financial assistance package for financially vulnerable institutions of the Farm Credit System (FCS), protected the full value of FCS borrower stock when retired, established a permanent insurance mechanism to ensure the repayment of funds borrowed by the FCS for lending purposes, required the FCS and Farmers Home Administration to restructure severely delinquent farm loans that meet certain criteria, mandated FCS consolidation and established a secondary market for farm real estate loans.

Agricultural Credit Association (ACA) - An institution of the Farm Credit System that has direct lending authority to make short-, intermediate- and long-term loans to agricultural producers, rural homeowners and some farm-related businesses.

Agricultural district - A planning term which defines an area in which farming is the preferred economic activity. Districts may be voluntarily created by landowners who receive benefits, usually in return for not developing the land for a certain number of years, or they may be designated in a local land use plan.

Agricultural diversification - A system of farming that encourages production of a variety of plants and animals and their products as opposed to monoculture or large-scale specialization. Advocates of diversification argue that it provides greater income stability. Specialized farms benefit from economies of size.

Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 - This law (P.L. 90-288) was enacted to protect farmers from retaliation by handlers (buyers of their products) because the farmers are members of a cooperative. The act permits farmers to file complaints with USDA, which can then institute court proceedings, if they believe their rights under the law have been violated. Several bills have been introduced in recent years on behalf of producers (among them, some poultry growers who have contracts with large companies), to give them more bargaining power under the act, which, some producers contend, lacks adequate enforcement authorities.

Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA) - Title I of the FAIR Act of 1996. It allows farmers who have participated in the wheat, feed grain, cotton, and rice programs in any one of the 5 years prior to 1996 to enter into 7-year production flexibility contracts for 1996-2002. Total national production flexibility contract payments (sometimes called AMTA payments, or contract payments) for each fiscal year are fixed in the law. The AMTA allows farmers to plant 100% of their total contract acreage to any crop except fruits and vegetables, and receive a full payment. Land must be maintained in agricultural uses. Unlimited haying and grazing and planting and harvesting alfalfa and other forage crops are permitted with no reduction in payments.

Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 - This law reaffirmed the marketing agreements provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 and redefined the process for establishing marketing orders. Under the authority of this permanent law and subsequent amendments, marketing orders have been established for milk as well as numerous fruits and vegetables.

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) - A 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.

Agricultural pollution - Wastes, emissions, and discharges arising from farming activities. Causes include runoff and leaching of pesticides and fertilizers; pesticide drift and volatilization; erosion and dust from cultivation; and improper disposal of animal manure and carcasses. Some agricultural pollution is point source, e.g., large feedlots, which require permits under the Clean Water Act, but much is nonpoint source, meaning that it derives from dispersed origins, e.g., blowing dust or nutrients leaching from fields. As most pollution control programs have focused on particular categories of point sources, nonpoint and unregulated point sources account for an increasingly large proportion of remaining pollution. Based on state surveys, the Environmental Protection Agency concludes that agricultural sources account for over one-half the pollution impairing surface water quality in the U.S. The Clean Water Act mandates that states develop and implement management programs to control nonpoint sources of water pollution.

Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) - A program, administered by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, that inspects incoming passengers, luggage, and cargo at U.S. ports of entry in order to protect U.S. agriculture from foreign animal and plant pests and diseases.

Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 - P.L. 105-185 (June 23, 1998) reauthorized and revised federally supported agricultural research, education, and extension programs. The Act built upon reforms that were made in the research title of the FAIR Act of 1996. Key provisions were new accountability measures for recipients of federal research funds, and a 5-year research Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems that was authorized to be funded by savings from food stamp administrative costs. This law reduced federal spending for states' food stamp program administrative and work/training costs and extended food stamp benefits to approximately one-third of the legal immigrants denied food stamps by the 1996 welfare reform legislation. P.L. 105-185 expires in 2002.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) - A USDA agency which conducts basic, applied, and developmental research of regional, national, or international concerns in the fields of livestock; plants; soil, water, and air quality; energy; food safety quality; nutrition; food processing, storage and distribution efficiency; nonfood agricultural products; and international development.

Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) - A former USDA agency that was responsible for administering farm price and income support programs as well as some conservation and forestry cost-sharing program. Local offices are maintained in nearly all farming counties. Its functions were folded into the Farm Service Agency (FSA) as a consequence of USDA reorganization in 1994.

Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 - P.L. 83-480 (July 10, 1954) is commonly referred to as "PL 480" and "Food for Peace." The law established what continues to be the primary U.S. overseas food assistance program. The program makes U.S. agricultural commodities available through long-term credit at low interest rates and provides food donations.

Agricultural Trade Office - The Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 directed the establishment of trade offices in major centers of commerce throughout the world. Agricultural trade offices are operated by the Foreign Agricultural Service to develop, maintain, and expand international markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and serve as centers for export sales promotion and contact points for importers seeking to buy U.S. farm products.

Agricultural zoning - A designation intended to protect farmland and farming activities from incompatible nonfarm uses. Agricultural zoning can specify many factors, such as the uses allowed, minimum farm size, the number of nonfarm dwellings allowed, or the size of a buffer separating farm and nonfarm properties.

Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 - P.L. 93-86 (August 10, 1973) was the 4-year farm bill that adopted target prices and deficiency payments as a tool that would support farm income but reduce forfeitures to the Commodity Credit Corporation of surplus stocks. It reduced payment limitations to $20,000 (from $55,000 set in 1970) for all program crops. The Act might be considered the first omnibus farm bill because it went beyond simply authorizing farm commodity programs. It authorized disaster payments and disaster reserve inventories; created the Rural Environmental Conservation Program; amended the Food Stamp Act of 1964, authorizing the use of commodities for feeding low income mothers and young children (the origin of the supplemental food program); and amended the Rural Development Act of 1972.

Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 - P.L. 97-98 (December 22, 1981) was the 4-year omnibus farm bill that continued and modified commodity programs through 1985. It set specific target prices for 4 years, eliminated rice allotments and marketing quotas, lowered dairy supports, and made other changes affecting a wide range of USDA activities. The next year this farm bill was amended to freeze the dairy price support level and mandate loan rates and acreage reserve provisions for the 1983 crops (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982, P.L. 97-253). Again in 1984, amendments were adopted to freeze target prices, authorize paid land diversion for feed grains, upland cotton, and rice, and provide a wheat payment-in-kind program for 1984 (Agricultural Programs Adjustment Act of 1984, P.L. 98-258).

Agriculture in Concert with the Environment (ACE) - An Environmental Protection Agency program, administered cooperatively with USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, to fund research projects that reduce the risk of pollution from pesticides and soluble fertilizers.

Agronomy - The science of crop production and soil management.

Air pollution - Contamination of the atmosphere by substances that, directly or indirectly, adversely affect human health or welfare. Air pollution results from human activities, both deliberate releases (as from smokestacks) and fugitive emissions (as dust blown from streets or fields), and from natural sources, including sea spray, volcanic emissions, pollen, etc. The Clean Air Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air pollution (see National Ambient Air Quality Standards).

Alar - Trade name for daminozide, a plant regulator and therefore classed as a pesticide, that makes apples redder, firmer, and less likely to drop off trees before harvest. It was also used to a lesser extent on peanuts, tart cherries, concord grapes, and other fruits. Alar was suspended by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1989 following a controversy over allegations of cancer risk to children from residues of Alar and its breakdown product UDMH on apples and in apple products.

Alcohol - The family name of a group of organic chemical compounds that includes methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and others. Ethanol is produced from crops or residues with a high carbohydrate content. Alcoholic beverages contain ethanol, and ethanol is blended with gasoline to produce gasohol. Most industrial ethanol produced in the U.S. is from corn wet-milling.

Alfalfa - A valuable leguminous crop for forage or hay used in livestock feeding.

Alien Species Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1992 - P.L. 102-393 (October 6, 1992) makes it illegal to ship certain categories of plants and animals through the mail. The prohibited species are certain injurious animals, plant pests, plants and materials under federal quarantine, and certain plants and animals under the Lacey Act, a law that pertains to illegal trade in fish, wildlife, and plants.

Alkaline soil - Soil with a pH of more than 7.0.

Allotment - In conjunction with commodity support programs, acreage allotments and marketing quotas serve to limit a farm's output or volume marketed. For federal lands grazing, an allotment is an area designated and managed for grazing of livestock. The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service stipulate the number of livestock and time period (season) of use for each allotment under their respective jurisdictions.

Allowable sale quantity (ASQ) - A forestry term defined in law as the maximum amount of timber that can be sold every year, forever, from a national forest; in forest planning, the annual timber sale target for a national forest.

Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization Corporation (AARCC) - Originally established by the FACT Act 1990 as the Applied Agricultural Research Commercialization Center, the purpose of the AARCC is to assist in the research, development, and commercialization of new nonfood products from agricultural and forestry commodities. AARC makes repayable equity investments, such as buying stock or taking a percentage of future sales (royalties), or both. The FAIR Act of 1996 changed the Center from a government agency to a wholly-owned venture capital corporation of USDA.

Alternative agriculture - A systematic approach to farming intended to reduce agricultural pollution, enhance sustainability, and improve efficiency and profitability. Overall, alternative agriculture emphasizes management practices that take advantage of natural processes (such as nutrient cycles, nitrogen fixation, and pest-predator relationships), improve the match between cropping patterns and agronomic practices on the one hand and the productive potential and physical characteristics of the land on the other, and make selective use of commercial fertilizer and pesticides to ensure production efficiency and conservation of soil, water, energy, and biological resources. Examples of alternative agricultural practices include use of crop rotation, animal and green manures, soil and water conserving tillage systems, such as no-till planting methods, integrated pest management, and use of genetically improved crops and animals. Consonant with sustainable agriculture, alternative agriculture focuses on those farming practices that go beyond traditional or conventional agriculture, though it does not exclude conventional practices that are consistent with the overall system.

Alternative farming - Production methods other than energy- and chemical-intensive one-crop (monoculture) farming. Alternatives include using animal and green manure rather than chemical fertilizers, integrated pest management instead of chemical pesticides, reduced tillage, crop rotation (especially with legumes to add nitrogen), alternative crops, or diversification of the farm enterprise.

Alternative fuels - Substitutes for traditional liquid, oil-derived motor vehicle fuels like gasoline and diesel. Includes methanol, ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, and others. The alternatives are promoted for pollution reduction properties and/or to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. Ethanol can be produced from grain, agricultural wastes, and excess crops.

(American) Heritage Rivers Protection Program - A Clinton Administration initiative to deliver federal resources more efficiently and effectively that supports voluntary community efforts to enhance and protect designated rivers or river segments; the designations were selected based on proposals submitted by local sponsors. Portions of these designations are located in or affect agricultural lands.

Ammonia - A pungent alkaline gas, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen (NH3). It is formed naturally when bacteria decompose nitrogen-containing compounds, such as manures. Emissions of ammonia can be a problem in enclosed livestock facilities, and in the ambient air they may contribute to very fine particulate matter. Synthetic ammonia is used as a nitrogen fertilizer. Also called anhydrous ammonia, it is the basic feed stock for the production of all nitrogen fertilizers as well as being a direct application material. Synthetic ammonia is made through a reaction between natural gas and nitrogen.

Andean Common Market (ANCOM or Andean Group) - Formed in May 1969 by Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia under the Cartegena Agreement, which called for eliminating all barriers to trade by the end of 1980 and the establishment of a common external tariff. Venezuela joined in 1973. Chile withdrew in 1976.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) - A USDA agency established to conduct inspections and regulatory and control programs to protect animal and plant health. It utilizes border inspections to prevent international transmission of pests and disease, administers quarantine and eradication programs, and certifies that U.S. exports meet importing countries' animal and plant health standards.

Animal Damage Control (ADC) Program - Renamed in 1997 as the Wildlife Services (WS) program, it is an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service effort to protect agriculture, natural resources, property or endangered species from unwanted and potentially harmful effects of wildlife species, including predators. ADC also works to prevent wildlife/airplane collision hazards at civilian and military airports.

Animal drugs - Drugs intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in animals. The Food and Drug Administration has the broad mandate under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act to assure the safety and effectiveness of animal drugs and their use in all animals, including farm animals. Before FDA formally approves an animal drug, the sponsor or manufacturer of the drug must show in its premarket approval application that the drug is "safe and effective" in scientific testing. Such testing data, included with the application, must demonstrate a methodology to detect and measure any residue left in edible animal products and show that edible animal products when ready-to-eat are free from unsafe residues. Farmers and veterinarians treating farm animals must adhere to any restrictions about withdrawal times, or any warning or use constraints stated on the drug label.

Animal feeding operation - Facilities where animals are kept and raised in confined situations; feed is brought to the animals. The General Accounting Office estimates that there are 450,000 such operations nationwide. When large enough, these facilities are designated as concentrated animal feeding operations and they become subject to regulatory requirements to prevent point source pollution. USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency issued a Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations on March 9, 1999. The goal is to minimize water pollution from confinement facilities and land application of manure through adoption of site-specific comprehensive nutrient management plans.

Animal identification and traceback - Currently, the private marketing system, assisted by computerization of records, generally can trace products back to their original suppliers, although not necessarily all the way to the farm. It has been suggested that a type of traceback program might be formalized to better monitor and contain outbreaks of food borne illness. USDA has called "animal identification" an important element of any traceback system. Livestock producers already frequently identify their animals using back-tags, ear tags, tatoos, and other devices, so that incorporating animal identification into a traceback program might not be difficult. While few dispute the usefulness of animal identification and traceback systems in general, whether they should be made regulatory requirements, or remain voluntary, is a contentious issue.

Animal protein - Protein used in livestock feed that is derived from meatpacking or rendering plants, surplus milk or milk products, and marine sources.

Animal unit - A standard measure, based on feed requirements, used to combine various classes of livestock according to size, weight, age, and use. For federal lands, an animal unit represents one mature cow, bull, steer, heifer, horse, mule, or five sheep, or five goats, all over six months of age.

Animal unit month (AUM) - An animal unit month (AUM) is the amount of forage needed to sustain one animal unit, or its equivalent, for one month. Grazing fees for federal lands are charged by animal unit months or head-months.

Animal Welfare Act - P.L. 89-544 (August 24, 1966) was enacted to curb the theft and mistreatment of dogs and cats for experimental and research purposes. The principal federal animal protection law, it has been amended several times to address specific concerns such as the shipping of pets on public transportation, dog fighting, and using other warm-blooded animals in biomedical experiments. Although administered by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the law has always excluded farm animals from its coverage. Generally, USDA is authorized to "promulgate standards to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and practices in experimental procedures to ensure that animal pain and distress are minimized...." The law excludes from the definition of animal "...horses not used for research purposes and other farm animals, such as, but not limited to livestock or poultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock or poultry used or intended for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber." Animal welfare has become more controversial in recent years as certain animal protection groups have argued for more extensive legal protections for animals. Some groups believe that any human uses of animals are inhumane, unethical and/or immoral, and should be prohibited. Among those who accept the premise that humans should and will use animals for food and other necessities, the debate over the meaning of animal welfare revolves around the most appropriate methods for taking care of animals, including farm animals. For example, legislation has been proposed (but not enacted) in recent years that would intervene in animal production operations by regulating confinement facilities; determining the diets of veal calves; specifying how poultry must be slaughtered; and prohibiting dealers from handling nonambulatory (downer) livestock unless they are humanely killed.

Antemortem - Before slaughter. As used in the meat and poultry inspection program, the term refers to the examination that USDA meat inspectors are required to conduct of all live animals just before they are killed.

Antibiotics - Chemical substances produced by microorganisms or synthetically that inhibit the growth of, or destroy, bacteria. Antibiotics are used at therapeutic levels to fight disease in humans and animals. Since the 1950s they have been used at subtherapeutic levels in animal feeds to enhance growth and prevent disease in livestock and poultry. Rules guiding the use of veterinary drugs and medicated animal feeds, including tolerance levels for drug residues in meats for human consumption, are promulgated by the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration. The Food Safety and Inspection Service enforces the FDA rules through a sampling and testing program that is part of its overall meat and poultry inspection program.

Anti-dumping duty - A duty or levy imposed under authority of Title VII of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930. Title VII states that if the U.S. Department of Commerce determines that an imported product is being sold at less than its fair value, and if the International Trade Commission determines that a U.S. producer is thereby being injured, the Commerce Department shall apply antidumping duties equivalent to the dumping margin.

Appraised stumpage price (or appraised rate) - On national forests, the Forest Service estimate of the market price for timber to be cut and removed. It cannot be less than the base rates. The appraised price is the advertised minimum for competitive bidding by purchasers.

Aquaculture - The production of aquatic plants or animals in a controlled environment, such as ponds, raceways, tanks, or cages, for all or part of their life cycle. In the United States, baitfish, catfish, clams, crawfish, freshwater prawns, mussels, oysters, salmon, shrimp, tropical (or ornamental) fish, and trout account for most of the aquacultural growing production. Less widely established but growing species include alligator, hybrid striped bass, carp, eel, red fish, northern pike, sturgeon and tilapia.

Aquifer - An underground geological formation, or group of formations, containing usable amounts of groundwater that can supply wells or springs for domestic, industrial, and irrigation uses. Removing more groundwater from an aquifer than is naturally replenished is called overdrafting, and can result in a dropping water table, increased pumping costs, land subsidence (which reduces the future recharge capacity), saltwater intrusion, reduced streamflows in interconnected ground- and surface-water systems, and exhaustion of groundwater reserves. Overdrafting groundwater occurs primarily in the Plains States and the West.

Area yield options contract - A contract entitling the holder to receive a payment when the area yield is below (above) the put (call) option strike yield. The strike yield is the yield at which the holder of an option contract can exercise the option.

Arid climate - A dry climate with an annual precipitation usually less than 10 inches. Not suitable for crop production without irrigation.

Army Corps of Engineers - A federal agency, part of the Department of the Army, which has jurisdiction over the navigable waters of the United States. The Army Corps is responsible for granting §404 permits concerning depositing dredge and fill materials in wetlands under federal jurisdiction [33 U.S.C. §1344].

Artificial insemination (AI) - The mechanical injection of semen into the womb of the female animal with a syringe-like apparatus.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum - Established in 1989, APEC is a formal institution with a permanent secretariat located in Singapore. Its original 12 members include Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei. In 1991, APEC admitted China, Taiwan (admitted as Chinese Taipei), and Hong Kong. Mexico and Papua New Guinea joined in 1993; Chile joined in 1994; Peru, Russia, and Vietnam joined in 1998. The 21 nation member APEC provides a forum for ministerial level discussion and cooperation on a range of economic issues including trade, investment, technology transfer, and transportation. According to APEC, a key feature that sets it apart from other international organizations is its commitment to business facilitation and the regular involvement of the private sector in a wide range of APEC activities.

Asian long-horned beetle - A serious pest of hardwood trees in its native China that by 1998 had been found in 14 states in the United States, where it has no known natural enemies. APHIS is now working to detect and destroy the beetle, which is virtually impossible to eradicate with pesticides because it bores deep inside trees to lay its eggs; the only known suppression method is to remove and destroy infected trees. The agency reports that the beetle, which already has led to the destruction of many trees in parts of New York, could destroy millions of acres of hardwoods—including maples, horse chestnuts, poplars, willows, and elms—if it becomes established in the environment. APHIS believes that the beetle has been entering the United States in solid wood packing materials such as pallets and crates from China. For that reason, in late 1998, it banned all shipments from China containing such packing materials if they have not been treated to kill the pest.

Assessment - Generally an automatic or mandatory deduction from a producer's marketing receipts used to fund activities that promote or otherwise support a particular farm product. Under certain agricultural marketing orders or commodity promotion programs, assessments may be applied against receipts to help pay for generic advertising or research. The term check-off is often used interchangeably with assessment. Federal deficit reduction marketing assessments have also been connected to certain commodity price support programs (dairy, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, and soybeans) to help reduce the federal budget deficit, which arguably is higher because of the programs.

Assimilative capacity - The ability of a body of water to cleanse itself; its capacity to receive waste waters or toxic materials without deleterious effects and without damage to aquatic life or humans who consume the water.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - A multilateral organization formed in 1967 by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to promote economic, social, and cultural cooperation among nations in the Southeast Asian region. Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar joined later.

Atrazine - A selective herbicide, widely used on corn. It is environmentally significant, since it was the second most commonly detected pesticide residue in an Environmental Protection Agency survey of drinking water wells conducted during 1988-1990. Due to concerns about groundwater contamination and worker exposure, EPA is conducting a special review of atrazine registration.

Attainment area - An area considered to have air quality as good as or better than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards as defined in the Clean Air Act. An area may be an attainment area for one pollutant and a non-attainment area for others.

Attractant - A chemical or agent that lures insects or other pests by stimulating their sense of smell. Attractants are a nontoxic technique for luring insects into traps and are heavily used in orchard crops. Though distinct from toxic baits, attractants are regulated as pesticides.

Back hoe - A shovel mounted on the rear of a tractor, hydraulically operated to dig trenches or pits in soil.

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.

Balance of trade - The difference in value between a country’s merchandise imports and exports in a specified period. A country’s balance of trade is only one factor — though an important one — in its balance of payments.

Band application - The spreading of chemicals over, or next to, each row of plants in a field, as opposed to broadcast application.

Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 - P.L. 75-210 authorized acquisition by the federal government of damaged lands to rehabilitate and use them for various purposes. Both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management manage some Bankhead-Jones lands. Some Forest Service Bankhead Jones lands are National Grasslands.

Bank for Cooperatives (BC) - Lending institution within the Farm Credit System that provides credit to agricultural cooperatives and rural utility cooperatives nationwide. Nationally chartered CoBank Agricultural Bank (Denver) has the authority to finance U.S. agricultural exports and to provide international banking services to farmer-owned cooperatives.

Bargaining association - A farmer cooperative intended primarily to influence farm prices or other terms of trade between the members and the buyers of the commodities they produce.

Barrows and gilts - A barrow is a young castrated male hog; a gilt is a young female hog. Both are raised for pork. Market news reports of prices paid for "barrows and gilts" are of keen interest to producers and packers alike.

Barter - A form of countertrade in which goods having comparable values are exchanged under a single contract, within a specified period of time, and without any flow of money taking place. The U.S. government ran a barter program from 1950 to 1973, exchanging surplus agricultural commodities for strategic materials and for goods and services it otherwise would have purchased. In addition, barter agreements between the United States and Jamaica were signed in 1982 and 1983.

Base (or contract) acreage - A farm’s crop-specific acreage of wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, or rice eligible to enroll in commodity programs under previous legislation, and subsequently eligible for production flexibility contracts under the FAIR Act of 1996. Base acreage equaled land planted for harvest to the crop, plus any land enrolled in Acreage Reduction Programs, plus land considered planted to the crop in zero, 50/85-92 or under permitted normal flex or optional flex acreage during a specified period of time. A farmer’s crop acreage base was reduced by the portion of land placed in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), but increased by CRP base acreage leaving the CRP.

Base period price - The average price for an item in a specified time period used as a base for an index — such as 1910-14, 1957-59, 1967, 1977, or 1982. Time series of data are often deflated to a base period price. Such deflated time series are referred to as constant dollar values (versus nominal dollar values).

Base property - For the Bureau of Land Management: land or water resources, owned or controlled by a holder of a grazing permit or lease, that are suitable to support livestock for a part of the year. For the Forest Service: lands and improvements owned and used by a permittee for a farm or ranch and designated by the permitted to qualify for a grazing permit. One must own or control base property to be eligible for permits or leases to graze private livestock on federal lands.

Base rates - The minimum cash price for national forest timber to be cut and removed.

Basic commodities - Six agricultural crops (corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, tobacco, and wheat) declared by permanent law as requiring federal price support.

Basic formula price (BFP) - Calculated monthly by USDA, the BFP is the base price for all milk regulated by federal milk marketing orders. Currently, the BFP is based on the preceding month’s average price of Grade B milk paid by processors in Minnesota and Wisconsin, adjusted by current-month changes in the value of certain manufactured dairy products.

Basing point - A geographical site used to establish fixed rates and/or prices for federal milk marketing orders. Generally, rates or prices increase according to the distance from the basing point. The FAIR Act of 1996 authorizes USDA to consider the use of multiple basing points for pricing milk under federal milk orders.

Basis - The difference between the current spot price (or cash price) of a commodity and the price of the nearest futures contract for the same or a related commodity. Basis is usually computed in relation to the futures contract next to expire and may reflect different time periods, product forms, qualities, or locations.

Basis risk - The possibility of unexpected variation in basis and a resulting loss of expected revenue when a futures contract is liquidated and the commodity sold on the cash market.

Beef (cattle) price index (BPI) - An index of the weighted average annual price for beef cattle, excluding calves, for a 16 western state area as compared with a specific base period equal to 100. This index is used in calculating federal grazing fees.

Below-cost timber sale - A timber sale from national forest lands in which the expected federal revenues are less than the estimated federal expenses to sell the timber.

Best management practices (BMP's) - A conservation practice or combination of practices designed to maintain agricultural productivity while reducing point- and nonpoint- source water pollution. State water quality agencies (or their designees) determine BMPs to fit local conditions and to make the most efficient use of natural resources and purchased inputs. The term has been defined as generally recognized farmer management practices designed to reduce or prevent contamination of ground water and surface water, erosion, and runoff from cropland, including the use of conservation tillage, no-till, ridge plating, strip tillage, contour farming, strip cropping, irrigation water management, judicious fertilizer application, slow-release fertilizers, soil and tissue testing, and vegetative buffer strips.

BICO Report - The Foreign Agricultural Service’s report of U.S. agricultural export and import data on Bulk, Intermediate, and Consumer-Oriented (BICO). In addition, the data base includes forest products and edible fish and seafood products. These trade data are further classified among 46 separate product groups. Data are available in both calendar and fiscal year format and for 16 world regions and 35 individual country markets. The BICO data can be accessed at.

Bilateral trade agreement - A trade agreement between any two countries. The agreement may be either preferential (the obligations and benefits apply only to the two countries involved) or most-favored-nation (the benefits and obligations negotiated between the two countries are extended to all or most other nations). The U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement is one example of a preferential trade agreement.

Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 - P.L. 104-210 (October 1, 1996) was named in honor of the late Congressman who was a champion of efforts to expand food donations to the poor and to protect those who make donations. It converts the Model Good Samaritan Food Donation Act to permanent law and incorporates it into the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (section 22). Good samaritan laws are designed to encourage the donation of food and groceries to nonprofit charitable agencies by minimizing the risks of legal actions against donors and distributors of foods. The 1996 amendments exclude from civil or criminal liability a person or nonprofit food organization that, in good faith, donates or distributes donated foods for food relief. The new law does not supersede state or local health regulations and its protections do not apply to an injury or death due to gross neglect or intentional misconduct.

Bioaccumulation - The absorption and concentration of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and certain pesticides in plants and animals. Toxicity can be expressed in several ways: lead that is ingested by calves can bioaccumulate in their bones, interfering with calcium absorption and bone development; stored chemicals may be released to the blood stream at a later time, for example, during gestation or weight loss; and chemicals may concentrate to lethal levels at upper ends of the food chain. Bioconcentration is a synonym for biaccumulation.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) - A measure of the amount of oxygen consumed by natural, biological processes that break down organic matter, such as those that take place when manure or sawdust is put in water. High levels of oxygen-demanding wastes in waters deplete dissolved oxygen (DO) thereby endangering aquatic life. Sometimes referred to as "biological oxygen demand. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is a measure of the oxygen consumed when organic matter is broken down chemically rather than biologically. COD can be determined much more quickly than BOD and more accurately reflects the amount of organic matter in a water sample. BOD is a standard measure of water quality.

Biodiesel - Biodiesel is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as a pure fuel or as a fuel additive and is a legal fuel in commerce. It is typically produced through the reaction of a vegetable oil or animal fat with methanol in the presence of a catalyst to yield glycerin and biodiesel (chemically called methyl esters). It is an alternative fuel that can be used by itself or blended with petroleum diesel for use in diesel engines. Its use can result in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. Provisions of the Energy Conservation Reauthorization Act of 1998 (ECRA, P.L. 105-388) amended the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT, P.L. 102-486) to allow that the use of biodiesel added to conventional diesel at blends of 20% and higher would produce credits to offset up to 50% each year of alternative fuel vehicle acquisition requirements. Farmers and processors anticipate that increased use of biodiesel will strengthen the market for soybean oil.

Biodiversity (or biological diversity) - In general, the variety and variation among plants, animals, and microorganisms, and among their ecosystems. It has 3 levels: ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic (within species) diversity. The concept of maintaining biodiversity holds that civilization should preserve the greatest possible number of existing species so that a highly diverse genetic pool, which can be tapped for useful and beneficial characteristics, will be available into the future. Genetic diversity provides resources for genetic resistance to pests and diseases. In agriculture, biodiversity is a production system characterized by the presence of multiple plant and/or animal species, as contrasted with the genetic specialization of monoculture.

Biological control - The practice of using beneficial natural organisms to attack and control harmful plant and animal pests and weeds is called biological control, or biocontrol. This can include introducing predators, parasites, and disease organisms, or releasing sterilized individuals. Biocontrol methods may be an alternative or complement to chemical pest control methods. Biocontrol is part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service program to control several economically important pests of food and fiber crops; it also is researched and used by other USDA agencies that promote integrated pest management.

Biological monitoring - Using living organisms to test the quality of either effluent to be discharged into receiving waters, or waters downstream from a discharge.

Biologics - Immunization vaccines, bacterins, antigens, and antitoxins and other preparations made from living organisms and their products, intended for use in diagnosing, immunizing, or treating humans or animals, or in related research. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has responsibility for approving some animal biologics. See Veterinary biologics.

Biomagnification (or biological magnification) - The increase in the concentration of bioaccumulated toxic chemicals in organisms higher on the food chain due to preferential storage of the toxic chemical in edible body parts. For example, chlorinated pesticides concentrate in the fat and skin of fish in contaminated lakes and streams and are biomagnified when those fish are eaten by larger fish, and perhaps eventually by mammals or birds of prey.

Biomass - The generic term for any living matter that can be converted into usable energy through biological or chemical processes. It encompasses feedstocks such as agricultural crops and their residues, animal wastes, wood, wood residues and grasses, and municipal wastes.

Biopesticide - A pesticide that is biological in origin (i.e., viruses, bacteria, pheromones, natural plant compounds) in contrast to synthetic chemicals. Transgenic Bt cotton and corn are biopesticides because Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurring soil bacterium that has been genetically engineered into the plants.

Bio-security; bio-terrorism - "Bio-security" refers to the policies, and measures taken, for protecting a nation’s food supply and agricultural resources from both accidental contamination and deliberate attacks of "bio-terrorism." Now viewed as an emerging threat, bio-terrorism might include such acts as introducing pests intended to kill U.S. food crops; spreading a virulent disease among animal production facilities; and poisoning water, food, and blood supplies. The federal government is now increasing its efforts to improve bio-security because of the recognition that the United States is currently vulnerable, both from a civil and military standpoint.

Biotechnology - The use of technology, based on living systems, to develop processes and products for commercial, scientific or other purposes. These include specific techniques of plant regeneration and gene manipulation and transfer. In the past, producers used cross-hybridization to alter a plant's genetic makeup. With biotechnology, DNA can be altered directly.

Blair House Agreement - The November 1992 agreement between the United States and the European Union on export subsidy and domestic subsidy reduction commitments in the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. The agreement also dealt with some bilateral agricultural trade issues.

Blend price - Primarily used in the federal milk marketing order program. Represents the weighted average price of milk, per hundred pounds, paid to each farmer based on how Grade A (fluid grade) milk is allocated to different usage classes (e.g., fluid, manufacturing) by processors.

Blended credit - A federal export promotion program operated from 1983 to 1985 by the Foreign Agricultural Service. Federally guaranteed commercial loans at market interest rates (GSM-102) were combined (blended) with direct export credits (GSM-5) issued by the CCC at zero interest. This subsidized credit was made available to selected countries for a limited number of agricultural commodities. The program was terminated in 1985 when a federal judge determined that commodities shipped under blended credit were subject to cargo preference laws, which would have required that 50% of blended credit exports be shipped on higher-cost U.S. flag vessels.

Blending - In grain marketing, the combining of two different qualities of grain in order to change the total value of both lots. For example, it is common to blend grains of differing moisture or different foreign material content to achieve the requirements of a contract order.

Blue box policies - Direct payments, under the definition of "production-limiting" measures as defined in Article 6 of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, that are not subject to the commitment to reduce domestic support. To qualify for the exemption, payments must be based on fixed areas or yields, on a fixed number of livestock, or on 85% or less of the base level of production. See green box.

Board foot - A measure for lumber, equal to a 1-inch thick board that is 1 foot long and 1 foot wide in nominal dimensions (a 2x4, for example, is less than 2 inches thick and 4 inches wide, but a 1-foot long 2x4 is still counted as 2/3 of a board foot); typically reported in thousands of board feet (mbf). Also used to estimate the volume of lumber that can be produced from logs and standing trees.

Boll weevil - An insect pest of cotton that is the subject of an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service eradication program cooperatively funded and managed by cotton producers.

Bonus commodities - From the agricultural perspective, these are commodities donated to domestic feeding programs that USDA acquires for unexpected surplus removal reasons or because Commodity Credit Corporation holdings are not needed for other purposes, or are in danger of waste or spoilage. For example, if meat prices fall, USDA may buy beef and donate it to the National School Lunch Program, or if the CCC is holding an excess of cornmeal that is in danger of spoiling, it might donate this to the lunch program. From the food program perspective, these commodities are those donated in addition to the commodities that must be provided under mandatory requirements in food program statutes.

Botanical pesticides - Pesticides whose active ingredients are plant-produced chemicals such as nicotine, rotenone, or strychnine. Also called plant-derived pesticides. Being "natural" pesticides, as distinct from synthetic ones, they are typically acceptable to organic farmers.

Bottom - Usually synonymous with "vessel" or "ship." A ship of American registry may be referred to as a "U.S. bottom," whereas if registry is other than U.S., the ship, in U.S. usage, may be called a "foreign bottom."

Bound tariff rates - Tariff rates resulting from GATT negotiations or accessions that are incorporated as part of a country's schedule of concessions. Bound rates are enforceable under Article II of GATT. If a GATT contracting party raises a tariff above the bound rate, the affected countries have the right to retaliate against an equivalent value of the offending country's exports or receive compensation, usually in the form of reduced tariffs on other products they export to the offending country.

Bovine Somatotropin (bST) - Also called bovine growth hormone, bST is a naturally occurring protein that has been genetically engineered as a synthetic compound (now manufactured in large quantities and commercially available to farmers) that causes cows to increase the efficiency of milk production per unit of feed consumed. Its use has caused public controversy, and some states require retail dairy product labels to identify the use of synthetic bST.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - Commonly known as "mad cow disease," BSE is a slowly progressive, incurable disease affecting the central nervous system of cattle, first diagnosed in Britain in 1986. Consumption by cattle of BSE-contaminated ruminant proteins in animal feed has been cited as one possible means of transmission. Scientists have confirmed a link between BSE in cattle and several dozen recent European cases of a human variant of BSE, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. More than 77,000 cattle suspected of having been exposed to the disease have been slaughtered in Great Britain, and a ban on ruminant protein-containing feeds was imposed in 1988. To date, no BSE has been found in U.S. cattle, although other BSE-like animal diseases are found in the United States, including scrapie in sheep and goats. USDA banned the importation of live cattle from Great Britain in 1989, and imposed a partial ban on using ruminant protein in animal feed in 1997.

Bovine tuberculosis - A highly contagious disease of cattle that causes severe economic losses, especially in dairy herds. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service quarantines infected herds and works with producers to eradicate the disease. The target date for total eradication has been pushed back from 1998 to after the year 2000.

Boxed beef - Beef that a packer cuts into relatively small pieces, seals in vacuum packs, and ships in cardboard boxes, often ready for retail sale. Prior to the 1970s, most beef left the packer as partial carcasses.

Breastfeeding promotion - Relates to activities required to be carried out by state and local agencies using federal funds provided for nutrition education and administrative services under the WIC program. States are required to use a portion of funds they receive to promote breastfeeding by postpartum mothers participating in the program.

Broadcast application - The spreading of pesticides or fertilizers over an entire area (see band application).

Broiler - A young chicken, usually 6 to 8 weeks old and 3 to 5 pounds, raised primarily for its meat.

Brucellosis - A highly contagious disease of cattle, goats, sheep, and swine that can be transmitted to humans (undulant fever). The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conducts an eradication program that is expected to eliminate brucellosis from U.S. cattle herds by the end of 1999.

Bt - Bacillus thuringiensis is a naturally occurring soil bacterium commonly known as Bt. It is a biological pesticide (biopesticide) used as a spray or dust and also in several genetically engineered plants. The plants have a gene from Bt inserted into their own genetic material. This new gene produces a natural protein that kills insects after the protein is ingested. The toxins are specific to a small subset of insects. Cotton has been genetically altered to control the tobacco budworm, bollworm and pink bollworm. Potatoes have been altered to control the Colorado potato beetle. A new hybrid of Bt corn, altered to be resistant to the European corn borer, became available for the 1997 planting season. Bt degrades rapidly to non-toxic compounds. It is not known to present any human or animal hazards. However, recent reports suggest that it may harm certain beneficial insects, such as monarch butterflies. Pest resistance management (PRM) plans are required by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of the registration.

Buffer strips - Slender areas of permanent vegetation, often planted along the edge or the contour of a field, usually to slow the flow of water or the velocity of wind, in order to capture sediment and other materials before they leave the farm and become pollutants. Types of buffers include filter strips, field borders, grassed waterways, field windbreaks, shelterbelts, contour grass strips, and riparian buffers.

Bulgur - Wheat that has been parboiled, dried, and partially debranned for later use in cracked or whole grain form.

Bulk carrier - Refers to two types of cargo ships: the dry-bulk carrier and the liquid-bulk carrier, better known as a tanker. Bulk cargo is a shipment such as oil, grain, or ore, that is not packaged, baled, bottled, or otherwise packed and is loaded without counting or marking.

Bulk commodities - Generally, high volume, low value unprocessed agricultural commodities, which are treated as though they are homogeneous (fungible) in nature prior to processing. Grains, oilseeds, and cotton are considered bulk commodities. Contrasting categories are high value commodities, semiprocessed and processed commodities, and consumer ready commodities.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) - A bureau within the Department of the Interior that has exclusive jurisdiction over about 268 million acres of federally owned lands. Approximately one-third of this area is in Alaska. The majority of the remaining acreage is in the Western States.

Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) - A bureau within the Department of the Interior, whose mission is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources. The agency replaced the Reclamation Service, which was established pursuant to the Reclamation Act of 1902 to "reclaim (arid lands) throughout the West through irrigation." The Bureau built, operates, and maintains more than 300 storage dams on rivers throughout the western United States.

Burley tobacco - The main type of air-cured tobacco; a cigarette tobacco that together with flue-cured tobacco account for more than 90% of total U.S. production. Burley tobacco production is limited by national marketing quotas and eligible for nonrecourse price support loans. Its production centers in Kentucky.

Bushel - A dry volume measure of varying weight for grain, fruit, etc., equal to four pecks or eight gallons (2150.42 cubic inches). A bushel of wheat, soybeans, and white potatoes each weighs 60 pounds. A bushel of corn, rye, grain sorghum, and flaxseed each weighs 56 pounds. A bushel of barley, buckwheat, and apples each weighs 48 pounds.

Business incubator - A facility that supports the development and operation of a number of small start-up businesses. Tenants of the facility share a number of support services including computers, support staff, telecommunications equipment, and janitorial services. Occupants also may receive technical assistance, business planning, legal, financial, and marketing advice.

Buybacks - Additional peanuts that are allowed to be bought back and used like quota peanuts in the domestic edible market when there are not enough peanuts available to meet the national poundage quota. A buyback is a marketing transaction in which a grower places additional peanuts under loan at the additional loan rate and a handler simultaneously purchases such peanuts from the area marketing association for seed or other domestic use. The buyback mechanism not only provides peanuts to overcome government induced shortages, it provides a means for quota holders to make more money.

Bycatch - Fish or other sea creatures caught unintentionally during commercial fishing operations.

Cabotage - Trade or transport in coastal waters between ports within the same country. U.S. "cabotage" legislation—notably the so-called Jones Act — is designed to support the maritime industry.

Cairns Group - An informal association of 15 agricultural exporting countries formed in 1986 at Cairns, Australia. During the Uruguay Round this group sought the removal of trade barriers and substantial reductions in subsidies affecting agricultural trade. These goals were in response to depressed commodity prices and reduced export earnings stemming from subsidy wars between the U.S. and the EU. The members account for a significant portion of the world's agricultural exports. The group includes major food exporters from both developed and developing countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Africa Thailand, and Uruguay. The Cairns Group was a strong coalition in the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations.

Call option - A contract that entitles the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase an underlying futures contract at a stipulated basis or strike price at any time up to the expiration of the option. The buyer pays a premium to the seller for this contract. A call option is bought with the expectation of a rise in prices. See put option.

Campylobacteriosis - A diarrheal disease often caused by the type of bacteria known as Campylobacteria jejuni (C. jejuni) associated with poultry, raw milk, and water. There are an estimated 2.5 million cases annually in the United States with 200 to 730 deaths. Campylobacteriosis has been linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome (a disease which paralyzes limbs and breathing muscles) as well as Epstein-Barr, Cytomegalovirus, and other viruses. USDA has estimated that this disease costs the United States between $1.2 to $1.4 billion annually in medical costs, productivity losses, and residential care.

Cancellation - Refers to an action taken under Section 6(b) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to cancel a pesticide registration for one or more specific uses when the Environmental Protection Agency finds the use results in unreasonable adverse effects to the environment or public health when a product is used according to widespread and commonly recognized practice, or if its labeling or other material required to be submitted does not comply with FIFRA provisions.

Capper-Volstead Act - P.L. 67-146 (February 18, 1922), with a bit of exaggeration, is sometimes called the Magna Carta of Cooperation. The law was passed in response to challenges made against cooperatives using the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act. It gave "associations" of persons producing agricultural products certain exemptions from antitrust laws. The law carries the names of its sponsors, Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas and Congressman Andrew Volstead of Minnesota.

Captive supply - Products that manufacturers or processors own or contract to purchase for future delivery so as to have a predictable source of raw materials for their plants. In agriculture, the term often is used, for example, to refer to the cattle that beef packers own or contract to purchase 2 weeks or more before slaughter. Examples of such contracts include an exclusive agreement with an individual feedlot in which the price is based on market prices at time of slaughter; or a contract in which the price is specified in advance or is based on some other formula. At issue is the effect that captive supplies have on prices paid to cattle producers.

Carbon sequestration - Retention of carbon in ways that prevent or delay its emission to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This may help mitigate climate change by reducing the amount in the atmosphere. Silvicultural practices that encourage rapid, long term tree growth are an example. Crop residue retention practices designed to prevent erosion and improve the productivity of soil, such as conservation tillage, also retain larger amounts of carbon compared to many traditional cultivation practices.

Carcass weight - The weight of an animal after slaughter and removal of most internal organs, head, and skin. On average, a beef carcass is about 60% of the weight of the live animal, for hogs it is about 73%.

Carcass-by-carcass inspection - Usually refers to language in the federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, respectively, that requires the Food Safety Inspection Service to inspect the carcass of each animal killed for human food, immediately after slaughter.

Carcinogen - Any substance that produces or promotes cancer. This is a key consideration in evaluating the safety of pesticides and other chemicals.

Cargo preference - The Cargo Preference Act (P.L. 83-664) requires that whenever the federal government pays for equipment, material, or commodities shipped to other countries, a minimum percentage of the gross tonnage shipped by sea must go by U.S. flag vessels. Cargo preference requirements have been an issue in U.S. international food aid and export subsidy programs.

Cargo Preference Act - P.L. 83-644 (August 26, 1954), as amended, contains permanent legislation concerning the transportation of waterborne cargoes in U.S.-flag vessels. The Act requires that 75% of the volume of U.S. agricultural commodities financed under P.L. 480 and other concessional financing arrangements be shipped on privately owned U.S.-registered vessels. Maritime interests generally support cargo preference, but proponents of P.L. 480 argue that it increases the costs of shipping U.S. commodities to poor countries and potentially reduces the volume of food aid that is provided.

Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act of 1983 (CBERA) - P.L. 98-67 (August 5, 1983), Title II, authorized unilateral preferential trade and tax benefits for eligible Caribbean countries, including duty-free treatment of eligible products. This law is commonly referred to as the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). Amended several times, the last substantive revisions were made in the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Expansion Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-382, Title II, August 20, 1990). This made trade benefits permanent (repealing the September 30, 1995 termination date).

Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) - A permanent program designed to increase private investment, trade, and tourism in Caribbean countries, initially created by the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act of 1983 and amended several times. It gives preferential trade and tax benefits for eligible Caribbean countries, including duty-free entry of eligible products. To be eligible, an article must be a "product" of (as defined in the U.S. general rules of origin) a beneficiary country and imported directly from it, and at least 35% of its import value must have originated in one or more CBERA beneficiaries. Slightly different import value rules apply to articles entering from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The duty-free import of sugar and beef products is subject to a special eligibility requirement that a beneficiary country submit and carry out a stable food production plan ensuring that increased production of sugar and beef will not adversely affect overall food production. Preferential tariff treatment, though, does not extend to imports of: textiles and apparel subject to textile agreements, specified footwear, canned tuna, petroleum and its products, and watches and watch parts containing any material originating in countries denied most-favored-nation trade status. Special criteria apply to the duty-free import of ethanol through FY2000. Import-sensitive products, not accorded duty-free tariff treatment, are eligible to enter at lower than most-favored-nation tariff rates. These products include handbags, luggage, flat goods (such as wallets, change purses, and key and eyeglass cases), work gloves, and certain leather wearing apparel.

Carrier - An inert material added to an active ingredient in a pesticide to enhance its delivery or effectiveness.

Carrying capacity - The maximum stocking rate for livestock possible without damaging vegetation or related resources. Carrying capacity may vary from year to year on the same area, due to fluctuating forage production. Used by the government in decisions about how many livestock will be allowed on an allotment on public lands.

Carryover - Existing supplies of farm commodity not used at the end of a marketing year, and remaining to be carried over into the next year. Marketing years generally start at the beginning of a new harvest for a commodity, and extend to the same time in the following year.

Cartel - An alliance or arrangement among industrial or commercial enterprises or nations aimed at limiting competition or exercising monopoly power in a market.

Casein - The major portion of milk protein, manufactured from skim milk and used in processed foods (such as dessert toppings and coffee whiteners) and in industrial products such as glue, paint and plastics.

Cash commodity - The physical or actual commodity as distinguished from the futures contract. Sometimes called spot commodity, or actuals.

Cash grain farm - A farm on which corn, grain sorghum, small grains, soybeans, or field beans and peas account for at least 50 percent of value of products sold

Cash in lieu of commodities - Refers to cash provided to food program operators (e.g., elderly nutrition programs, child care food programs, and some school food programs) in lieu of mandated commodity assistance. Recipients may use the cash to buy whatever foods they need to operate their meal service programs.

Cash market - The market for the cash commodity (as contrasted to a futures contract), taking the form of — (1) an organized, self-regulated central market (e.g., a commodity exchange); (2) a decentralized over-the-counter market; or (3) a local organization, such as a grain elevator or meat processor, which provides a market for a small region.

Cash price - The price in the marketplace for actual cash or spot commodities to be delivered via customary market channels.

Cash settlement - A method of settling certain futures contracts or option contracts whereby the seller (or short position) pays the buyer (or long position) the cash value of the commodity traded according to a procedure specified in the contract.

Catastrophic crop insurance (CAT) - A component of the federal crop insurance program, authorized by the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994, that compensates farmers for crop yield losses exceeding 50% of their average historical yield at a payment rate of 60% of the projected season average market price. CAT coverage requires that a farmer realize a yield loss of more than 50% and only makes payments on losses exceeding the 50-percent threshold. Producers pay no premium for CAT coverage, but except for cases of financial hardship must pay an administrative fee of $50 per crop, up to a maximum of $200 per county and $600 in total (across all counties) for CAT protection. Under the Reform Act of 1994 producers were required to obtain coverage at the CAT (or higher) level for crops of economic significance (accounting for 10% or more of their farm’s crop production value) in order to be eligible for various other USDA program benefits. The FAIR Act of 1996 relaxed this requirement. A producer has the ability to purchase additional insurance coverage beyond CAT coverage, but must pay a premium, partially subsidized by the government, for that additional coverage.

Cattle cycle - The approximately 10-year period in which the number of U.S. beef cattle is alternatively expanded and reduced over several consecutive years in response to perceived changes in profitability by producers. Generally, low prices occur when cattle numbers (or beef supplies) are high, precipitating several years of herd liquidation. As cattle numbers decline, prices gradually begin to rise, causing cattle producers to begin adding cattle to their herds. The cycle is relatively long due to the long period of time it takes between the time a cow-calf operator decides to expand a cow herd to breed more beef cattle and the time those animals reach slaughter weight.

Census of Agriculture - A comprehensive set of quantitative information on the agricultural sector of the U.S. economy, broken down to the state and county levels (i.e., number of farms, land in farms, crop acreage and production, livestock numbers and production, production expenses, farm facilities and equipment, farm tenure, value of farm products sold, farm size, type of farm, among other data). The Census, conducted every 5 years, was the responsibility of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of the Census. However, the FY1997 USDA appropriations act (P.L. 104-180, August 6, 1996) transferred funding for the Census of Agriculture to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). NASS released the results of the 1997 Census in 1998.

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) - The agency within the Food and Drug Administration responsible for developing and overseeing enforcement of food safety and quality regulations and coordinating FDA and states’ surveillance and compliance programs, among other activities. FDA’s roughly 800 field inspectors (located administratively within FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs) enforce CFSAN’s food safety regulations at 53,000 processing facilities. CFSN announced that its food safety priorities for 1999 include stepping up surveillance of imported fruits and vegetables, investigating the risk of Listeria, swiftly approving additives that can safeguard the nation’s food supply and adopting HACCP rules for manufacturers of fruit juices, seafood and shell eggs.

Center for Veterinary Medicine - An agency within the Food and Drug Administration that is responsible for assuring that all animal drugs, feeds (including pet foods), and veterinary devices are safe for animals, are properly labeled, and produce no human health hazards when used in food-producing animals.

Center pivot irrigation - A self-propelled irrigation system in which a single pipeline supported on towers rotates around a central point. These systems are typically about one-quarter mile long and serve 128 to 132 acre circular fields.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention - An agency within the Food and Drug Administration that monitors and investigates food borne disease outbreaks and compiles baseline data against which to measure the success of changes in food safety programs.

Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) - A term for the group of countries including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and the three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania).

Certificates (commodity) - Legal instruments, entitling a qualified bearer to a specific dollar value of USDA surplus commodities. Payment-in-kind (PIK) "certs" either can specify the types of commodities or be generic. Certificates were heavily used during the 1980s as a means of meeting financial obligations and simultaneously disposing of CCC-owned commodities.

Channelization - Engineering watercourses by straightening, widening, or deepening them so water will move faster. While improving drainage, this process can interfere with waste assimilation capacity, disturb fish and wildlife habitats, and aggravate flooding in other areas.

Check-off program - Usually, a reference to the generic research and commodity promotion programs for farm products that are financed by assessments applied to sales of those products by producers, importers, or others in the industry.

Chemigation - The application of a pesticide and/or fertilizer through any irrigation system. This delivery technique raises some concern that it may increase pollution.

Chemosterilant - A chemical that controls pests by preventing reproduction, thereby causing the population to collapse. This contrasts with chemicals that directly kill pests.

Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) - This child nutrition program provides cash and commodity assistance to support meal service programs in child care centers, headstart facilities, outside of school programs, and family and group home day care homes for children, the elderly, and disabled. It is permanently authorized under Section 17 of the National School Lunch Act, administered by the Food and Nutrition Service, and funded annually by agricultural appropriations.

Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - P.L. 89-642 (October 11, 1966) was an anti-hunger initiative begun by the Johnson Administration as part of its "War on Poverty" and has been amended numerous times since then. It permanently authorizes the special milk program and the school breakfast program. The special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC), which provides federal grant funds to states for monthly food packages and nutrition education for low-income mothers and young children, is authorized under this Act through FY2003, as is federal spending for state administrative expenses (SAE) associated with the operation of child nutrition meal service programs and the nutrition education and training (NET) program.

Child nutrition programs - A grouping of programs funded by the federal government to support meal and milk service programs for children in schools, residential and day care facilities, family and group day care homes, and summer day camps, and for low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under age 5 in local WIC clinics. Programs include school lunch, school breakfast, summer food service, special milk, commodity distribution, nutrition education and training program, and the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children (WIC). These programs are authorized under the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; are financed by annual agricultural appropriations laws; and are administered by the Food and Consumer Service of USDA. Changes to the authorizing statutes generally are made by the Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry Committee in the Senate. In the House, the Education and the Workforce Committee deals with most changes to child nutrition program authorizing statutes, although the Agriculture Committee usually is involved when proposed changes concern commodity distribution, food issues, and requirements affecting agricultural interests and the farmers market nutrition program.

Chlorinated hydrocarbons - Also known as organochlorines, these synthetic organic compounds contain chlorine. They tend to be persistent in the environment and to biomagnify in the food chain. Chlorinated hydrocarbons that are pesticides include DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, chlordane, lindane, endrin, mirex, hexachloride, and toxaphene. Most chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide uses have been canceled because of their persistence, propensity to bioaccumulate, and toxicity to nontarget species.

Chlorophenoxy herbicides - A class of pesticides that includes 2,4-D. They mimic plant hormones. Uses of some have been canceled because of concerns about adverse health effects.

Cholinesterase inhibitors - A class of chemicals that includes numerous insecticides, such as parathion or carbaryl. They inhibit an enzyme found in animals that regulates nerve impulses. Cholinesterase inhibition is associated with a variety of acute symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, stomach cramps, and rapid heart rate.

Chronic Hunger - Long-term hunger caused by endemic problems of availability and access, rather than by temporary emergencies.

Chronic toxicity - The capacity of a substance to cause long-term or delayed adverse health effects. For example, a cancer resulting from exposure to a carcinogen may not appear for years or decades.

Citizen suits - Refers to the provisions often found in environmental laws which authorize any citizen to bring a lawsuit to enforce the provisions of an environmental law.

Class I differential - Under federal milk marketing orders, the minimum price a processor must pay for milk used for fluid consumption (Class I milk) is the basic formula price plus the Class I differential. The Class I differential varies by about $3.00 per hundredweight (cwt.) between the Upper Midwest and Southeast Florida. The Class I differential accounts for the costs of transporting milk, the added costs of marketing milk going into fluid milk products, and the higher cost of producing Grade A milk required for fluid products.

Class I equivalency - The amount of less productive land in a water district receiving Bureau of Reclamation water (Classes 2, 3, and 4) that would be necessary to be equivalent in productive potential to Class I land. This equivalency rating is made to adjust the number of acres that may be irrigated (see acreage limitation) so that less productive lands are equivalent in productive potential to 960 acres of Class I land.

Class I land - Under reclamation law, Class I land is defined as irrigable land within a particular agricultural economic setting that is productive enough to yield the highest level of suitability for continuous, successful irrigation farming, and has the highest relative productive potential as measured in net income per acre.

Class I Railroad - Any railroad with annual gross revenues of at least $250 million (in 1991), according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. These are the largest long-distance U.S. railroad systems such as Union Pacific-Southern Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, which own most of the track in the United States. Since passage of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, aimed at deregulating the once highly-regulated industry to make it more efficient and cost-competitive, the number of Class I railroads has declined through consolidations and mergers, from more than 30, to eight in 1998. This consolidation has concerned many agricultural shippers—particularly those who lack access to nearby markets or to water transportation—fearful of higher prices due to lack of competition.

Classified pricing - The pricing system of federal milk marketing orders, under which milk processors pay into a pool for fluid grade (Grade A) milk; its value is based on how the milk ultimately is used. Milk used for fluid (Class I) consumption receives a higher price than milk for processed (Class II, Class III, Class IIIa) dairy products.

Clayton Act - A 1914 law that supplemented the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 by clarifying market activities (including those in agriculture) considered to be monopolistic or trade-restraining. The Capper-Volstead Act later exempted agricultural cooperatives from certain Clayton and Sherman Act provisions.

Clean Air Act - The primary federal law governing efforts to control air pollution. Federal legislation addressing air pollution was first adopted in 1955 (Air Pollution Control Act, P.L. 84-159) to provide research and technical assistance. Subsequent amendments, most notably the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 (P.L. 91-604), 1977 (P.L. 95-95), and 1990 (P.L. 101-549), strengthened the federal role. The Clean Air Act seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions that pollute the air. The Environmental Protection Agency is required to establish minimum National Standards Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), while states are assigned primary responsibility for developing compliance. Areas not meeting the standards (nonattainment areas) are required to implement specific control measures. There is no direct federal regulation of agriculture under the Clean Air Act. Two of the NAAQS (for particulates and ozone) could affect agriculture: particulates, because certain agricultural practices, such as prescribed burning and tilling, create airborne particles that might be targeted for control in State Implementation Plans; and ozone, because concentrations of ozone above the standard can adversely affect crop yields. Ozone is formed in the atmosphere when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (from manufacturing, transportation, and utilities) react in the presence of sunlight (agriculture rarely if ever represents significant sources of ozone precursors).

Clean Water Act - Refers collectively to the main federal law for protecting water quality [33 U.S.C. §§1251 to 1387]. This is the principal law governing pollution of the nation’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters. Originally enacted in 1948 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (P.L. 80-845), it was totally revised by amendments in 1972 that gave the Act its current name and shape (P.L. 92-500). The objective of the Act is the restoration and maintenance of the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. The Act is implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with state and local governments. Programs in the Act have been primarily directed at managing point source pollution (wastes discharged from industrial facilities, sewage treatment plants, and municipal storm sewer systems). Agricultural activities have been less of a focus, but some may be affected by the Clean Water Act. The act established the NPDES system for pollution permits and the nonpoint source provisions of §§208 and 319 which deal with agricultural runoff. Large confined animal feeding operations are treated like industrial sources and are subject to permit requirements. Programs to manage nonpoint source pollution (rainfall runoff from farms, rangelands, forests, etc.) may affect agriculture. However, irrigation return flows are specifically exempt from regulation. A program in the Act that regulates discharges of dredged and fill material into wetlands (Section 404) requires permits for activities on agricultural wetlands.

Coastal Zone Management Program - P.L. 92-583 (October 27, 1972) created the Coastal Zone Management Program in 1972 to provide grants to eligible states and territories as an incentive to prepare and implement plans guiding the use of coastal lands and resources. Amendments in 1990 require participants to develop nonpoint pollution programs. These programs must specify and implement management measures to restore and protect coastal waters. For agriculture, management measures are specified for erosion, sediments, nutrients, pesticides, grazing, and animal waste. Participants must implement these management measures after they have been approved by whatever means necessary, including regulation. Federal approval of state proposals is pending.

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) - The codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the federal government. The Code is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to regulation. Most regulations directly related to agriculture are in title 7. Each title is divided into chapters that usually bear the name of the issuing agency, followed by subdivisions into parts covering specific regulatory areas. For example, 7 CFR 1410 are the regulations that apply to the Conservation Reserve Program.

Codex Alimentarius Commission - A joint commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization, comprised of some 146 member countries, created in 1962 to ensure consumer food safety, establish fair practices in food trade, and promote the development of international food standards. The Commission drafts nonbinding standards for food additives, veterinary drugs, pesticide residues, and other substances that affect consumer food safety. It publishes these standards in a listing called the "Codex Alimentarius."

Coliform index - A rating of the purity of water based on a count of fecal coliform bacteria. The presence of fecal coliform bacteria, which are harmless bacteria that live in the intestines of humans and other vertebrate animals, indicates contamination by human or animal feces, and hence the potential presence of disease pathogens.

Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) - Created by a 1975 amendment, Title XII, to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the CRSP is a long-term mechanism to encourage and support collaborative research efforts in the areas of international food and agriculture among U.S. Land Grant Universities and developing country National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), International Agricultural Research Centers, agribusiness, private voluntary organizations (PVOs), academic institutions, private agencies, USAID, and other U.S. Federal agencies. CRSP research is intended to benefit both U.S. and host countries and to strengthen the agricultural sector of developing countries to promote economic growth.

Colonia - A substandard housing area defined in the Housing Act of 1949 as any identifiable community that: (1) is in the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, or Texas; (2) is in an area that is within 150 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico (except for standard metropolitan statistical areas that have a population exceeding 1 million); (3) is designated by the state or county as a colonia; and (4) is determined to be a colonia based on criteria such as lack of potable water supply, lack of adequate sewage systems, and lack of decent, safe, and sanitary housing.

Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act - P.L. 93-320 (June 24, 1974), and the laws authorizing three other conservation cost-sharing programs, were repealed in the FAIR Act of 1996 and replaced by a new cost-sharing program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Until it was replaced, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program provided cost-sharing assistance to producers to install on-farm irrigation system improvements to prevent irrigation water heavily charged with salts and minerals from reentering the river. Participating farmers received up to 70% of total project costs and technical assistance. Participation was concentrated at sites where problems existed. This program was available to producers in the seven states of the Colorado River watershed. The law was administered by the Farm Service Agency until FY1996, when administration was transferred to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - This program was authorized in the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act and was repealed and replaced by the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in the FAIR Act of 1996. Administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, it is used to implement salinity control measures, primarily to manage irrigation water using financial and technical assistance to landowners. This program supports U.S. efforts to meet international treaty obligations for downstream water quality in Mexico.

Combine - A self-propelled machine for harvesting grain and other seed crops. In one operation, it cuts, threshes, separates, and cleans the grain and scatters the straw.

Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture - An 11-member panel authorized by Title I-G of the FAIR Act (P.L. 104-127) to conduct a comprehensive review of the farm economy, including the impact of the 1996 law; and a follow-up review that must include recommendations for changes in federal agricultural policy. The commission submitted its initial review to Congress in May 1999; the second report is due on January 1, 2001.

Commodity Assistance Program - A title often used to refer to a variety of domestic programs receiving food in the form of USDA supplied commodities. It was formalized in FY1996 appropriations law (P.L. 104-37, October 21, 1995) for the first time to refer to the consolidation for funding purposes of three commodity donation programs that are authorized under two separate statutes: the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).

Commodity certificates - Payments issued by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) in lieu of cash payments to participants in farm subsidy or agricultural export programs. Holders of certificates are permitted to exchange them for commodities owned by the CCC. Certificates were used not only to compensate program beneficiaries but also to reduce the large, costly, and price-depressing commodity surpluses held by the CCC during the mid-1980s.

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) - 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. It is authorized to buy, sell, lend, make payments and engage in other activities for the purpose of increasing production, stabilizing prices, assuring adequate supplies, and facilitating the efficient marketing of agricultural commodities. The FAIR Act of 1996 expanded the CCC mandate to include funding for several conservation programs (including the Conservation Reserve Program) and made conservation one of the purposes of the CCC. The programs funded through CCC are administered by employees of the Farm Service Agency. The CCC has the authority to borrow up to $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury to carry out its obligations. Net losses on financial operations subsequently are restored through the congressional appropriations process.

Commodity distribution - Direct donation of food products by the federal government to needy persons, schools, and institutions. Commodities are either entitlement or bonus. Bonus commodities can be received when they are available from surplus stocks purchased by the Commodity Credit Corporation under its price support program or the Agricultural Marketing Service under its surplus removal program (Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935).

Commodity Distribution Program - This program supplies authority for the Secretary of Agriculture to use agricultural surplus removal (Section 32) and Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds to buy commodities for child and elderly nutrition programs. The Secretary is directed to use Section 32 funds not needed for other purposes and CCC funds (if stocks are not available) to buy commodities for donation to maintain the annually programmed level of commodity assistance for Child and Elderly Nutrition programs. The program is authorized through FY2003 under Section 14 of the National School Lunch Act (NSLA).

Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 - P.L. 100-237 (January 8, 1988) established a free-standing law requiring the USDA to improve the distribution and quality of commodities donated to child nutrition programs. Also established a foodbank demonstration project making use of Section 32 agricultural surplus commodities, amended the National School Lunch Act to permit certain pilot projects receiving cash in lieu of commodities or commodity letters of credit to continue receiving them, and amended the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to make a variety of changes to the WIC program to expand coordination with other programs, conduct studies, and convert certain food funding to use for administrative costs.

Commodity exchange - An organization operating under a set of bylaws aimed at promoting trade in one or more commodities by providing services and rules for the conduct of trade.

Commodity Exchange Authority - A former regulatory agency of USDA established to administer the Commodity Exchange Act prior to 1975; the predecessor of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) - The independent federal regulatory agency established by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act of 1974 to administer the Commodity Exchange Act. It regulates trading on the futures exchanges in the United States. The CFTC also regulates the activities of numerous commodity exchange members, public brokerage houses, commodity trading advisors, and commodity pool operators.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Act of 1974 - P.L. 93-463 (October 23, 1974) created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to replace the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Exchange Authority, as the independent federal agency responsible for regulating the futures trading industry. The Act made extensive changes in the basic authority of Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, which itself had made extensive changes in the original Grain Futures Act of 1923.

Commodity Import Programs (CIPs) - The U.S. Agency for International Development uses a small portion of U.S. foreign aid funds to make grants and loans to countries judged important to U.S. foreign policy objectives. These CIPs, by making dollars available, help these countries finance purchases of U.S. commodities (including agricultural commodities) or other inputs needed to meet their development objectives and also provide balance-of-payments support to countries with very limited foreign exchange.

Commodity letters of credit (CLOC) - Food instruments issued in lieu of commodities to certain designated schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. These letters of credit specify the types of foods that schools must buy, which are the same types of foods being donated to other schools by USDA under the commodity distribution program.

Commodity loan rates - Price per unit (pound, bushel, bale, or hundredweight) at which the CCC provides nonrecourse loans to farmers to enable them to hold program crops for later sale. Commodity loans under the FAIR Act of 1996 are recourse for sugar in years that imports are below 1.5 million short tons, and will become recourse for dairy in 2000.

Commodity programs - This term is usually meant to include the commodity price and income support programs administered by the Farm Service Agency and financed by the Commodity Credit Corporation. The commodities now receiving support are: (1) those included in the production flexibility contract payments program, specifically wheat, feed grains, cotton, and rice; (2) those eligible for nonrecourse marketing assistance loans, soybeans and minor oilseeds; (3) those under marketing quota limits, peanuts and tobacco; (4) sugar and milk. A broader term that includes these programs and others is farm programs.

Commodity promotion programs - Programs that advertise and promote an agricultural commodity or product without reference to the specific farmer, brand name, or manufacturer. Producers can and do organize voluntary commodity promotion programs, but most are operated under the authority of either federal or state laws, frequently with the objective of requiring that all members of the industry participate. At the federal level, the programs are authorized by law, implemented by industry groups (after USDA review, rulemaking and approval), and financed by assessments (also called check-offs) of industry members such as producers, importers, and/or handlers. In the past, Congress enacted separate laws permitting producers of specifically-designated commodities to create such programs. The FAIR Act of 1996 also gives USDA general authority to create programs for any commodity at the request of a group of producers. In early 1999, 12 federal promotion programs were fully operational: beef, cotton, dairy products, eggs, fluid milk, honey, mushrooms, popcorn, pork, potatoes, soybeans, and watermelon. In addition to the federally authorized programs, there are between 300 and 350 state-legislated promotion programs covering about 80 farm commodities. Nine out of ten U.S. farmers contribute to one or more of these efforts, which, collectively, raise and spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) - The CSFP provides funding for monthly food packages consisting of USDA commodities (juice, egg mix, and canned fruits and vegetables), and administrative funding for local agencies serving low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, children up to age 6, and persons 60 years of age or older. The precursor of the WIC program, the CSFP now operates in 81 project areas located in 20 states, and over one-half of the beneficiaries are elderly. CSFP is authorized through FY2002 under the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, as amended by the FAIR Act of 1996.

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - The set of legislation and practices jointly adopted by the nations of the European Union (EU) in order to provide a common, unified policy framework for agriculture. Its stated purposes are to increase farm productivity, stabilize markets, ensure a fair standard of living for farmers, guarantee regular supplies, and ensure reasonable prices for consumers. The CAP rests upon four basic principles: common import restrictions, common financing, common pricing, and common treatment of surpluses.

Common external tariff (CXT) - A tariff rate applied by a regional grouping of countries as a unit. For example, the European Community allows free trade in most agricultural commodities among member countries, but applies common external tariffs against many farm products imported from non-member or "third" countries.

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) - A formal association of states comprising the republics formed out of the former Soviet Union, with the exception of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Included are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Community Development Corporation (CDC) - Tax-exempt, non-profit organizations whose primary mission is the economic and social revitalization of distressed urban and rural areas. A CDC is a community-based organization carrying out its activities within a geographically defined area. CDCs may support or undertake such activities as housing development and rehabilitation, job training and counseling, and business development activities.

Community Facilities Program (CFP) - Administered by the Rural Housing Service of USDA, the CFP provides grants, loans, and loan guarantees to local governments, federally recognized native tribes, and nonprofit organizations. Funds are used to construct, expand, or rehabilitate such community facilities as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, ambulatory care centers, police and fire stations, rescue and fire vehicles, communication centers, telecommunications, distant learning and telemedicine, child and adult care centers, jails, courthouses, airports, and schools.

Community food projects - A program administered by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service providing one-time matching grants to private non-profit entities to establish and carry out multi-purpose projects designed to increase food security on a local, community-based level. Project objectives are to meet the needs of low-income people by increasing their access to fresher, more nutritious food supplies; to increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs; and to promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues. Congress has provided from $1 million to $2.5 million annually for the program in recent years, which USDA has used to make grants ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 each.

Community Food Security - The availability within a community of adequate food market, with sufficient quality and quantity of food, and the financial and physical ability of the people in that community to acquire the available food.

Comparative Advantage - Refers to the economic theory that in international trade it is more advantageous for a country to devote its resources not to all lines of production in which it may have superiority (least cost production), but to those in which its relative superiority is greatest. Two countries may find trade mutually profitable even if one of the countries could produce all goods at lower cost than the other.

Competitive advantage - A situation in which one country, region, or producer can produce a particular commodity more cheaply than another country, region or producer.

Competitive bidding (for WIC) - With respect to the WIC program, refers to the method for containing program costs, particularly for infant formula contained in food packages; requires state WIC agencies to solicit bids to infant formula companies for the sale of their product. This is recommended but not required for other products sold through the program.

Competitive foods (in meal service) - Foods that may be regulated for sale in competition with the school lunch and breakfast programs under provisions of the National School Lunch Act.

Competitive imports - A term used by the Economic Research Service in its reporting of agricultural trade statistics to describe imports that are similar to and therefore competitive (in contrast to non-competitive) with those produced in the United States. Examples are beef, wheat, cotton, and sugar.

Complimentary imports - Agricultural import items not produced in appreciable commercial volume in the United States, such as bananas, coffee, rubber, cocoa, tea, spices and cordage fiber.

Composting - The controlled biological decomposition of organic material, such as sewage sludge, animal manures, or crop residues, in the presence of air to form a humus-like material. Controlled methods of composting include mechanical mixing and aerating, ventilating the materials by dropping them through a vertical series of aerated chambers, or placing the compost in piles out in the open air and mixing it or turning it periodically.

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) - Also known as Superfund [42 U.S.C. §§9601 to 9675], is the federal law which authorized EPA to require the cleanup of sites contaminated by past disposal of hazardous waste.

Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) - Generally, a facility where large numbers of farm animals are confined, fed, and raised, such as dairy and beef cattle feedlots, hog production facilities, and closed poultry houses. The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a specific regulatory definition of CAFO for the purposes of enforcing the Clean Water Act. The Act requires individual places that are potential sources of water pollution to obtain point source discharge permits that specify the allowable levels of effluent from each of these places. The regulations define "animal feeding operations" as those confining livestock or poultry for 45 days or more in a 12-month period in a facility that has no vegetative ground cover. Such places are further considered "concentrated," and therefore required to have an EPA permit, if they reach certain size limits or meet other criteria specified in the EPA regulations. Those size limits are 700 mature dairy cattle, 1,000 beef cattle, 100,000 chickens, 55,000 turkeys, 2,500 swine, or 10,000 sheep.

Concentration (economic) - A measure of the degree to which a few large firms dominate total sales, production, or capacity within an industry or market. The concern is that the more concentrated an industry, the greater the likelihood of price and market manipulation. For example, meat packer concentration has long been a concern of cattle producers. It is common to express concentration as a ratio, by stating the share (%) held by the top 4, 8, or 12 firms.

Concessional (export) sale - A sale in which a foreign buyer is allowed loan payment terms that are more favorable than those obtainable in the commercial market. Under P.L. 480, the concessional provisions (compared to the commercial market) may include a lengthy credit period, a grace period before repayment begins, and a low interest.

Conditional registration - Under special circumstances, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) permits registration of pesticide products that is "conditional" upon the submission of additional data. These special circumstances include a finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that a new product or use of an existing pesticide will not significantly increase the risk of unreasonable adverse effects. A product containing a new (previously unregistered) active ingredient may be conditionally registered only if the EPA finds that such conditional registration is in the public interest, that a reasonable time for conducting the additional studies has not elapsed, and the use of the pesticide for the period of conditional registration will not present an unreasonable risk.

Conjunctive use - Water management methods. Usually used to describe the practice of storing surface water in a groundwater basin in wet years and withdrawing it from the basin in dry years. Often used in discussing water supplies and water conservation.

Conservation - The management of human and natural resources to provide maximum benefits over a sustained period of time (see sustainable agriculture). In farming, conservation entails matching cropping patterns and the productive potential and physical limitations of agricultural lands to ensure long-term sustainability of profitable production. Conservation practices focus on conserving soil, water, energy, and biological resources. Contour farming, no-till farming, and integrated pest management are typical examples of conservation practices.

Conservation compliance - A provision originally authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 that requires farmers who operate on highly erodible land to manage this land under an approved conservation system in order to maintain eligibility in specified federal farm programs. The FAIR Act of 1996 amended the conservation compliance provisions in several ways to provide greater planting flexibility to farmers.

Conservation districts (Soil and Water Conservation District) - A legal subdivision of a state government, with an elected governing body, which develops and implements soil and water conservation programs within a certain area, usually coinciding with county lines. The nearly 3,000 districts in the United States have varying names — soil conservation district, soil and water conservation district, natural resources district, resource conservation district, resources district, or conservation district.

Conservation easement - Acquisition of rights and interest to a property to protect identified conservation or resource values, using a reserved interest deed. Since the mid 1970s, conservation easements have been purchased to protect nearly 420,000 acres of farmland in fifteen states, primarily in the Northeast.

Conservation Farm Option Program - A provision of the FAIR Act of 1996 authorizes a pilot program for producers who receive production flexibility payments to enter into a contract to consolidate payments at rates that are equivalent to payments that would otherwise be received from the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and/or the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in exchange for implementing practices to protect soil, water, and wildlife.

Conservation plan - A combination of land uses and farming practices to protect and improve soil productivity and water quality, and to prevent deterioration of natural resources on all or part of a farm. Plans may be prepared by staff working in conservation districts and must meet technical standards. For some purposes, such as conservation compliance, the plan must be approved by the local conservation district. Under the 1996 FAIR Act, conservation plans for conservation compliance must be both technically and economically feasible.

Conservation practice - Any technique or measure used to protect soil and water resources for which standards and specifications for installation, operation, or maintenance have been developed. Practices approved by the Natural Resources Conservation Service are compiled at each conservation district in its field office technical guide.

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) - A sub program of the Conservation Reserve Program, CREP is a state-federal multi-year land retirement program developed by states and targeted to specific state and nationally significant water quality, soil erosion, and wildlife habitat problems. The CREP offers higher payments per acre to participants than the CRP, and perhaps other benefits as well. States with approved programs include Maryland, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Washington, and North Carolina.

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) - A program, created in the Food Security Act of 1985, to retire from production up to 45 million acres of highly erodible and environmentally sensitive farmland. Landowners who sign contracts agree to keep retired lands in approved conserving uses for 10-15 years. In exchange, the landowner receives an annual rental payment, cost-share payments to establish permanent vegetative cover and technical assistance. The CRP reportedly has reduced erosion by up to 700 million tons per year. The FAIR Act of 1996 extends authorization to enroll land through 2002 and caps maximum CRP acreage at 36.4 million acres, its 1995 level. The Act also makes the program spending mandatory and finances it through the Commodity Credit Corporation.

Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) - CTA has been the central activity of the Natural Resources Conservation Service since it was established in 1936. NRCS field staff help landowners and farm operators plan and implement soil and water conservation and water quality practices. The most common use of this program in recent years has been preparing and updating conservation compliance plans. In FY1993, CTA assisted 1.2 million farmers and serviced 62 million acres.

Conservation tillage - Any tillage and planting system that leaves at least 30% of the soil surface covered by residue after planting. Conservation tillage maintains a ground cover with less soil disturbance than traditional cultivation, thereby reducing soil loss and energy use while maintaining crop yields and quality. Conservation tillage techniques include minimum tillage, mulch tillage, ridge tillage, and no-till.

Conserving use acreage - Farmland diverted from crop production to an approved cultural practice that prevents erosion or other degradation. Though crops are not produced, conserving use is considered an agricultural use of the land.

Considered planted - Refers to a provision of the Agricultural Act of 1949 that was used to implement the base acreage and yield system for the 1991-95 crops, a provision that was suspended by the FAIR Act of 1996. Under previous law, crop acreage bases were, in general, calculated as a 5-year average of planted and considered planted acreage. Acreage considered planted includes acreage idled under production adjustment programs or for weather-related reasons or natural disasters; acreage devoted to conservation purposes or planted to certain other allowed commodities; and acreage USDA determines is necessary for fair and equitable treatment.

Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1961 - P.L. 87-128 (August 8, 1961) authorized a major expansion of USDA lending activities, which at the time were administered by Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), but now through the Farm Service Agency. The legislation was originally enacted as the Consolidated Farmers Home Administration Act of 1961. In 1972, this title was changed to the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, and is often referred to as the Con Act. The Con Act, as amended, currently serves as the authorizing statute for USDA’s agricultural and rural development lending programs. Titles in the Act include current authority for the following three major FSA farm loan programs—farm ownership, farm operating and emergency disaster loans. Major amendments to the Con Act enacted in recent years that affect current USDA farm lending programs include the following: Title VI of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-233, January 6, 1988) assists borrowers by requiring FSA to restructure or write down a delinquent loan if the government cost of restructuring is less than the cost of foreclosure. Title VI details the restructuring process and gives delinquent borrowers specific rights throughout the process. Title XVIII, Subtitle A of the FACT Act of 1990 contained provisions designed to curb the perceived abuses of the borrower rights provisions of the 1987 Act. The 1990 farm bill allows FSA to consider the equity in non-essential assets in determining what portion of the loan can be written down and also gives FSA the authority to deny a borrower restructuring if these non-essential assets can be liquidated to make the borrower current on the delinquent loan. The Agricultural Credit Improvement Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-554, October 28, 1992) established new USDA loan programs to assist beginning farmers and ranchers. The law established direct and guaranteed loan programs for beginning farmers and ranchers, and a program to provide 10-year loans for beginning farmers and ranchers to purchase their own farm or ranch in return for a down payment equivalent to 10% of the purchase price of the land. The law also limited the total number of years any borrower may participate in the agency’s farm ownership and operating loan programs. Title VI of the FAIR Act of 1996 directly affects eligibility for FSA loans and the servicing of its delinquent loans. It tightens the borrower rights provisions of the 1987 Act by, e.g., prohibiting any borrower who has had debt forgiven on a delinquent loan from receiving a new loan, and expedites the sale of farmland acquired by USDA through foreclosure or other forms of debt settlement.

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) - An informal association of 57 public and private sector members that supports a network of 16 international agricultural research centers. Its mission is to promote sustainable agriculture for food security in developing countries through research.

Consumer-oriented agricultural products - One of three broad categories of agricultural products used by the Foreign Agricultural Service to report export and import data under its BICO system. (The others are bulk commodities and intermediate agricultural products. Consumer-oriented agricultural products are high value products that usually (but not always) are those ready, or easily made ready, for immediate use by consumers. Notable examples are snack foods, breakfast cereals, bakery mixes, eggs and products, dairy products, fresh or processed red meats and poultry, fresh or processed fruits, vegetables, nuts, pet foods, wine, and beer.

Consolidation - In agriculture and other economic sectors, consolidation usually is a reference to the trend from numerous smaller-sized operations toward fewer and larger ones. Consolidation can lead to higher concentration. See industrialization.

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) - An informal association of 56 public and private organizations that support 16 international agricultural research centers. All but three of the research centers are located in developing countries. The cosponsors of CGIAR are the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank (where the CGIAR Secretariat is headquartered). CGIAR’s mission is to promote sustainable agriculture in developing countries with the goal of creating food security, alleviating poverty, and preserving natural resources.

Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) - The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ general measure of retail prices (for goods and services) paid by urban wage earners and clerical workers. Includes prices of about 400 items, including food, clothing, housing, medical care, and transportation. The CPI-U is commonly used to deflate time series data and is the most widely accepted measure of inflation.

Consumer subsidy equivalent (CSE) - A measure of the value of monetary transfers to consumers resulting from agricultural policies in a given year. If negative, it measures the implicit tax imposed on consumers by agricultural policies. The main component of the CSE is market transfers due to market price support to producers. The CSE can be measured in money terms, in money terms per unit of production, or in percentage terms. See producer subsidy equivalent (PSE).

Consumptive water use - Water removed from available supplies without return to a water resources system, e.g., water used in manufacturing, agriculture, and food preparation. Crop consumptive water use is the amount of water transpired during plant growth plus what evaporated from the soil surface and foliage in the crop area.

Continuous inspection - USDA’s meat and poultry inspection system is often called "continuous" because no animal destined for human food may be slaughtered or dressed unless an inspector is continuously present to examine each one before slaughter (antemortem inspection), and its carcass and parts after slaughter (postmortem inspection). In processing plants (as opposed to slaughter plants), inspectors need not be present at all times, but they do visit at least once daily. Thus, processing inspection is also considered to be continuous.

Contour farming - Field operations (such as plowing, planting, cultivating, and harvesting) at right angles to the natural slope to reduce soil erosion, protect soil fertility, and limit water runoff. Contour strip farming is a kind of contour farming in which row crops are planted in strips, between alternating strips of close-growing, erosion-resistant forage crops.

Contract - Written or oral agreement spelling out the parties’ understanding of how a commodity is to be produced and/or marketed, including specifications for quantity, quality, and price. Marketing contracts are commonly used for crops, while production contracts are more prevalent in the livestock industry. Contracts contrast to cash markets. Cash markets continue to dominate the agriculture sector, accounting for almost 70% of farm commodity sales in 1997. However, contracting could likely continue to grow as a risk management tool for farmers and a coordination tool for processors. Futures contracts provide a way to manage price risk that typically do not involve actual delivery of commodities.

Contract acreage - Enrolled 1996 commodity base acreage under the FAIR Act of 1996 for wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice (generally fixed for 1996 through 2002). A farmer may voluntarily choose to reduce contract acreage in subsequent years. Land leaving the CRP may be entered into a production flexibility contract if the land was previously commodity base acreage.

Contract commodity - The commodities previously eligible for deficiency payments and now eligible for production flexibility contracts under the FAIR Act of 1996: wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, rice, and upland cotton.

Contract payments under AMTA - Some $36 billion in payments to be made to farmers for contract crops for fiscal years 1996-2002 under Title I of the FAIR Act of 1996, known as the Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA). The total amount made available for each fiscal year is specified in the Act and allocated to commodities each fiscal year using a set of percentages also specified in the Act. These percentages were based on the Congressional Budget Office’s February 1995 baseline forecast of what deficiency payments would have been if provisions in effect for the 1995 crop had been extended. For example, for fiscal 1997, the total allocation for wheat is 26.26% of total annual payments of $5.385 billion, or $1.414 billion. The annual payment rate for wheat equals total spending ($1.414 billion) divided by the sum of all individual wheat payment contract quantities for the year. As with other program commodities, an individual farm’s payment quantity equals the farm’s program payment yield multiplied by 85% of the farms wheat contract acreage. Program yields under the 1996 Act are determined in the same manner as under the 1949 Act for 1995 crops. An individual farmer’s transition payment is the payment quantity times the annual payment rate. The payment is made by September 30 of each of the fiscal years 1996 through 2002. Producers may also choose to receive 50% of the contract payment in December or January of the fiscal year. Farmers have near total planting flexibility on the contract acres (the exception being fruits and vegetables) as well as on the remainder of the farm.

Converted wetland - Under the swampbuster program, these are wetlands that were drained or altered to improve agricultural production after December 23, 1985, the date swampbuster was enacted. On lands with this designation, no drainage maintenance and no additional drainage are allowed.

Conveyance loss - Water loss in pipes, channels, conduits, ditches by leakage or evaporation.

Cooperative - An enterprise or organization owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services. In agriculture, such an organization is owned and used by farmers mainly to handle the off-farm part of their businesses — buying farm supplies, marketing their products, furnishing electric and telephone service, and providing business services —at cost. Essential features are democratic control, limited return on capital, and operation at cost, with distribution of financial benefits to individuals in proportion to their use of the services made available by the cooperative (called patronage refunds). In 1997, there were 3,884 farmer cooperatives in the United States. As a variation from the traditional design, so-called "new generation cooperatives" are characterized by limited membership, require substantial investment, and include delivery contracts. Producers are increasingly using this model to create their own value-added business enterprises. The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) assists in forming new cooperative businesses and improving the operations of existing cooperatives through technical assistance, research, information products. Cooperatives are afforded certain antitrust exemptions by the Capper-Volstead Act.

Cooperative Extension System - A federal-state-local cooperative education system that provides continuing adult education based on the academic programs of the land grant colleges of agriculture and their affiliated state agricultural experiment stations. The system employs approximately 32,000 people located on land grant campuses and offices in virtually every county in the nation. About half of Extension’s education programs focus on agriculture and natural resources, one-quarter on youth development (including the vocational 4-H program), and the balance on home economics and community resource development work.

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) - The Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 allows industry to enter into research contracts with government laboratories. In exchange for this cooperation, the company involved is entitled to first rights to obtain an exclusive license to any inventions that may emerge as a result of the CRADA. USDA’s in-house research agency, the Agricultural Research Service has developed more than 800 CRADAs with industry since the law was enacted.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) - The USDA agency that administers federal funds appropriated for agricultural and forestry research, extension, and education programs at eligible institutions, including the land grant colleges of agriculture in the states, selected veterinary schools, and other institutions with capabilities in the food and agricultural science arena. The agency administers formula funds to the 1862 land grant colleges under the Hatch Act of 1887, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 and the McIntire-Stennis Act of 1962; Evans-Allen funds for research programs at the 1890 land grant colleges; the National Research Initiative (NRI) Competitive Grants program; the Special Grants program; grants for higher education; and the research portion of the Fund for Rural America.

Cooperator Program - Officially known as the Foreign Market Development Program (FMDP). One of the agricultural export promotion programs operated by the Foreign Agricultural Service. This program consists of joint government/agri-industry efforts to develop markets by acquainting potential foreign customers with U.S. farm products. Activities under this program include providing technical assistance to prospective foreign buyers, overseas food exhibits, product demonstrations and advertising aimed at foreign consumers. FAS shares the financing of these projects with the "cooperators," which are nonprofit commodity trade associations primarily composed of producer-based farm groups.

Coordinated review effort (CRE) - Food and Consumer Service reviews of the National School Lunch Program conducted in cooperation with state agencies to improve the management of the programs, evaluate meal data accuracy, and provide training and technical support to schools to help improve local program accountability.

Corn Belt - That 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.

Corn gluten - A byproduct of wet milling of corn. Corn gluten is used as a medium-protein (20-24%), medium-fiber (10%) feedstuff. The European Union is the major market for U.S. corn gluten feeds.

Corporate farm - A form of farm ownership which is a separate legal entity from the owners of the farm. Changes in the tax law in the 1970s encouraged the incorporation of farms as corporate tax rates declined while individual tax rates rose, mainly because of inflation. The 1992 Census of Agriculture reports that less than 4%, or nearly 73,000, of the 1.925 million farms in the nation were corporate farms. By contrast, more than 1.653 million (86%) were individual or family-owned operations and 186,000 (10%) were partnerships.

Cosmetic appearance - Section 1351 of the FACT Act of 1990 defines the term as "the exterior appearance of an agricultural commodity, including changes to that appearance resulting from superficial damage or other alterations that do not significantly affect yield, taste, or nutritional value." The Agricultural Marketing Service sets grades and standards for many agricultural commodities. Some consumer and environmental groups have argued that some of these standards are harmful because they encourage excessive pesticide use merely to make fruits and vegetables "attractive." Agricultural interests disagree, countering that consumers prefer blemish-free produce and that cosmetic standards are no less important than other grading factors.

Cost/benefit analysis - A quantitative and sometimes qualitative evaluation of the costs which would be incurred by some action (such as building a dam, or implementing an environmental regulation) versus the overall benefits to society of the proposed action. See risk-benefit analysis.

Cost-containment (for WIC) - Refers to statutory provisions in the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 that require state agencies to contain WIC program costs, particularly with respect to the cost of infant formula sold through the program. See competitive bidding and sole source bids.

Cost, insurance, and freight (C.I.F.) - In general, c.i.f. means that the seller’s price includes the cost of the goods, the marine insurance, and all transportation charges to the named point of destination. Similar terms include C.&F., cost and freight; C.F.I., cost, freight, and insurance; C.I.F. & C., cost, insurance, freight, and commission; C.I.F.C. & I., cost, insurance, freight, commission, and interest; and C.I.F.I. & E., cost, insurance, freight, interest, and exchange. C.A.F. is the French form of C.I.F.

Cost of production - The average unit cost (including purchased inputs and other expenses) of producing an agricultural commodity. The Agricultural and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 requires USDA to make annual estimates of the average cost of producing selected commodities. These cost of production estimates have been used by Congress in considering farm policy options.

Cotton competitiveness provisions - Provisions added by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to the cotton program designed to keep U.S. cotton price competitive in domestic and export markets. Sometimes referred to as the "three-step competitiveness" provisions. Step 1 is the discretionary authority for USDA to reduce the adjusted world price (used in the cotton marketing assistance loan program) when world prices are declining to near the adjusted world price, but U.S. prices are higher than world prices. Though rarely used, the Step 1 adjustment is intended to make marketing loans more effective in keeping U.S. cotton globally competitive. Step 2 payments, sometimes referred to as the "user marketing certificate program," are made to U.S. cotton users and exporters when U.S. prices are higher than world prices. Step 2 payments are intended to bridge price gap and keep U.S. cotton competitive. Step 3 mandates the opening of a "special import quota" when the differential between the higher U.S. price for cotton and the lower price for foreign cotton extends for a specified length of time. Its purpose is to allow imports to enter, acting to lower U.S. prices to bring them more in line with world prices. Step 3 quotas were in effect in April-May 1995, from late October 1995 through early May 1997, and were triggered in late February 1999. A step 3 quota cannot be established if a limited global quota for upland cotton is in effect, which operates differently and is triggered when other price conditions are met.

Cottonseed Oil Assistance Program (COAP) - Along with the Sunflower Oil Assistance Program (SOAP), COAP was one of two programs under which bonuses were awarded to exporters to assist in exports of U.S. vegetable oil to targeted markets. Funds for the programs were authorized to be made available under Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935. The provision in the Disaster Assistance Act of 1988 that authorized the COAP to begin in fiscal year 1989 expired at the end of fiscal year 1995. However, the USDA appropriations act for FY1996 (P.L. 104-37, October 21, 1995) provided authority to operate the program in fiscal year 1996. COAP was not reauthorized by the FAIR Act of 1996, although export subsidies for cottonseed oil can be financed under the Export Enhancement Program (EEP).

Countertrade - A trade transaction of goods and services without the exchange of money. Forms of countertrade include barter, buy-back or compensation, counter-purchase, offset requirements, swap, or triangular trade.

Countervailing Duty - A charge levied on an imported article to offset the unfair price advantage it holds due to a subsidy paid to producers or exporters by the government of the exporting country. Section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, provides for an assessment equal to the amount of the subsidy, in addition to other duties and fees normally paid on the imported article. Countervailing duties are permitted under Article 6 of the GATT.

Country-of-origin labeling - Under Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, most products entering the United States must be clearly marked so that the "ultimate purchaser" can identify the country of origin. Imported meat products are subject to this requirement: imported carcasses and parts of carcasses must be labeled, and individual retail (consumer-ready) packages also must be labeled. Imported carcasses or parts generally go to U.S. plants for further processing. The labeling policy considers these plants as the "ultimate purchasers." Therefore, any products these plants make from the imported meat (for example, ground beef patties made in the United States from beef that originated in Canada or elsewhere) do not have to bear country-of-origin labels. A number of other agricultural articles are exempt from the basic country-of-origin labeling requirements: eggs, livestock and other animals, live or dead; and other "natural products" such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and berries. (However, the outermost containers used to bring these articles into the United States must indicate the country of origin.) There is an interest among U.S. farmers to require more extensive labeling of agricultural products (especially meats and produce). At issue are whether consumers would be more likely to buy the U.S. alternative if such labeling is more prevalent and whether foreign countries might view such a change as a nontariff trade barrier.

County committees - Panels of three to five farmers, elected by other farmers, to oversee the local operation of commodity programs, credit, and other programs of the Farm Service Agency. County committees, established by the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1935, are so named because they have overseen USDA field offices for farmers that once existed in most rural farm counties throughout the United States. Today, the committees often oversee activities in multi-county areas, due to USDA reorganization and consolidation of its field office structure into a network of about 2,500 field service centers. The committees are responsible for hiring and supervising the County Executive Director (CED), who manages the day-to-day activities of the field service center and its employees. The director and most county office staff legally are employees of the farmer-elected committees rather than the federal government, although their salaries come from federal funds.

County Executive Director (CED) - The supervisor hired by the Farm Service Agency county committee to manage the day-to day activities of a field service center (formerly called the county office).

County extension agent - A worker who is jointly employed by the county, State Cooperative Extension Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Extension Service, to bring agricultural and homemaking information to local people and to help them resolve farm, home and community problems. Also called extension agent, farm and home advisor, agricultural agent, extension home economist, and 4-H or youth agent.

County loan rate - Nonrecourse loan rates vary from county to county to account for transportation cost differences to the nearest terminal elevator. The weighted average for all county loan rates — the actual loan levels received by farmers — in the United States must equal the national average loan rate, established by USDA according to limits set by Congress.

County office - Usually refers to the local office of the Farm Service Agency, where farmers go to conduct business associated with federal farm commodity and credit programs, and some conservation programs. As a result of reorganization in 1994, local offices are increasingly shared with other USDA agencies having local representatives, such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Offices shared by several agencies are called field service centers.

County payments - Forest Service payments of 25% of gross revenues from each national forest to the states for use on road and school programs in the counties where the national forests are located. Technically known as Payments to States, because the states determine which road and school programs can be funded, but the payments are allocated to the counties based on the national forest acreage in each county. Commonly confused with Payments in lieu of taxes.

Country schedules - The official schedules of subsidy commitments and tariff bindings as agreed to under GATT for members countries.

Cover crop - A close-growing crop, planted primarily as a rotation between regularly planted crops, or between trees and vines in orchards and vineyards, to protect soil from erosion and improve it between periods of regular crops.

Cow-calf operator - A ranch or farm where cows are raised and bred mainly to produce calves usually destined for the beef market. The cows produce a calf crop each year, and the operation keeps some heifer calves from each calf crop for breeding herd replacements. The rest of the calf crop is sold between the ages of 6 and 12 months along with old or nonproductive cows and bulls. Such calves often are sold to producers who raise them as feeder cattle.

Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) - A sporadic and rare, but fatal human disease that usually strikes people over 65. It occurs worldwide at an estimated annual rate of one case per million population. About 10-15% of CJD cases are inherited. A small number of cases occurred as the result of various medical treatments or procedures which inadvertently transferred the CJD agent. In March 1996, the British government announced a possible link between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and CJD. The announcement was prompted by the discovery of several atypical cases of CJD in Great Britain.

Critical control point - An operation (practice, procedure, process, or location) at or by which preventive or control measures can be exercised that will eliminate, prevent, or minimize one or more hazards. Critical control points are fundamental to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems, which are now being adopted by the food industry to prevent health hazards in the food supply.

Critical habitat - Under the Endangered Species Act, critical habitat is an area essential to the conservation of a listed species, though the area need not actually be occupied by the species at the time it is designated. Critical habitat must be designated for all threatened and endangered species under the Act (with certain specified exceptions). The areas may be federal or nonfederal land, but only the federal government is required to protect it. A federal agency with whom a landowner is dealing must ensure that its actions (which may include giving a loan, increasing irrigation flows, etc.) do not adversely modify these areas.

Crop acreage base - A crop-specific measure equal to the average number of acres planted (or considered planted) to a particular program crop for the previous five years. The sum of the crop acreage bases for all program crops on a farm may not exceed the farm acreage. The acreage base was used in determining the number of acres a farmer, under an acreage reduction program, had to remove from normal crop production and devote to conserving uses in order to be eligible for USDA price and income supports. The FAIR Act of 1996 suspends the base acreage provisions of the permanent law.

Crop insurance - Insurance that protects farmers from crop losses due to natural hazards. Hail and fire insurance are offered through private companies without federal subsidy. A subsidized multiperil federal insurance program, administered by the Risk Management Agency, also is available to most farmers. The program is authorized by the Federal Crop Insurance Act (which is actually title V of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938), as amended. Federal crop insurance is available for about 60 different crops, although not all insurable crops are covered in every county. With the amendments to the Federal Crop Insurance Act made by the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994, USDA is authorized to offer basically "free" catastrophic (CAT) coverage to producers who grow an insurable crop. Farmers must sign a waiver foregoing any federal disaster assistance if they decline CAT coverage. For an additional premium, farmers can buy additional coverage beyond the CAT level. Crops for which insurance is not available are protected under the Noninsured Assistance Program (NAP). Federal crop insurance is sold and serviced through private insurance companies. A portion of the premium is subsidized by the federal government, as well as the administrative and operating expenses of the private companies. The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation reinsures the companies by absorbing the losses of the program when indemnities exceed total premiums. Several revenue insurance products are available on major crops as a form of additional coverage.

Crop reports - Reports compiled by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on various commodities that are released throughout the year. Information in the reports includes estimates on planted acreage, yield, and expected production, as well as comparison of production from previous years.

Crop residue - That portion of a plant, such as a corn stalk, left in the field after harvest. Crop residues are measured for farmers who use conservation tillage to implement their conservation plans to meet conservation compliance requirements. These farmers are required to maintain a minimum level of crop residue to be in compliance. Under revisions to the conservation compliance program in the FAIR Act of 1996, farmers are allowed to use third parties, certified by USDA, to measure levels of crop residue.

Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC) - A form of revenue insurance that protects a producer’s revenue for an insurable crop whenever low prices, low yields, or a combination of both causes revenue to fall below a guaranteed level selected by the producer. It differs from other revenue insurance programs by allowing producers to use the higher of the planting price or the market price in determining a target level of revenue.

Crop rotation - The growing of different crops, in recurring succession, on the same land in contrast to monoculture cropping. Rotation usually is done to replenish soil fertility and to reduce pest populations in order to increase the potential for high levels of production in future years.

Crop scouting - Precise assessments of pest pressure (typically insects) and crop performance to evaluate economic risk from pest infestations and the potential effectiveness of pest control interventions. Scouting is usually sold as a commercial service to farmers.

Crop share rent - In contrast to cash rent, the tenant farmer pays the landlord a share of the crop. This arrangement puts the landlord, like the tenant operator, at risk from variation in yields and prices. For the farm operator, crop share rent is a mechanism for sharing risks with the landlord. In relation to commodity programs for supporting prices and farm incomes, cash rent landlords do not have a beneficial interest in the commodity and are not eligible for some benefits compared to crop share landlords that do have a beneficial interest in the crop.

Crop year - The year in which a crop is harvested. For wheat, barley, and oats, the crop year is from June 1 to May 31. For corn, sorghum, and soybeans, it is from September 1 to August 31. For cotton, peanuts and rice, the crop year is from August 1 to July 31.

Cropland - Land used primarily for the production of row crops, close-growing crops, and fruit and nut crops. It includes cultivated and noncultivated acreage, but not land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. Approximately 382 million acres of cropland, including 50 million acres of irrigated land, was in use in the United States during the most recent national resources inventory, conducted in 1992. Cropland is 30% of all non-federal rural lands. In 1996, the value of production from cropland was about $108 billion.

Cross compliance - A no longer used requirement that a farmer who participates in a price support program for one crop must also participate in price support programs for other crops grown on the same farm. See conservation compliance.

Crush spread - In the soybean futures market, the simultaneous purchase of soybean futures and the sale of soybean meal and soybean oil futures to establish a processing margin. See gross processing margin.

Cultural methods - Practices used to enhance crop and livestock health and prevent weed, pest or disease problems without the use of chemical substances; examples include the selection of appropriate varieties and planting sites; selection of appropriate breeds of livestock; providing livestock facilities designed to meet requirements of species or type of livestock; proper timing and density of plantings; irrigation; and extending a growing season by manipulating the microclimate with green houses, cold frames, or wind breaks.

Custom feeders - Producers who provide the service of feeding animals (e.g., cattle, hogs) they do not own, in return for a fee paid by someone else (such as a packer) who does own the animals. Custom feeding potentially provides packers with more control over supplies and prices of animals. Custom feeding is a form of vertical integration.

Custom work - Specific farm operations performed under contract between the farmer and the contractor. The contractor furnishes labor, equipment, and materials to perform the operation. Custom harvesting of grain, spraying and picking of fruit, and sheep shearing are examples of custom work.

Customs union - An agreement between two or more countries to remove trade barriers between each other and to establish common tariff and nontariff policies with respect to other countries. The European Community (EC) of the European Union (EU) is the best know customs union.

Dacthal (DCPA) - A selective herbicide, trade name Dacthal, used especially on vegetables. DCPA and its breakdown products are environmentally significant and became the most commonly detected pesticide residues in an Environmental Protection Agency survey of drinking water wells conducted during 1988-1990.

Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983 - P.L. 98-180 (November 29, 1983) was designated the Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983. Title I authorized a voluntary dairy diversion program, which was operated between January 1984 and March 1985. Producers who elected to participate in the program and reduce their milk marketings by between 5 and 30% below their base production were paid $10 per hundred pounds (cwt.) for these reductions. For a 16-month period (12/1/83- 3/31/85), all dairy farmers were assessed 50 cents per cwt. on all milk marketed to help defray the cost of the diversion program. The Act also authorized a national dairy check-off program for dairy product promotion, research and nutrition education. This self-help program is funded through a permanent 15-cent per cwt. assessment on all milk production, and is administered by a board of dairy farmers who are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Title II was designated the Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983. Title II provided for reduced levels of price support for tobacco, the prohibition of lease and transfer of flue-cured quota, the mandatory sale of allotments and quotas by nonfarming entities, the required inspection of imported tobacco, and various other modifications to the tobacco programs.

Dairy Diversion Program - A voluntary supply control program authorized by the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983, under which producers in 1984-85 received payments, of $10 per cwt., for reducing their milk marketings by between 5 to 30% below an earlier base period.

Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP) - A program that offers subsidies to exporters of U.S. dairy products to help them compete with other nations. USDA pays cash to exporters as bonuses to help them sell certain U.S. dairy products at prices below the exporter’s cost of acquiring them. The program was originally authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 and extended by the FACT Act of 1990 and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994. The total tonnage and dollar amounts of these and other export subsidies have been limited by the Uruguay Round’s agreement on agriculture. The FAIR Act of 1996 extends the program through 2002, and permits its use for market development in addition to offsetting the subsidies of other countries.

Dairy Market Loss Assistance Program (DMLA) - A program announced March 8, 1999, that makes direct payments to dairy farmers on the first 26,000 hundredweight of milk marketed during 1997 or 1998. The actual payment rate will be determined after signup by dividing $200 million by the total eligible milk. This program was authorized by the emergency provisions of the FY1999 USDA appropriations act (P.L. 105-277, October 21, 1998).

Dairy Price Support Program - The federal program that maintains a minimum farm price for milk used in the manufacture of dairy products. The CCC indirectly assures a minimum price for milk by purchasing any cheddar cheese, nonfat dry milk, and butter offered to it by dairy processors at stated prices. These purchase prices are set high enough to enable dairy processors to pay farmers at least the support price for the milk they use in manufacturing these products. The support price was $10.20 per hundred pounds of milk (cwt.) in 1997, it declined to $10.05/cwt in 1998, and $9.90/cwt in 1999. Under provisions of the FAIR Act of 1996, the dairy price support program is scheduled to terminate on December 31, 1999.

Dairy Promotion Program - The Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 authorized a national producer program for dairy product promotion, research, and nutrition education as part of a comprehensive strategy to increase human consumption of milk and dairy products and to reduce dairy surpluses. Dairy farmers fund this self-help program through a mandatory 15-cent per hundredweight assessment on all milk produced in the 48 contiguous states and marketed commercially. Dairy farmers can direct up to 10 cents of this assessment for contributions to qualified regional, state or local dairy product promotion, research or nutrition education programs. The national program is administered by the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (Dairy Board), a group of 36 dairy farmers appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to staggered 3-year terms. This program should not be confused with the processor-funded Fluid Milk Promotion Program.

Dairy Termination Program - Also called the whole herd buyout, this program was authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985. Under it, farmers received USDA payments for agreeing to remove their entire dairy herds from production for 5 years.

Data call-in - A part of the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) process of developing key required test data, especially on the long-term, chronic effects of existing pesticides, in advance of scheduled Registration Standard reviews. Data call-in from manufacturers is an adjunct of the registration standards program intended to expedite re-registration.

DDT - The abbreviated name of a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloromethane. It is persistent in the environment and biomagnifies in birds of prey. The Environmental Protection Agency canceled U.S. registration of virtually all but emergency uses of DDT in 1972.

Dealer trust - The Packers and Stockyards Act includes provisions aimed at protecting the financial interests of livestock and poultry producers. Under the act, the inventories and accounts receivable of a packer or live poultry dealer — but not livestock (e.g., cattle, pigs, sheep) dealers such as auction houses — must be held in trust for unpaid cash sellers when the packer or poultry dealer fails to pay due to bankruptcy or other financial difficulty. In such situations, the seller is to be paid with these assets before other creditors. USDA for several years has been seeking an amendment to the act extending this protection to those who sell to livestock dealers, which, the Department says, have caused a significant amount of unrecoverable losses for livestock producers.

Debt-asset ratio - A financial ratio that measures the percentage of a farm operator’s assets that are financed by debt. For example, a ratio of 0.4 means that for every $100 of assets the operator has $40 of debt. The ratio indicates to a lender the degree of security of a loan. Higher values indicate greater risk. Although a safe or acceptable level varies greatly by enterprise, a debt-asset ratio in excess of 0.4 may indicate financial stress. A ratio of 0 means that the operator owes no debt; a ratio greater than 1 means that the borrower’s debts exceed the value of assets, indicating the insolvency of the farm business.

Decoupling - The concept of separating federal farm payments from the requirement that farmers produce specified program crops and/or divert land from production. A chief goal of decoupling is to remove a seemingly inherent contradiction in traditional policy: asking farmers to reduce production, while implicitly encouraging more output by tying their benefits to each unit produced. The decoupling concept was first introduced during debate over policy options in the 1985 omnibus farm bill, and was effectively implemented by policy changes made by the FAIR Act of 1996.

Deductions (food stamps) - When calculating a household’s monthly food stamp benefit, food stamp rules require calculation of its net income, with lower net income amounts (larger deductions) producing higher food stamp benefits. This calculation is done by subtracting a series of dollar deductions from the household’s total cash monthly income, so as to better reflect the amount of money the household has available for food spending. Food stamp deductions include: (1) a "standard deduction" ($134 a month) that is subtracted for all recipients, (2) an earned income deduction (20% of any earnings) in recognition of taxes and work expenses, (3) a deduction for dependent care expenses related to work or training (up to certain limits), (4) a deduction for child support payments, (5) a deduction for medical expenses above $35 a month (only available to elderly and disabled recipients), and (6) a deduction for excessively high shelter expenses (those above roughly one-third of a household’s income, up to certain limits).

Deferred pricing - A cash forward contract that provides for determining price by formula at a later date. This also may be called "booking the basis," when the formula sets price relative to a futures price.

Deficiency payments - Direct government payments made to farmers who participated in an annual commodity program for wheat, feed grains, rice, or cotton, prior to 1996. The crop-specific deficiency payment rate was based on the difference between the legislatively set target price and the lower national average market price during a specified time. The total payment was equal to the payment rate, multiplied by a farm’s eligible payment acreage and the program payment yield established for the particular farm. In the latter years of the program, farmers could receive up to one-half of their projected deficiency payments at program signup. If actual deficiency payments, which were determined after the crop year, were less than advance deficiency payments, the farmer was required to reimburse the government for the difference, except for zero, 50/85-92 payments. The FAIR Act of 1996 eliminated deficiency payments and replaced them with production flexibility contract payments.

Defoliant - A chemical that removes leaves from trees and growing plants; regulated as a pesticide.

Delaney Clause - The Delaney Clause in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) states that no additive shall be deemed to be safe for human food if it is found to induce cancerin man or animals. It is an example of the zero tolerance concept in food safety policy. The Delaney prohibition appears in three separate parts of the FFDCA: Section 409 on food additives; Section 512, relating to animal drugs in meat and poultry; and Section 721 on color additives. The Section 409 prohibition applied to many pesticide residues until enactment of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-170, August 3, 1996). This legislation removed pesticide residue tolerances from Delaney Clause constraints.

Delayed pricing - A type of deferred pricing that provides for transfer of title before the price is determined and final settlement made. Contracts including this feature are sometimes called "price-later" contracts.

Delivery - In settlement of a futures contract, the tender and receipt of the actual commodity, the cash value of the commodity, or of a delivery instrument covering the commodity (e.g., warehouse receipts or shipping certificates). Futures contracts may be settled by delivery, but more often they are settled by offset or cash. Each futures exchange has specific procedures for delivery of a commodity.

Delivery month - The specified month within which a futures contract matures and can be settled by delivery. Also referred to as contract month.

Delivery point - A location where a commodity can be delivered to fulfill a futures contract.

Demurrage - The charge that a shipper may be required to pay for detaining a rail car (or water carrier) longer than necessary to load it. What length of time is considered reasonable, and the level of demurrage charges, are frequently points of dispute between agricultural shippers and the railroads, particularly in proceedings before federal or state transportation regulatory bodies.

Dermal toxicity - The ability of a pesticide or other chemical to poison people or animals via skin contact. Many organophosphate pesticides exhibit high dermal toxicity.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) - USDA was originally established in 1862 and raised to cabinet status in 1889. In FY1997 it had an employment level equal to about 113,000 staff years, working in some 30 separate agencies, carrying out program activities valued at $84 billion, with net federal budgetary outlays of $57 billion. Forestry, natural resource, and farm activities utilized 58% of the staff time. However, about 70% of USDA expenditures went to domestic food assistance programs. Over 90% of the staff are located in local, state, and regional field offices away from the Washington, DC, headquarters. Approximately three-fourths of USDA spending is classified as mandatory spending, which by definition is not constrained by the annual appropriations process. Eligibility for mandatory programs is written into law; any individual or entity that meets the eligibility requirements is entitled to a payment as authorized by the law. The vast majority of mandatory spending is in the Food Stamp Program and certain other food and nutrition programs, the farm commodity programs, the crop insurance program, and the Conservation Reserve Program. The other roughly 25% of USDA budget is classified as discretionary and is subject to annual appropriations, including rural development, agricultural research and education, agricultural credit, international food aid, food marketing and inspection, forestry, and certain nutrition programs. All USDA discretionary programs are funded through an annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (except the Forest Service is funded through the Department of Interior appropriations act). Annual appropriations are made to the food stamp and other mandatory nutrition programs based on estimated spending needs. However, supplemental appropriations are generally made if and when these estimates fall short of required spending. An annual appropriation is made to the Commodity Credit Corporation, which funds the commodity programs and the Conservation Reserve Program, in order to cover its past net realized losses. Most, but not all, USDA programs are under the congressional authorizing jurisdiction of the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 - Title II of P.L. 103-354 (October 13, 1994) was designated the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 and gave the Secretary of Agriculture broad authority to reorganize USDA to achieve greater efficiency, effectiveness, and economy. The law called for consolidation of agencies and offices, as well as a reduction in personnel of 7,500 by the end of FY1999.

Department of the Interior (DOI) - This cabinet-level agency, also known as the Home Department, was created on March 3, 1849 by an Act of Congress to oversee and manage the vast national or public domain. Today the Department includes eight bureaus whose functions include managing National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges, collecting revenues from mineral resources, and operating programs developing, protecting, and enhancing resources on the Nation’s public lands.

Desertification - Land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.

Designated uses of water - Water uses identified in state water quality standards that must be achieved and maintained as required under the Clean Water Act. Uses can include cold water fisheries, public water supply, irrigation, etc.

Desired future condition - Used to describe the future condition of federal forests and rangeland resources that meet management objectives. Desired future condition is based on ecological, social, and economic considerations during the land and resource management planning process. Desired future condition is usually expressed as ecological status or management status of vegetation and desired soil qualities.

Desired plant community - The plant community that has been determined through a land use or management plan to best meet the plan’s objectives for a site. A desired plant community is consistent with the site’s capability to produce the required resource attributes through natural succession, management intervention, or a combination of both.

Developing countries - A country with a low per capita income. Terms such as less developed country, least developed country, underdeveloped country, poor, and southern have been used to describe developing countries. The Agricultural Trade Development Assistance Act of 1954 (P.L. 480) defines developing country, for purposes of receiving U.S. food aid, as "a country that has a shortage of foreign exchange earnings and has difficulty meeting all of its food needs through commercial channels" [Section 402(4), 7. U.S.C. 1732]. Under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, the World Trade Organization (WTO) accords longer periods of time to developing than to developed countries to phase in required reductions in tariffs, export subsidies, and trade-distorting domestic support. The WTO allows considerable latitude to countries to designate themselves as developing for purposes of phasing in WTO obligations. However, a country’s status as developed or developing can become an issue if a country is applying for membership in the WTO. China, for example, a candidate for WTO membership, has argued that it should be considered a developing country and given longer periods of time to implement WTO rules and disciplines. The United States, the European Union, Japan, and other current WTO developed country members have argued that China is too important a presence in world agriculture to be admitted to the WTO as a developing country.

Development easement - A legal agreement by which a landowner surrenders the right to develop a designated parcel of property. Some local and state governments have programs to acquire development easements from private landowners to prevent conversion of farmland to other uses.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans - Dietary recommendations for healthy Americans age 2 and older about food choices that promote health, specifically with respect to prevention or delay of chronic diseases. These guidelines, which were first published in 1980, are issued every five years by USDA /HHS to reflect the latest nutrition knowledge. The guidelines will again be issued in 2000. Currently, there are seven messages that concern eating a variety of foods, balancing the foods eaten with physical activity, choosing plenty of grains, fruits and vegetables, choosing a diet low in fats, cholesterol, salt and sugar and limiting alcoholic beverages. The food guide pyramid is a practical consumer guide to using the dietary guidelines.

Dietary supplements - Defined by law as a vitamin, mineral, herb, botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance added to supplement the diet to increase the total dietary intake, or concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract or combination of any ingredients described above. Supplements cannot be represented for use as a conventional food or sole item of a meal or the diet; and they must be labeled as dietary supplements. Regulatory authority rests with the Food and Drug Administration. There are concerns about the degree of regulation by FDA for safety and claims made for the products by manufacturers.

Diethylstibestrol (DES) - A synthetic estrogen hormone. DES was used widely in the United States as a growth promoter in cattle and sheep and as a treatment for estrogen-deficiency disorders in veterinary medicine, and for postcoital contraception. However, because of its carcinogenic properties and other adverse effects, the Food and Drug Administration has revoked all use of it in food-producing animals.

Differential assessment - Basing the valuation of farmland for property tax purposes on its use for farming rather than on its "highest and best" use, such as potential development. Types of differential assessment include preferential assessment, deferred taxation, and restrictive agreement.

Dioxin - Any of a group of toxic chlorinated compounds known chemically as dibenzo-p-dioxins (or the most toxic of these compounds, 2,3,7,8 tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin). They are produced inadvertently as a by-product of chemical production or combustion and are widespread pollutants in the environment.

Direct marketing; farmer-to-consumer direct marketing - Any arrangement where the producer or his/her representative is selling his products directly to the end user. Typical forms of direct marketing are farmers’ markets and roadside stands. Other examples include subscription farming and regular delivery of fresh farm produce by farmers to homes or restaurants.

Direct payments - Payments (usually in cash but sometimes in commodity certificates) made directly to producers in conjunction with participation in commodity support or other programs. Under the FAIR Act of 1996, participating producers receive production flexibility contract payments, which replace deficiency payments. Also, producers receive direct payments under conservation reserve contracts.

Disaster payments - Direct federal payments provided to crop producers when either planting is prevented or crop yields are abnormally low because of adverse weather and related conditions. The Federal Crop Insurance Act of 1980 greatly expanded crop insurance coverage in an attempt to permanently replace disaster payments with government-subsidized insurance. However, between 1988 and 1994, ad-hoc disaster legislation was enacted in each year that provided a total of nearly $10 billion in direct disaster payments to farmers. These large payments prompted the enactment of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994, which included provisions to broaden the federal subsidy of the federal crop insurance program, in an effort to increase farmer participation in the program and lessen the pressure for ad-hoc disaster payments. The 1994 Act also created a permanent noninsured assistance program (NAP) that makes payments to farmers who grow a crop that is ineligible for crop insurance. NAP pays eligible farmers 60% of the market price of the crop on losses in excess of 50%, but only when the farmer’s area experiences a minimum crop loss of 35%.

Discharge - In water resources, the term refers to the flow of surface water in a stream or canal or the outflow of ground water from a flowing artisan well, ditch, or spring. In environmental protection, the term is used synonymously with effluent or emission as a term of point source pollution release.

Disease vectors - Plants or animals that harbor and carry disease organisms which may attack crops or livestock.

Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) - The General Council of the WTO, composed of representatives of all member countries, convenes as the Dispute Settlement Body to administer rules and procedures agreed to in various agreements. The DSB has authority to establish panels, adopt panel and Appellate Body reports, maintain surveillance of implementation of rulings and recommendations, and authorize suspension of concessions or other obligations under the various agreements.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) - The oxygen freely available in water, vital to fish and other aquatic life and necessary for the prevention of odors in water. DO levels are a critical indicator of a waterbody’s ability to support desirable aquatic life. Secondary and advanced wastewater treatments are generally designed to ensure adequate DO in waste-receiving waters by removing, digesting, or oxidizing oxygen-demanding wastes (see biological oxygen demand).

Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant and Loan Program (DLT) - A program authorized by the FACT Act of 1990 to provide grants to rural schools and health care providers to help them invest in telecommunications facilities and equipment to bring educational and medical resources to rural areas where the services otherwise might be unavailable. The FAIR Act of 1996 reauthorized and streamlined the program. Funding is authorized at $100 million annually. DLT is administered by the Rural Utilities Service.

Diversion payments - Payments once but no longer made to farmers who voluntarily reduced their planted acreage of a program crop and devoted the land to a conservation use when a paid acreage diversion was in effect. Also, payments made to dairy producers in the late 1980s under the no longer operating dairy termination program who agreed to reduce their milk marketings below a prescribed level.

DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid, a polymeric chromosomal constituent of living cell nuclei, composed of deoxyribose (a sugar), phosphoric acid, and four nitrogen bases - adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. It contains the genetic information for living organisms, and consist of two strands in the shape of double helix. A gene is a piece of DNA.

Dockage - A factor in the grading of grains and oilseeds; i.e., dockage in wheat is described as "weed seeds, weed stems, chaff, straw, or grain other than wheat, which can be readily removed from the wheat by the use of appropriate sieves and cleaning devices; also, underdeveloped, shriveled and small pieces of wheat kernels removed in properly separating, properly rescreening, or recleaning." The term is also used to describe the amount of reduction in price taken because of a deficiency in quality.

Doctrine of prior appropriation - Water rights doctrine adopted by most western states, giving the first person to use water from a stream the first right to such water. If the first user does not consume all of the water, then the second and later users can appropriate water for their needs. The water right is not necessarily tied to land ownership.

Domestic farm labor - Individuals (and the family) who receive a substantial portion of their income from the production or handling of agricultural or aquacultural products. Farm owners and others may be eligible for Section 514 loans to make housing available for domestic farm labor. For purposes of housing loans, the farm laborers must be U.S. citizens or legally admitted for permanent residence in the United States. The term includes retired or disabled persons who were domestic farm labor at the time of retiring or becoming disabled.

Domestic price - The price at which a commodity trades within a country, in contrast to the world price. For those commodities not benefitting from some form of price support, the domestic price is determined by supply and demand. For commodities that receive price support, the domestic price is usually set by the loan rate or some comparable support level that serves as a price floor in the marketplace working in conjunction with any import quota that may be in effect.

Double cropping - The practice of consecutively producing two crops of either like or unlike commodities on the same land within the same year. An example of double cropping might be to harvest a wheat crop by early summer and then plant corn or soybeans on that acreage for harvest in the fall. This practice is only possible in regions with long growing seasons.

Downer (or downed animals) - Commonly used term for animals that are disabled due to illness or injury. A longstanding issue is whether these animals are treated humanely or inhumanely by shippers, stockyards, and packers while they are being moved or held for slaughter. Legislation periodically introduced in Congress would outlaw the sale or transfer of such animals, but livestock producer groups (who generally agree that livestock markets should not accept severely disabled animals) contend that their voluntary efforts to end harmful practices have already proven successful.

Drainage - Improving the productivity of agricultural land by removing excess water from the soil by such means as ditches, drainage wells, or subsurface drainage tiles. See swampbuster and wetlands.

Drainage basin - The area of land that drains water, sediment, and dissolved materials to a common outlet at some point along a stream channel.

Dryland farming - A system of producing crops in semi-arid regions (usually with less than 20 inches of annual rainfall) without irrigation. Dryland farmers often try to rebuild soil moisture by leaving the land fallow (unplanted) or mulched in alternate years, called summer fallowing.

Due Restraint provision - The UR Agreement on Agriculture provision that sets a 9-year period during which green box policies are exempt from GATT challenges.

Dumping - Selling commodities in a foreign market at a lower price than in the domestic market. Under World Trade Organization rules, dumping occurs when the price to the importer is less than the normal price of the product charged to the buyer in the country of origin. When considering the imposition of an antidumping duty, the U.S. government examines the imported price of a product compared to its domestic price. In addition, before duties are imposed, proof of injury to a U.S. industry must be demonstrated.

Durum wheat - A species of wheat distinct from wheat used to make bread and other bakery products. The hard, flinty kernels of durum wheat are specially ground and refined to obtain semolina, a granular product used in making pasta items such as macaroni and spaghetti. Most durum wheats are grown in Mediterranean countries, the former Soviet Union countries, North America, and Argentina. U.S. durum production is centered in North Dakota with other producing states being South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, California, and Arizona.

Duty, import - A customs duty is a charge assessed by a government on an imported item at its point of customs entry into the country, and paid for by the importer; the term is now used interchangeably with tariff. In terms of assessing duties there are two basic types: an ad valorem duty is assessed in proportion to the value of the imported item, whereas a "specific" duty is assessed on the basis of a measure other than value, such as the quantity of the product imported. In addition, a "compound" or "mixed" duty, which is a combination of an ad valorem and specific duty, is occasionally used in the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States (HTSUS). Special duties such as anti-dumping duties or countervailing duties may also be levied on imports to offset the unfair price advantage of an imported article that is sold below normal value or subsidized by an exporting country.

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.

Easement - A landowner sells or surrenders the right to develop a portion of the property, usually in return for a payment or some other benefit. Some local and state governments, and land trusts, have programs to acquire development easements from landowners to prevent conversion of farmland to other uses. Since the mid 1970s, conservation easements have been purchased to protect nearly 420,000 acres of farmland in 15 states, primarily in the Northeast.

Economies of size - The concept that the average cost of production per unit declines as the size of the operation grows. One reason farms have been growing in size is to make more economical use of machines capable of covering more ground with less labor, to capture economies of size. Larger sized farms can typically get volume discounts on such inputs as chemicals and seed.

Ecosystem - A functioning community of nature that includes fauna and flora together with the chemical and physical environment with which they interact. Ecosystems vary greatly in size and characteristics; an ecosystem can be a mud puddle, a field or orchard, or a forest. An ecosystem provides a unit of biological study and can be a unit of management.

Edward R. Madigan U.S. Agricultural Export Excellence Award - An award established by the FAIR Act of 1996 to recognize companies’ and other entities’ entrepreneurial efforts in the food and agricultural sector for advancing U.S. agricultural exports.

Effluent - Waste, usually liquid, released or discharged to the environment. Generally the term refers to point source discharges of sewage or contaminated waste waters into surface waters.

Effluent limitation - An Environmental Protection Agency "standard of performance" reflecting the maximum degree of discharge reduction achievable by the best available technology for various categories of sources of water pollution. These categories include feedlots, grain mills, and several kinds of food processing.

El Niño - A cyclical disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific that has important consequences for global weather, including increased rainfall in the southern United States and Peru, and drought in the western Pacific. El Niño conditions result in a rise in sea surface temperature and a decline in primary productivity, which can affect higher levels of the ocean's foodchain, including commercial fishing.

Elderly and disabled - For food stamp purposes: "elderly" persons are age 60 or older; and "disabled" persons are beneficiaries of disability-based governmental assistance, such as social security disability payments and certain veterans disability payments.

Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems - Under an EBT system, recipients are issued an "ATM-like" card and a "personal identification number" (PIN) instead of food stamp coupons. They access their food stamp benefits when purchasing food by using the card at an approved retailer: "swiping" the card through a point-of-sale terminal and entering their PIN. This electronically debits a "food stamp account" maintained for them (and is replenished monthly) and credits the retailer with the purchase amount. States are permitted to issue food stamp benefits through EBT systems, and, unless a waiver is granted, must use EBT systems by 2002.

Elevator - A tall warehouse facility that uses vertical conveyors to raise or elevate grain, generally owned privately or by an agricultural cooperative, where grain is stored before being marketed. The term elevator often refers to any grain storage facility, even if the grain is not elevated. The country elevator is where a farmer delivers grain; a terminal elevator is a major transshipment facility; while an export elevator is at a port facility.

Embargo - A government-ordered prohibition or limitation on trade with another country. Under an embargo, all trade, or selected goods and services, may be restricted. The Food Security Act of 1985 states that U.S. policy is: (1) to foster and encourage agricultural exports, (2) not to restrict or limit such exports except under the most compelling circumstances, (3) that any prohibition or limitation on such exports should be imposed only when the President declares a national emergency under the Export Administration Act, and (4) that contracts to export agricultural commodities and products agreed upon before any prohibition or limitation should not be abrogated. Whenever commercial export sales of an agricultural commodity are suspended for reasons of short supply, but to a country with which the United States continues commercial trade, the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 requires USDA to set the commodity price support loan rate at 90% of the parity price. The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 contains contract sanctity provisions that place constraints on the embargo of agricultural commodities from the United States. The 1990 Act also: (1) provides for agricultural embargo protection that, if certain conditions are met, compensates producers with payments if the President suspends or restricts exports of a commodity for national security or foreign policy reasons, and (2) requires USDA to develop plans to alleviate the adverse effects of embargoes if imposed. The FAIR Act of 1996 requires USDA to compensate producers of a commodity, or commodities, if the U.S. government imposes an export embargo on any country for national security or foreign policy reasons, and if no other country joins the U.S. embargo within 90 days. Compensation may take the form of payments to producers or funds made available to promote agricultural exports or food aid.

Emergency Conservation Program - A program administered by the Farm Service Agency to help farmers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters by sharing in the cost of rehabilitation.

Emergency Disaster (EM) Loan Program - When a county has been declared a disaster area by either the President or the Secretary of Agriculture, farmers in that county may become eligible for low-interest emergency disaster (EM) loans available through the Farm Service Agency (formerly Farmers Home Administration). EM loan funds may be used to help producers recover from production losses (when the producer suffers a significant loss of an annual crop) or from physical losses (such as repairing or replacing damaged or destroyed structures or equipment, or for the replanting of permanent crops such as orchards). A qualified producer can then borrow up to 80% of the actual production loss or $500,000, whichever is less, at a subsidized interest rate.

Emergency feeding agency - This refers to an organization serving the food needs of the poor and unemployed that is designated by a state as eligible for commodities and administrative support to distribute commodities or operate a meal service program under the Emergency Food Assistance Program.

Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 - P.L. 98-92 (September 2, 1983) amended the original Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act (TEFAA) of 1983 to authorize multi-year funding and commodity donations from excess CCC inventories of foodstuffs for food distribution by emergency feeding organizations serving the needy and homeless. It subsequently was amended in 1985, 1988, 1990, and 1996 (under the FAIR Act of 1996) and currently authorizes funding through FY2002 to buy and donate commodities and to provide grants for state and local costs of transporting, storing, and distributing them to emergency feeding organizations, soup kitchens, and food banks serving low-income persons. In addition to discretionary funds authorized to be appropriated by this law, the welfare reform law of 1996 required that $100 million of food stamp appropriations be used annually to buy commodities for emergency feeding organizations.

Emergency Food Assistance and Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program (EFAP-Soup kitchens) - This program provides USDA commodities to emergency feeding organizations to help with the food needs of low-income populations. It also authorizes grants to states to help with the state and local costs of transporting, storing, and distributing the commodities. In addition to authorizing funding to buy commodities for these programs, the program also requires that $100 million of food stamp funds be used annually for that purpose. The program is authorized through FY2002 by the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983, as amended by the FAIR Act of 1996. Eligible agencies include food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, and public and private charitable agencies serving the poor. States determine the agencies eligible to participate and set low-income standards for eligibility.

Emergency livestock feed programs - The USDA was given permanent authority by the Disaster Assistance Act of 1988 to implement an array of emergency livestock feed programs. These programs were designed to assist livestock producers who lose a significant amount of feed grown on the farm due to a natural disaster. The primary livestock feed programs implemented by USDA were: (1) the Emergency Feed Assistance Program (EFAP), which provided farmers who experienced a large loss of feed production with government-owned grain at a subsidized price, and, (2) the Emergency Feed Program (EFP), a cost-share program for farmers affected by a disaster who purchased their needed feed in the marketplace. To meet mandated budget savings requirements, the FAIR Act of 1996 suspended these programs from the law through 2002.

Emergency Wetlands Reserve Program (EWRP) - Authorized in 1993 under emergency supplemental appropriations to respond to widespread floods in the Midwest, EWRP provided payments to purchase easements and partial financial assistance to landowners who permanently restored wetlands at sites where the restoration costs exceeded the land’s fair market value. EWRP was administered by Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of its Emergency Watershed Program and operated in seven midwestern states. Land in this program is considered to be a part of the land enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Program.

Emerging Markets Program - A program originally authorized by the FACT Act of 1990, and titled the Emerging Democracies Program. The program was authorized to promote U.S. agricultural exports by providing technical assistance and credits or credit guarantees to emerging democracies annually for fiscal years 1991-95. Funds could be used to establish or provide facilities, services, or U.S. products to improve handling, marketing, storage, or distribution of imported agricultural products. The program initially focused on central and eastern Europe and the form Soviet Union. The FAIR Act of 1996 reauthorized the program through 2002 and renamed it the Emerging Markets Program. The program is retargeted to emerging markets (defined as countries that USDA determines have the potential to provide viable and significant markets for U.S. agricultural products). The law authorizes $10 million per year and the Commodity Credit Corporation must make available not less than $1 billion of direct credit or credit guarantees to emerging markets for fiscal years 1996-2002, in addition to the amounts authorized for GSM-102/103.

Emission - Waste released or emitted to the environment. The term is commonly used in referring to discharges of gases and particles to the atmosphere, i.e., air pollutants, and also is used in referring to particles or energy released radioactively. Sometimes the term is used broadly, encompassing any pollutant discharge.

End-use certificate - The North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act mandates end-use requirements for wheat and barley imported from any country requiring end-use certificates for imports of U.S. produced commodities. Canada is the only nation that requires such certificates, and U.S. wheat is the only commodity subject to the restriction. Regulations implementing the End-Use Certificate Program, implemented February 27, 1995, are found at 7 CFR 782.

Endangered species - Species of animals or plants likely to go extinct in the foreseeable future unless current trends are altered. They are listed by regulation under the Endangered Species Act and assigned the Act’s highest level of protection. Only scientific factors may be taken into account in deciding whether to list a species as endangered, though economic factors may be taken into account at other stages of the Act. See also threatened species. For the legal definition, see Section 3 of the Act.

Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 - P.L. 93-205 (December 28, 1973), as amended, is one of the major federal laws protecting species and the ecosystems on which they depend. While states generally have primacy in wildlife law, this is one of a handful of areas in which federal law plays the major role. ESA is administered primarily by the Fish and Wildlife Service (and by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for certain marine species). Under authority of this Act, species of plants and animals at risk of extinction are listed as either "endangered" or "threatened" according to the degree of risk. Once a species is listed, powerful legal tools are available to aid the recovery of the species and to protect its habitat. Over 1000 species of domestic animals and plants have been listed as either endangered or threatened. The ESA has been controversial for two main reasons: First, its standards of protection are substantive, rather than procedural, occasionally preventing activities that would lead to the taking of an endangered or threatened species or jeopardizing its continued existence. Thus, the protection of endangered salmon may result in limitations on logging around spawning habitat. Even if a given activity is rarely prohibited outright, mandatory changes or modifications of practices are not infrequent. Second, because other laws often lack the strict substantive provisions that Congress included in the ESA regarding taking of species, critical habitat, and avoidance of jeopardy, the ESA often becomes a battleground by default over larger controversies concerning resource scarcities and altered ecosystems. Like the miners’ canaries, endangered species have flagged controversies over the Tellico Dam (hydropower development versus farmland protection and tribal graves, as well as the snail darter); northwest timber harvest (protection of logging jobs and communities versus commercial and sport fishing, recreation, and ecosystem protection, as well as salmon and spotted owls); and the Edwards Aquifer (allocation of water among various users with differing short- and long-term interests, with a few spring-dependent species caught in the cross-fire). Farmers, ranchers, and loggers can be affected by ESA in various ways, depending on the particular listed species, the locale, the nature and health of the ecosystem, the ownership of the land, etc. On federal land, ESA may require land managers to restrict or modify resource uses to protect listed species; on private land, ESA prohibits takings and requires agencies providing any Federal service—such as permitting, increasing irrigation flows, or loans—to ensure the action will not adversely affect critical habitat.

Endocrine disruptor - A chemical agent that interferes with natural hormones in the body. Hormones are secreted by endocrine glands (such as the pituitary, thyroid, pancreas, ovary, and testis), are transported through the body in the bloodstream, and regulate body growth and metabolism, other endocrine organs, and reproductive functions. There is emerging concern that endocrine disruptors may be causing human health or ecological effects, such as abnormal thyroid function, decreased fertility, and alteration of immune and behavioral function. This concern arises from demonstrated instances (an example is the ability of diethylstilbestrol (DES) to disrupt female reproductive function throughout the lifespan in laboratory animals and humans) and the fact that hormones are biologically active at very low concentrations (at parts per billion or less), so low levels of disruptors may similarly be biologically active. In amendments to the Safe Drink Water Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act in 1996, Congress directed the Environmental Protection Agency to study endocrine disruptors. The outcome of this research will be of consequence to agriculture because some pesticides and animal growth stimulants have been hypothesized to act as endocrine disruptors.

Environment - The totality of the surrounding external conditions—biological, chemical, and physical—within which an organism, community, or object exists. The term is not exclusive in that organisms can be and usually are part of another organism’s environment. Thus one can speak of the environment as that within which humankind lives, i.e., separate and external; or, one can speak of humankind as a component of the environment.

Environmental Assessment - Under implementing regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, a document used by agencies to determine whether the environmental effects are sufficient to require an EIS.

Environmental Conservation Acreage Reserve Program (ECARP) - An umbrella program authorized by the FACT Act of 1990 that includes the Conservation Reserve Program, and the Wetland Reserve Program. The FAIR Act of 1996 continues the CRP and WRP and creates the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The goal of the ECARP is to provide long-term protection of environmentally sensitive land. Contracts, easements, and cost-share payments are used to assist landowners and operators of farms and ranches to conserve and enhance soil, water, and related natural resources, including grazing land, wetland, and wildlife habitat.

Environmental equity/ justice - Equal protection from environmental hazards for individuals, groups, or communities regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status. This applies to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, and implies that no population of people should be forced to shoulder a disproportionate share of adverse impacts of pollution.

Environmental impact statement (EIS) - A document required of federal agencies by the National Environmental Policy Act for major projects or administration-initiated legislative proposals significantly affecting the environment. A tool for decision making, it describes the positive and negative effects of the undertaking and assesses alternative actions.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - 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.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) - A program created by the FAIR Act of 1996 to provide primarily cost-sharing assistance, but also technical and educational assistance, aimed at reducing soil, water, and related natural resource problems. The program replaces the Agricultural Conservation Program, the Water Quality Incentives Program, the Great Plains Conservation Program, and the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program. EQIP is authorized at $1.3 billion in mandatory spending over 7 years (total), with at least half of the funding targeted to environmental concerns associated with livestock production; spending in general is to be targeted to state-designated priority areas. EQIP is to be operated to maximize the environmental benefits per dollar expended.

Epidemiology - Study of the distribution of disease, or other health-related conditions and events in human or animal populations, in order to identify health problems and possible causes.

Equivalence - A term applied by the Uruguay Round Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures. WTO Member countries shall accord acceptance to the SPS measures of other countries (even if those measures differ from their own or from those used by other Member countries trading in the same product) if the exporting country demonstrates to the importing country that its measures achieve the importer’s appropriate level of sanitary and phytosanitary protection.

Erosion - The wearing away of the land surface. Unconsolidated materials, such as soil, erode more rapidly than consolidated materials, such as rock. The most common causes of erosion are wind and moving water. The susceptibility of soil to erosion is quantified by the erosion index. Water causes sheet, rill, and gully erosion.

Erosion (erodibility) index (EI) - The erosion (sometimes called erodibility) index is created by dividing potential erosion (from all sources except gully erosion) by the T value, which is the rate of soil erosion above which long term productivity may be adversely affected. The erodibility index is used in the conservation compliance and Conservation Reserve Programs. For example, one of the eligibility requirements for the CRP is that land have an EI greater than 8.

Estuary - Regions of interaction between rivers and near-shore ocean waters, where tidal action and river flow mix fresh and salt water. Such areas include bays, mouths of rivers, salt marshes, and lagoons. These brackish water ecosystems shelter and feed marine life, birds, and wildlife. Estuaries typically include adjoining wetlands.

Ethanol - C2H5OH; the alcohol product of carbohydrate fermentation used in alcoholic beverages and for industrial purposes (also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol). It is blended with gasoline to make gasohol. In the 1998/99 corn marketing year, about 540 million bushels (5.5%% of the corn crop and 7.2% of domestic use) will be used to produce about 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol.

Euro - The single currency of the 11 countries that are members of the European Monetary Union, one of the institutions of the European Union. This new currency went into effect on January 1, 1999. The participating countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal. The exchange rates for the currencies of these 11 countries were irrevocably fixed in terms of the euro on December 31, 1998. Although the euro is now the official currency, the transition will occur in two phases. For financial transactions, the euro replaced national currencies on January 1, 1999, but for notes and coins, it will replace national currencies in 2002. Four EU members did not join the launch of the euro in January 1999: Denmark, Greece, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

European Community (EC) - A regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome (1957), which provided for the gradual elimination of customs duties and other interregional trade barriers, a common external tariff, and gradual adoption of other integrating measures, including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and guarantees of free movement of labor and capital. Of the current 15 member countries, the original six were Belgium, France, West German, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Membership expanded to include Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom in 1973; Greece in 1981; Spain and Portugal in 1986; and Austria, Finland, and Sweden in 1995. In 1993, with establishment of the European Union (EU), the EC became the customs union component of the EU.

European Monetary Union (EMU) - As agreed in the Maastricht Treaty, 11 European Union members began participating in the EMU on January 1, 1999. The 11 countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. The other four countries — the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece — either chose not to participate at this time, or did not meet the economic criteria. Under the EMU, the 11 countries have a common central bank (the European Central Bank), and thus a common monetary policy, similar to that of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, and a single currency, called the euro.

European Union - Since 1993, the term used to describe the European Community and related institutions. The entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty of European Union on November 1, 1993, introduced this change in terminology regarding the EC and many of its institutions. Originally established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and known previously as the European Economic Community and the Common Market. Originally composed of six European nations, it has expanded to 15. The EU attempts to unify and integrate member economies by establishing a customs union and common economic policies, including CAP. Member nations include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Eutrophication - The process by which a body of water acquires a high concentration of plant nutrients, especially nitrates or phosphates. This nutrification promotes algae growth that, when it dies, can lead to the depletion of dissolved oxygen, killing fish and other aquatic organisms. While eutrophication is a natural, slow-aging process for a body of water, human activities can greatly accelerate the process.

Evans-Allen funds - Federal funds distributed to the 1890 land grant colleges of agriculture under a provision in the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, to support research programs. The provision became known by the names of two of its primary proponents in Congress, Representative Frank Evans of Colorado and Representative James Allen of Alabama.

Evapotranspiration - The loss of water from the soil both by evaporation and by transpiration from the plants growing in the soil.

Excess land - Irrigable land, other than exempt land, owned by any landowner in excess of the maximum acreage limitation (ownership entitlement) under the applicable provision of reclamation law.

Exotic species - A species that is not native to a region.

Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) - EFNEP is a program of the Cooperative Extension System that operates in all 50 states and U.S. territories. Started in 1965, its purpose is to provide low-income individuals, particularly youth and families with young children, with the knowledge, skills, and desire to adopt and maintain a nutritious diet.

Experimental use permit - A permit under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act that authorizes the testing of new pesticides or uses thereof in experimental field studies on 10 acres or more of land or one acre or more of water. Such tests provide data to support registration of pesticides.

Export Administration Act (EAA) of 1979 - P.L. 96-72 (September 29, 1979) provides legal authority to the President to control U.S. exports for reasons of national security, foreign policy, and/or short supply. However, the FACT Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-624) provides for contract sanctity by prohibiting the President from restricting the export of any agricultural commodity already under contract for delivery within 270 days from the date the embargo is imposed, except during national emergency or war. With the expiration of EAA in 1994, the President declared a national emergency and exercised authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to continue the EAA export control regulations then in effect by issuing Executive Order 12924 on August 19, 1994, last extended by the Presidential Notice of August 13, 1998.

Export allocation or quota - Controls applied to exports by an exporting country to limit the amount of goods leaving that country. Such controls usually are applied in time of war or during some other emergency requiring conservation of domestic supplies, as well as to advance foreign policy and national security objectives of the exporting country. The European Union, in 1996, used a licensing system to allocate and restrict exports of wheat because of short supplies and high prices.

Export Credit Guarantee Programs (GSM-102/103) - The Commodity Credit Corporation finances export credit guarantee programs for commercial financing of U.S. agricultural exports. The programs finance the sale of exports to buyers in countries where credit is needed but where financing may not be available without CCC guarantees. Two programs back up credit extended by private banks in the United States (or in some instances by the U.S. exporter) to approved foreign banks using dollar-denominated letters of credit to pay for food and agricultural products sold to foreign buyers. The Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) guarantees credit terms up to 3 years. The Intermediate Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-103) guarantees longer term credits up to 10 years. Under these programs, the CCC does not provide financing, but guarantees payments due from foreign banks. Typically, 98% of principal and a portion of interest at an adjustable rate is covered. Because repayment is guaranteed, U.S. financial institutions can offer credit on competitive terms to foreign banks, usually with interest rates based on the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

Export credit revolving fund - The Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 authorized a revolving loan fund that would provide short-term and intermediate-term direct credit for export sales of agricultural commodities, breeding animals, and handling facilities in developing markets. Once capitalized, loans would be made from the initial fund and repayments of principal and interest would return to the fund to be revolved as new loans. Money was never appropriated to capitalize the revolving fund and its statutory authority was eliminated in the FACT Act of 1990.

Export Enhancement Program (EEP) - A program that USDA initiated in May 1985 under the CCC Charter Act to help U.S. exporters meet competitors’ subsidized prices in targeted markets. The program was later authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985; the FACT Act of 1990; the Uruguay Round Agreements Act; and the FAIR Act of 1996. Under the EEP, exporters are awarded cash payments, which enable an exporter to sell certain commodities to specified countries at competitive prices. The FAIR Act of 1996 caps EEP program levels annually through 2002 and allows USDA, under certain conditions, to target up to $100 million annually for the sale of intermediate-value products.

Export Incentive Program (EIP) - A federal export promotion effort operated by the Foreign Agricultural Service. Assistance is provided to private firms to help them promote brand name food items in overseas markets. EIP is administered as part of the Market Access Program.

Export licenses - A government document authorizing the export of specific goods in specific quantities to a particular destination. Licenses may be required to export to some countries for most or all goods, and for other countries only under special circumstances. The Office of Export Administration in the Department of Commerce administers the export licensing system under the authority of the Export Administration Act.

Export PIK - A program used in the 1980s that made payment-in-kind to U.S. exporters as export subsidies for surplus commodities.

Export subsidy - A direct or indirect compensation provided by government to private commercial firms to promote exports of domestic products. Article 16 of the GATT considers that export subsidies are unfair competition and allows countervailing duties to be imposed on subsidized products. Indirect methods of export subsidization include government subsidized financing for exports, export promotion and information activities, tax benefits, or other forms of assistance that may lead to lower than normal costs for exported products. The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture imposes limits on agricultural export subsidies.

Exposure assessment - Identifying the pathways by which toxicants may reach individuals, estimating how much of a chemical various individuals are likely to be exposed to, and estimating the number likely to be exposed at each level.

Extension Service - Refers to a nationwide continuing education system that is based on the academic programs of the land grant colleges of agriculture (see Cooperative Extension System). The term also is the former name of the USDA agency that distributed federal funds to the states under the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 to carry out Extension programs. The 1994 USDA reorganization merged this agency with the Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) to form the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

Extra-long staple (ELS) cotton - Also called American Pima, this cotton has a staple length of 1-3/8" or more, is characterized by fineness and high fiber strength, and is used in high-value products such as sewing thread and expensive apparel. It is grown chiefly in west Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. ELS cotton and upland cotton are both eligible for nonrecourse loans. However, ELS cotton is not eligible for marketing loan repayment provisions or loan deficiency payments.

Extra-Long Staple Cotton Act of 1983 - P.L. 98-88 (August 26, 1983) eliminated marketing quotas and allotments for extra-long staple cotton and tied its support to upland cotton through a formula that set the nonrecourse loan rate at not less than 150% of the upland cotton loan level.

Failed acreage - Tracts of properly-planted and managed crops that did not grow or were destroyed due to a natural disaster. Failed acreage is eligible for indemnification if covered by the federal crop insurance program.

FAIR Act of 1996 - Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996; the 1996 omnibus farm bill.

Fair information practices - A set of standards developed in the early 1970s to describe how information should be used and protected; usually stated as eight principles in this country and including openness, individual access, collection limitations, data quality, use limits, disclosure limits, security, and accountability. The agriculture community is starting to consider whether it needs such a set of standards, and whether this set is the best model.

Fair market value (FMV) - The amount in cash, or on terms reasonably equivalent to cash, for which in all probability something might be sold by a knowledgeable owner to a knowledgeable purchaser. Several federal statutes state that the federal government should receive fair market value when exchanging or selling federal lands and resources.

Fallow cropland - Cropland left idle during the growing season, sometimes called summer fallow. It may be tilled or sprayed to control weeds and conserve moisture in the soil. The amount of cultivated summer fallow has ranged between 22 and 32 million acres over the past 10 years, or 7 to 10% of the cropland used for crops.

Family Farm - As defined by USDA regulations, a farm that (1) produces agricultural commodities for sale in such quantities so as to be recognized in the community as a farm and not a rural residence; (2) produces enough income (including off-farm employment) to pay family and farm operating expenses, pay debts, and maintain the property; (3) is managed by the operator; (4) has a substantial amount of labor provided by the operator and the operator’s family; and (5) may use seasonal labor during peak periods and a reasonable amount of full-time hired labor.

Farm - As defined for purposes of the Census of Agriculture since 1978, a farm is any place that has, or has the potential to produce, $1,000 or more in annual gross sales of farm products. According to the 1992 Census of Agriculture, there are about 1.925 million farms in the United States. This number includes all farm sizes and ownership structures, including corporate farms, partnerships, and family farms.

Farm acreage base - The total of the crop acreage bases (wheat, feed grains, cotton, and rice) for a farm for a year, the average acreage planted to soybeans and other non-program crops, and the average acreage devoted to conserving uses (excluding Acreage Reduction Program land). The FAIR Act of 1996 eliminated the need to calculate a farm acreage base.

Farm and risk management (FARRM) accounts - A proposal that would permit farmers and ranchers to put aside money in good (higher-income) years without having to pay taxes on the savings until it is withdrawn at a later time, presumably in lower-income years when taxable income also would be lower. Bills to create these accounts have been introduced in Congress in recent years.

Farm bill - A phrase that refers to a multi-year, multi-commodity federal support law. It usually amends some and suspends many provisions of permanent law, reauthorizes, amends, or repeals provisions of preceding temporary agricultural acts, and puts forth new policy provisions for a limited time into the future. Beginning in 1973, farm bills have included titles on commodity programs, trade, rural development, farm credit, conservation, agricultural research, food and nutrition programs, marketing, etc. These are referred to as omnibus farm bills. The following is a generally agreed chronological list of farm bills: (1) Food and Agriculture Act of 1965, P.L. 89-321; (2) Agricultural Act of 1970, P.L. 91-524; (3) Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, P.L. 93-86; (4) Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, P.L. 95-113; (5) Agriculture and Food Act of 1981, P.L. 97-98; (6) Food Security Act of 1985, P.L. 99-198; (7) Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, P.L. 101-624; (8) Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, P.L. 104-127.

Farm Credit Act of 1971 - P.L. 92-181 (December 10, 1971) recodified all previous acts governing the Farm Credit System (FCS, or System), a cooperatively owned government sponsored enterprise that provides credit primarily to farmers and ranchers. The Act eliminated earlier provisions relating to government capitalization of the System, and expanded the lending authorities of many System institutions. The Act, as amended, currently serves as the authorizing statute for the Farm Credit System. Major legislation that has modified the 1971 Act in recent years include: Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-233, January 6, 1988) authorized up to $4 billion in federal financial assistance to FCS institutions to assist in their recovery from the agricultural credit crisis of the 1980s. The Act created a System entity to issue up to $4 billion in federally guaranteed bonds, required the U.S. Treasury to pay a portion of the interest on these bonds, and also required the FCS to ultimately repay the Treasury for this assistance. The Act also mandated the merger of certain System banks within each farm credit district and expanded other merger authorities, and gave delinquent FCS borrowers certain rights. A separate System institution was established by the Act to insure the timely repayment of principal and interest on consolidated Systemwide debt issues. Farm Credit Banks and Associations Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-552, October 28, 1992) was designed to enhance the financial safety and soundness of FCS banks and associations by establishing new mechanisms to ensure repayment of Farm Credit System debt resulting from federal financial assistance provided to the System under the 1987 Act. The Farm Credit System Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-105, February 10, 1996) includes numerous provisions that provide regulatory relief for the FCS.

Farm Credit Administration (FCA) - The independent federal regulator responsible for examining and insuring the safety and soundness of all Farm Credit System institutions. The FCA is governed by a 3-member, Presidentially-appointed board of directors, one of whom serves as chairman.

Farm Credit Banks - Institutions within the Farm Credit System (FCS) that make direct long-term agricultural loans secured by farm real estate through Federal Land Bank Associations. They provide wholesale loan funds to direct FCS lending associations — Production Credit Associations, Federal Land Credit Associations, and Agricultural Credit Associations.

Farm Credit System - A network of cooperatively owned lending institutions and related service organizations serving all 50 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The FCS specializes in providing farm real estate and rural homeowner loans, operating credit, and related services to farmers, ranchers, and producers or harvesters of aquatic products. The FCS may also finance the processing and marketing activities of these borrowers, certain farm-related businesses, and agricultural, aquatic, and public utility cooperatives. It is chartered under authorities in the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended, but does not receive any direct government funding. The System provides about one-fourth of the total credit used by U.S. farmers, ranchers, and cooperatives. Historically, the FCS consisted of a Federal Land Bank (FLB), a Federal Intermediate Credit Bank (FICB) and a Bank for Cooperatives (BC) in each of the 12 districts across the nation. Within each district, Federal Land Bank Associations (FLBA) and Production Credit Associations (PCA) served as local lenders for the FCS providing farm real estate and operating credit, respectively. A severe financial crisis led to the enactment of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987, which provided federal financial assistance to weak institutions in the FCS, but required the FCS to streamline its operations as a condition for assistance. As a result, each district was required to merge its FLB and FICB to form a Farm Credit Bank (FCB). For FLBAs and PCAs that share a similar geographical territory, stockholders were given the option of merging institutions to form an Agricultural Credit Association (ACA). The Central Bank for Cooperatives and 10 of the 12 BCs also agreed to a merger forming a National Bank for Cooperatives (CoBank).

Farm Credit System Assistance Board - A temporary board created by the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 and responsible for approving Farm Credit System lender requests for federal financial assistance. Members of the Board consisted of the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Treasury (or their appointees), and an agricultural producer with financial experience.

Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation (FCSIC) - An entity of the Farm Credit System (FCS), established by law in 1987, to insure the timely repayment of principal and interest on FCS debt securities.

Farm equity - The net worth of the farm sector’s assets (i.e., farmland, machinery, equipment, facilities, crop and livestock inventories) against which there is no debt. This represents all farm proprietors’ residual claims to farm assets. Increases in farm equity in the late 1970s became increasingly important for most agricultural producers as a source of additional collateral against which to obtain credit for operating and expansion purposes. The level of farm equity ranges widely from one farm to another. The overall debt-asset ratio is a measure of the farm sectors financial condition.

Farm income - Several measures are used to gauge the earnings of a farming operation over a given period of time: Gross cash income is the sum of all receipts from the sale of crops, livestock, and farm related goods and services as well as all forms of direct payments from the government. Gross farm income is the same as gross cash income with the addition of nonmoney income, such as the value of home consumption of self-produced food and the imputed gross rental value of farm dwellings. Net cash income is gross cash income less all cash expenses such as for feed, seed, fertilizer, property taxes, interest on debt, wages to hired labor, contract labor and rent to nonoperator landlords. Net farm income is gross farm income less cash expenses and noncash expenses, such as capital consumption, perquisites to hired labor, and farm household expenses. Net farm income is a longer term measure of the ability of the farm to survive as a viable income-earning business, while net cash income is a shorter term measure of cash flow.

Farm income and balance sheet - The income statement measures the profitability of a farm business for a particular period of time, usually one year. The balance sheet measures the wealth or financial position of the business at a particular point in time by reporting the farm’s assets, debt, and net worth. The Economic Research Service publishes the income statement and balance sheet of the Nation’s farm sector, and the farm sector financial statement each state.

Farm inputs - The resources that are used in farm production, such as chemicals, equipment, feed, seed, and energy. Most farm inputs are purchased (a change from the days when animals powered most operations), making production costs susceptible to nonfarm economic conditions. Over time, prices of farm inputs have increased relative to commodity prices, creating what farmers describe as a cost-price squeeze. The relationship between prices paid for inputs compared to prices received for output is quantified in the parity ratio.

Farm loan programs of the FSA - Loan programs, administered by the Farm Service Agency (replacing FmHA), providing both direct and guaranteed real estate, operating loans, and direct emergency disaster loans to individuals whose primary business is farming and ranching. Loans are targeted to family farms whose operators are unable to obtain sufficient credit from private commercial lenders on reasonable terms. Under the FAIR Act of 1996, farm lending programs are permanently reauthorized, with new restrictions on the purposes for which loans can be used and on the length of time borrowers are eligible for new credit assistance. Provisions are extended that reserve a portion of loan funds for new and beginning farmers.

Farm labor housing grants - Section 516 grants are available through the Rural Housing Service to qualified nonprofit organizations to providing housing to farm workers.

Farm labor housing loans - Section 514 loans are available through the Rural Housing Service to qualified farm owners for the purpose of providing housing to domestic farm labor.

Farm Operating (OL) Loans - Subtitle B of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as amended, authorizes the Farm Service Agency (formerly FmHA) to make direct and guaranteed farm operating loans. Applicants must be family-sized farmers, who are denied credit by private and cooperative sources, and have reasonable prospects for success in the farm operation. Operating loans are made to farmers to help them pay their operating expenses for such productions costs as feed, seed, fertilizer, and pesticides, and to meet other essential operating expenses. The loan limit is $200,000 for a direct loan and $400,000 for a guaranteed loan, and the scheduled repayment is usually over 1 to 7 years depending on loan purposes. The interest rate on direct loans is determined by the Farm Service Agency and does not exceed the federal cost of borrowing plus 1 percentage point. However, loans to "limited resource" borrowers can be made at significantly below market rates. The interest rate on guaranteed loans is negotiated between the borrower and the lender. USDA guarantees the timely repayment of 90% of principal and interest on guaranteed loans, and in some cases can subsidize the interest rate on these loans. The amount USDA can directly lend or guarantee each year is determined in the annual congressional appropriations process.

Farm operator - A person who operates a farm, either by doing or supervising the work or by making the day-to-day management decisions. Nationally, farm operators own about 57% of their land and lease or rent the remainder.

Farm ownership (FO) loans - Subtitle A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as amended, authorizes the Farm Service Agency (formerly FmHA) to make direct and guaranteed farm ownership loans to eligible family farmers. One of the functions of the FO loan program is to assist farmers, especially beginning farmers, in the purchase and enlargement of farms. An eligible borrower must be unable to obtain sufficient credit from a commercial lender, but must assure reasonable prospects of success in the farm operation. Loans are made for up to 40 years and cannot exceed $200,000 for a direct loan, or $300,000 for a guaranteed loan. The interest rate for a direct loan is determined by USDA, and cannot exceed the cost of funds to the Government plus 1 percentage point. However, direct loans to "limited resource" borrowers can be made at significantly below the federal cost of funds. The interest rate on guaranteed loans is negotiated between the borrower and the lender. USDA guarantees the timely repayment of 90% of principal and interest on guaranteed loans, and in some cases can subsidize the interest rate on these loans. The amount USDA can directly lend or guarantee each year is determined in the annual congressional appropriations process.

Farm price - The price that farmers receive for the commodities they market. Sometimes the term farm-gate price is used to emphasize that the price does not include transportation or processing costs.

Farm programs - This term is generally meant to include the commodity programs administered by the Farm Service Agency, as well as the other USDA programs that directly benefit farmers. Some examples of the other programs include farm loans, federal crop insurance, the noninsured assistance program (NAP), the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and conservation cost sharing.

Farm Service Agency (FSA) - One result of the 1994 legislative reorganization of USDA was the consolidation of the ASCS, FCIC and FmHA into a single agency, the FSA. This agency is responsible for administering farm income-support programs, conservation cost-sharing programs, noninsured crop assistance (NAP), and the former FmHA farm loan programs. FSA services are provided through field service centers located throughout the agricultural areas of the nation.

Farm size - Although a standard definition is not available, the most common way to measure farm size is by the value of gross farm sales. USDA defines small farms as those having less than $50,000 in sales annually, representing 73% of the 2.1 million farms counted in 1992. It considers the remaining 27% of all farms (with sales of $50,000 or more) to be commercial farms. Although the 558,000 commercial farms counted in 1992 were a relatively small portion of all farms, they accounted for 88% of gross farm sales.

Farm to retail price spread - The difference between the farm price and the retail price of food, reflecting charges for processing, shipping, and retailing farm goods. The current spread accounts for about three-fourths of the retail price for a market basket of foods, according to USDA. The farm value accounts for about 51% of the retail cost of eggs, compared to 19% for processed fruits and vegetables.

Farmed wetlands - Under the swampbuster program, these are wetlands that were partially drained or altered to improve crop production before swampbuster was enacted as part of the December 23, 1985, farm law. Farmed wetlands may be farmed as they were before the 1985 date, and the drainage that was in place before that date can be maintained, but no additional drainage is allowed.

Farmer Mac (Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation) - Created by the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 as a federally chartered, private corporation responsible for guaranteeing the timely repayment of principal and interest to investors in a new agricultural secondary market. The secondary market allows a lending institution to sell a qualified farm real estate loan to an agricultural mortgage marketing facility, or pooler, which packages these loans, and sells to investors securities that are backed by, or represent interests in, the pooled loans. Farmer Mac guarantees the timely repayment of principal and interest on these securities and, under authorities granted in 1995, can also serve as a loan pooler.

Farmer-Owned Grain Reserve (FOR) - A program, established under the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, designed to buffer sharp price movements and to provide reserves against production shortfalls by allowing wheat and feed grain farmers to participate in a subsidized grain storage program. Farmers who placed their grain in storage received an extended nonrecourse loan for at least 3 years. Under certain conditions, interest on the loan could be waived and farmers could receive annual storage payments from the government. The FAIR Act of 1996 repealed this program.

Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) - Formerly an agency of USDA that provided direct and guaranteed credit to family-sized farmers who were denied credit by a commercial lender. The 1994 USDA reorganization transferred FmHA’s farm loan programs to the newly formed Farm Service Agency.

Farmers Market - A market where producers, generally farmers, sell their goods directly to consumers.

Farmers Market Nutrition Program - Authorized through FY2003 under Section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, this program provides funding for grants to selected states that develop programs promoting the use of farmers markets by WIC recipients.

Farmers stock peanuts - Picked or threshed peanuts produced in the United States, which have not been changed (except for removal of foreign material and excess moisture) from the condition in which picked or threshed peanuts are customarily marketed by producers.

Farmland - Land used for agricultural purposes. The federal government recognizes prime farmland and unique farmland as the most important categories. According to USDA, the United States has had roughly 1 billion acres of farmland. Farmland consists of cropland, pastureland, and grazing land.

Farmland protection - Programs, operated mostly at state and local levels by government agencies or private entities such as land trusts, that are designed to limit conversion of agricultural land to other uses that otherwise might have been more financially attractive to the landowner. Every state has at least one such program; the most popular programs are tax relief through preferential or differential assessment, and right-to-farm laws. Easements are used in some states.

Farmland Protection Program (FPP) - A program established by the FAIR Act of 1996 to fund the purchase of conservation easements of 170,000-340,000 acres of land having prime or unique soil or other desirable production qualities that are threatened by urban development. Eligibility depends upon already having a pending offer from a state or local government to protect qualifying land by limiting nonagricultural use. USDA is authorized to use up to $35 million of funds from the CCC. During the first year of operation, USDA awarded almost $15 million to 18 states to protect an estimated 50,000 acres of farmland.

Farrow-to-finish - Typically, a confinement operation where pigs are bred and raised to their slaughter weight, usually 200-250 pounds. Facilities that have 2,500 or more swine are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to be a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) subject to point source pollution permit requirements.

Fast track authority - A legislative procedure that may be adopted by Congress for considering bills to implement trade agreements. The procedure calls for consultation between the President and Congress as trade agreements are negotiated. Once an implementing bill is introduced, it may not be amended, time for debate is limited, and the bill is subject to an up or down vote. Many agricultural interests support fast track legislation on the grounds that it will facilitate negotiations for enhancing trade and hence possible export markets for farm products.

Fat free lean index - One of several measures of hog quality (in this case, leanness) that can be used in determining value. The index was developed by the National Pork Producers Council, an industry trade group.

Fecal coliform bacteria - Bacteria found in the intestinal tracts of mammals. Their presence in water or sludge is an indicator of pollution and possible contamination by pathogens.

Fed cattle - Animals leaving a feedlot, after fattening on a high protein ration, that are ready to be sold to a packing plant for slaughter. Beef cattle are typically sold to packers at about 1,100 pounds, which yields a carcass weight of about 660 pounds.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation - An organization more commonly referred to as Farmer Mac, which is a secondary (resale) market for agricultural mortgages. Farmer Mac was authorized by the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987.

Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIR) - P.L. 104-127 (April 4, 1996) was the omnibus 1996 farm bill that removed the link between income support payments and farm prices. It authorized 7-year production flexibility contract payments that provide participating producers with fixed government payments independent of current farm prices and production. The law specified the total amount of money to be made available through contract payments under production flexibility contracts for each fiscal year from 1996 through 2002. Payment levels were allocated among contract commodities according to specified percentages, generally derived from each commodity’s share of projected deficiency payments for fiscal 1996-2002. The law increased planting flexibility by allowing participants to plant 100% of their total contract acreage to any crop, except with limitations on fruits and vegetables. The authority for acreage reduction programs was eliminated, while nonrecourse loans (with marketing loan repayment provisions) were continued in a modified form. Minimum loan rates generally were calculated each year at 85% of recent past market prices. Authority for the Farmer-Owned Reserve Program was suspended through the 2002 crop year. Authority for the honey program was eliminated. Dairy price supports were phased down for milk over 4 years and then eliminated. A new recourse loan program was initiated for dairy products starting in the year 2000. The peanut program was continued but revised to reduce the likelihood of the federal government incurring loan program costs due to loan forfeitures. The minimum national poundage quota was eliminated. The sugar program also was continued but modified. Trade and food aid programs were reoriented toward greater market development, with increased emphasis on high-value and value-added products. Other provisions established a Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of changes to production agriculture under the 1996 Act, required USDA to conduct research on futures and options contracts through pilot programs, capped expenditures for the Export Enhancement Program, and changed the name of the Market Promotion Program to the Market Access Program. The 1996 Act also reauthorized the Food Stamp Program for 2 years and commodity donation programs for 7 years, and established a Fund for Rural America to augment existing resources for agricultural research and rural development. Other research authorities were revised and extended, some only for 2 years rather than 7 years. The 1996 Act authorized new enrollments in the Conservation Reserve Program to maintain total acreage at up to 36.4 million acres. Other conservation programs were also revised and extended. The Act also contained numerous provisions in the areas of farm credit, rural development, and generic commodity promotion through check-off programs, among others.

Federal crop insurance - A voluntary risk management tool, available to farmers since the thirties, that protects them from the economics effects of unavoidable adverse natural events. Administrative costs are appropriated by the Congress and 30 percent of the insurance costs are federally subsidized.

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) - The wholly owned federal corporation within USDA that administers the federal crop insurance program. The FAIR Act of 1996 created an Office Of Risk Management (which USDA has renamed the Risk Management Agency), which houses the FCIC.

Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 - This Act is Title I of P.L. 103-354 (October 4, 1994). Beginning with the 1995 crops, it modifies the federal crop insurance program by authorizing a new catastrophic (CAT) coverage level available to farmers. The premium on this level of coverage (crop losses in excess of 50% receiving a payment of 60% of the market price of the insured crop) is 100% subsidized by the government, but requires a farmer to pay a $50 per crop per county administrative fee. The Act allows farmers to purchase additional insurance coverage providing higher yield or price protection levels, with the premium on this buyup coverage partially subsidized by the government. The Act also creates the Noninsured Assistance Program (NAP), a permanent disaster payment program for crops not covered by crop insurance. The 1994 Act amends and in many cases suppresses major portions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-365, September 26, 1980) which serves as the authorizing statute for the federal crop insurance program. The 1980 Act expanded the scope of the crop insurance program and permitted USA to subsidize farmer premium payments.

Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation (FFCBFC) - An entity within the Farm Credit System (FCS) that manages and coordinates the sale of system-wide bonds and notes in the national financial markets. Since the FCS, by law, is not permitted to accept customer deposits, these bonds and notes are the FCS’s primary source of loanable funds.

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) of 1938 - P.L. 75-717 (June 25, 1938) is the basic authority intended to ensure that foods are pure and wholesome, safe to eat, and produced under sanitary conditions; that drugs and devices are safe and effective for their intended uses; that cosmetics are safe and made from appropriate ingredients; and that all labeling and packaging is truthful, informative, and not deceptive. The Food and Drug Administration is primarily responsible for enforcing the FFDCA, although USDA also has some enforcement responsibility. The Environmental Protection Agency establishes limits for concentrations of pesticide residues on food under this Act.

Federal grain inspection program - The grain inspection program administered by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. The program establishes official U.S. standards for grain and certain other commodities such as rice, hops, and processed grain products. The program offers a user-financed nationwide inspection and weighing system to certify that grain meets approved standards. By law, all grain exported from the United States must be officially inspected.

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) - The federal government began regulating pesticides in 1910 for the purpose of preventing the exploitation of farmers from adulterated and ineffective products. The original 1947 FIFRA was the first effort to address potential risks to human health. FIFRA was completely revised in 1972 (P.L. 92-516) to become the basis for current federal policy. The law directs EPA to restrict the use of pesticides to prevent unreasonable adverse effects on people and the environment taking into account the costs and benefits of various uses. The sale of any pesticide is prohibited unless it has gone through registration and is labeled to show the approved uses and restrictions.

Federal land bank associations - Local farmer-owned organizations through which farmers obtain long-term (up to 40 years) loans on land. The associations are an integral part of the Farm Credit System.

Federal Land Credit Associations - Institutions within the Farm Credit System (FCS) that have authority to make long-term real estate loans to eligible retail customers. FLCAs receive their funds directly from the Farm Credit Banks.

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) - P.L. 94-579 (October 21, 1976) 1) set out for the Bureau of Land Management standards for managing public land, including land-use planning, sales, withdrawals, acquisitions, and exchanges; 2) authorized local advisory councils to represent major citizens groups interested in land use planning and management; 3) established criteria for review of proposed wilderness areas; and 4) provided guidelines for other aspects of public land management such as grazing. This law is also known as the BLM "organic" act.

Federal marketing and agreements - Promote orderly marketing, a means authorized by legislation for agricultural producers to collectively influence the supply, demand, or price of particular commodities. Approved by a required number of a commodity's producers -- usually two-thirds -- the marketing order is binding on handlers of the commodity. It may limit total marketings, prorate the movement of a commodity to market, or impose site and grade standards.

Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 - Enacted June 30, 1906, as chapter 3913, 34 Stat. 674, and substantially amended by the Wholesome Meat Act 1967 (P.L. 90-201), requires USDA to inspect all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses when slaughtered and processed into products for human consumption. The primary goals of the law are to prevent adulterated or misbranded livestock and products from being sold as food, and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. These requirements apply to animals and their products produced and sold within states as well as to imports, which must be inspected under equivalent foreign standards. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for all meats considered "exotic" at this time, including venison and buffalo.

Federal Noxious Weed Act - P.L. 93-629 (January 3, 1975) was adopted to prevent foreign weeds from entering and becoming established to the detriment of U.S. crops and livestock. Under this act, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspects incoming passengers, baggage, and cargo at international airports, seaports and border stations to intercept any of 2,300 listed noxious weeds before they enter the country. If a noxious weed does become established, APHIS has the authority under this act to work with federal, state, and local agencies to confine, eradicate, or control it.

Federal Plant Pest Act - P.L. 85-36 (May 23, 1957) prohibits the movement of plant pests from a foreign country into or through the United States unless authorized by USDA. The law gives USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service broad authority to inspect, seize, quarantine, treat, destroy or dispose of imported plant and animal materials that are potentially harmful to U.S. agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and, to a certain degree, natural resources.

Federal Register (FR) - Each federal working day, this federal document publishes current Presidential orders or directives, agency regulations, proposed agency rules, notices and other documents that are required by statute to be published for wide public distribution. USDA publishes its rules, notices and other documents in the Federal Register. Final regulations are organized by agency and program in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Federal Seed Act - Originally enacted by Congress in 1939, the Act requires accurate labeling and purity standards for seeds in commerce, and prohibits the importation and movement of adulterated or misbranded seeds. The law works in conjunction with the Federal Noxious Weed Act to authorize the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to regulate the importation of field crop, pasture and forage, or vegetable seed that may contain noxious weed seeds.

Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program - Sometimes referred to in budget documents as Payments to States and Territories, the program provides matching funds to states for research and innovative projects aimed at identifying new market opportunities for producers or at improving the efficiency of agricultural marketing systems. The program is administered by AMS and has been funded federally at just over $1 million per year recently.

Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (FWPCA) - The original name for what is now the Clean Water Act (CWA), which contains the main federal law controlling water pollution. [33 U.S.C. §§1251-1387]

Feed grain - Any of several grains most commonly used for livestock feed, including corn, grain sorghum, oats, rye, and barley. These grains and the farms producing them historically have received federal price and income support. They qualify as contract commodities and receive production flexibility contract payments.

Feed ratio - The relationship of the cost of feeding animals to their market weight, expressed as a ratio to the sale price of animals, such as the hog/corn ratio. This serves as an indicator of the profit margin or lack of profit in feeding animals to market weight.

Feeder cattle - A steer or cow mature enough to be placed in a feedlot where it will be fattened prior to slaughter. Feeder calves are less than 1 year old; feeder yearlings are between 1 and 2 years old.

Feedlot - A confined cattle feeding facility where feeder cattle (usually less than a year old) are put on higher protein rations to prepare them for slaughter as fed cattle at "good" or better grades. Commercial feedlots of 1,000 head or more are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to be concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) and therefore subject to rules requiring permits setting effluent standards.

Fertilizer - Any organic or inorganic material, either natural or synthetic, used to supply elements (such as nitrogen, phosphate and potash) essential for plant growth. If used in excess or attached to eroding soil, fertilizers can become a source of water pollution.

Field gleaning - The collection of remaining crops from farmers' fields that have already been mechanically harvested or from fields where it is not economically profitable for the farmer to harvest.

Field office technical guide - A manual placed in all Natural Resources Conservation Service district offices and field service centers that gives the technical specifications and guidelines for all approved conservation practices.

Field service agency - Generally refers to any one of the following USDA agencies that administer programs and provide services to farmers and other rural residents through an extensive network of state and local offices: the Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Utilities Service. The Foreign Agricultural Service, because of its overseas offices, also is considered a field service agency under the Administrative Convergence plan being developed by USDA in 1998. Although other USDA agencies and mission areas also have field offices nationwide and overseas, they generally are not considered field service agencies by the Department.

Field service center - A centralized location for a variety of USDA agency field offices. These have been reduced in number from about 3,700 to about 2,600 through closures and consolidations initiated as part of a USDA reorganization and streamlining effort mandated by the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994. In 1999, USDA was still considering the closure of some additional offices. The centers are intended to provide "one-stop shopping" for clients of the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and USDA’s rural development agencies.

Filter strip - An area of vegetation, generally narrow and long, that slows the rate of runoff, allowing sediments, organic matter, and other pollutants that are being conveyed by the water to be removed. Filter strips reduce erosion and the accompanying stream pollution, and can be a best management practice.

Final Act - Formally called the "Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations", the Final Act is the legal document containing the texts of all provisions agreed upon during the UR. The signing and adoption of the Final Act initiate the transition from the GATT to the WTO.

Findley payments - Under the so-called Findley Provision authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 (and first sponsored by former Congressman Paul Findley), USDA was able to reduce the basic, formula-set nonrecourse loan rate for major crops by up to an additional 20% if that was necessary to keep the United States competitive in international markets. If done, direct compensatory payments were made to producers equal to the amount of the loan rate reduction. These "Findley Payments," limited to $200,000 per person, essentially added to the larger direct deficiency payment. The Findley provisions are superseded by the marketing loan repayment provisions of the FAIR Act of 1996.

Fire ants - A South American stinging ant that has become established in southern states from North Carolina to Texas. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service quarantines nursery products from affected states and conducts research to find promising biological control agents in South America that could be imported to combat the pest in the United States.

First handler - Shellers, warehouses, or independent dealers, registered with USDA, that provides cleaning, drying, inspection, grading, and marketing services.

Fish and Wildlife (FWS) - FWS, in the Department of the Interior, is the federal agency charged with managing and protecting the nation’s wild plants and animals, including endangered and threatened species. It generally works closely with state agencies, which have management primacy for most species. (The federal government has assumed responsibility for marine mammals, migratory birds, and endangered and threatened species). It manages the National Wildlife Refuge System, and cooperates with private landowners in habitat conservation.

Fish farming - Usually, freshwater commercial aquaculture; catfish farms are an example.

Flex acreage - The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 mandated that deficiency payments not be made on 15% of a farm’s crop acreage base, called normal flex acres. The acreage could be planted to any program crop (called flexing), but not fruits and vegetables. An additional 10% of the farm’s base acreage could be flexed at the option of the operator. Flexing did not diminish the crop acreage base of a farm. The FAIR Act of 1996 effectively provides total flexibility among all commodities, except for fruits and vegetables.

Flood plains - Lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters, including floodprone areas of islands. This land includes, at a minimum,, those areas that are subject to a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

Flood risk reduction program - Provides for contracts for producers on farms that have contract acreage under Title I of the FAIR Act of 1996 that are frequently flooded. Individuals can receive up to 95% of transition payments and projected crop insurance payments in lieu of market transition payments. In return, producers must comply with swampbuster and conservation compliance provisions and forego future conservation program payments and disaster payments. Though authorized, this program has not yet been implemented.

Flow to market - A quantity provision in a fruit or vegetable marketing order that does not change the total quantity that can be marketed during a season, but rather controls the rate or time period that quantities can be shipped to markets by means of shipping holidays and prorates.

Flue-cured tobacco - A type of cigarette tobacco, it and burley tobacco account for more than 90% of U.S. tobacco production. Flue-cured tobacco production is limited by national marketing quotas and acreage allotments, and is eligible for nonrecourse price support loans. Flue-cured production is centered in North Carolina.

Fluid differential - In federal milk marketing orders, the Class I differential is the amount added to the basic formula price to determine a region’s minimum price for milk used for fluid (drinking) purposes.

Fluid Milk Promotion Act of 1990 - This is the designation given to Subtitle H of Title XIX of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990. Subtitle H authorized the establishment of a national milk processor check-off program for fluid milk promotion. The program is funded through a 20-cent per hundredweight (cwt.) assessment on all milk processed for fluid consumption. The Act required USDA to conduct a referendum among fluid milk processors to determine if a majority favored implementing the program. The Fluid Milk Order was approved by processors and became effective December 10, 1993.

Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Program - A national program authorized by the Fluid Milk Promotion Act of 1990 (Fluid Act) with the purpose of increasing consumption of milk and dairy products and reducing milk surpluses by developing generic advertising programs. The program is funded by a mandatory 20-cent per hundredweight assessment on processors for all fluid milk processed in the contiguous 48 states and marketed commercially. The program is administered by the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board. It should not be confused with the dairy farmer funded Dairy Promotion Program. The FAIR Act of 1996 extends the Fluid Milk Promotion Program through 2002.

Foliar nutrient - Any liquid substance applied directly to the foliage of a growing plant for the purpose of delivering an essential nutrient in an immediately available form.

Food additives - Any substance or mixture of substances other than the basic foodstuff present in a food as a result of any phase of production, processing, packaging, storage, transport or handling. USDA allows food additives in meat, poultry and egg products only after they have received Food and Drug Administration safety approval. Food additives are regulated under the authority of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and are subject to the Delaney Clause.

Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (FACT) - P.L. 101-624 (November 28, 1990) was a 5-year omnibus farm bill. It continued to move agriculture in a market-oriented direction by freezing target prices and allowing more planting flexibility. New titles included rural development, forestry, organic certification, and commodity promotion programs. The law established a Rural Development Administration (RDA) in the USDA to administer programs relating to rural and small community development. It extended and modified the Food Stamp Program and other domestic nutrition programs and made major changes in the operation of P.L. 480. It revised existing law involving agricultural trade credits and guarantees. The FACT Act was soon altered by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act Amendments of 1991 (P.L. 102-237) to correct errors and alleviate problems in implementing the law. The amendments allowed the Farm Credit Bank for Cooperatives to make loans for agricultural exports and established a new regulatory scheme and capital standards for the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac). The law also established new handling requirements for eggs to help prevent food-borne illness. More policy changes were made by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1993 (P.L. 103-66). This law intended to reduce federal farm spending by $3 billion over 5 years by eliminating USDA’s authority to waive minimum acreage set-aside requirements for wheat and corn, reducing deficiency payments to farmers participating in the 0/92 and 50/92 programs from 92% to 85% of the normal payment level, reducing the acreage to be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and Wetlands Reserve Program, and requiring improvement in the actuarial soundness of the federal crop insurance program. The measure also provided for a temporary moratorium on sales of synthetic bovine growth hormone and reduced the loan rate for soybeans. It reduced Market Promotion Program (MPP) funding through fiscal 1997 and provided for a series of significant MPP operational reforms. It also provided, among other provisions, for the designation of a series rural (and urban) empowerment and enterprise zones, eligible for special federal aid and tax credits.

Food Aid Consultative Group - A group created by the FACT Act of 1990 to review and address issues concerning the effectiveness of regulations and procedures that govern U.S. food aid programs. The FAIR Act of 1996 extended the authority for the Food Aid Consultative Group through 2002.

Food and Agricultural Act of 1965 - P.L. 89-321 (November 3, 1965) was the first multi-year farm legislation, providing for 4-year commodity programs for wheat, feed grains, and upland cotton. It was extended for 1 more year, through 1970, by enactment of P.L. 90-559. It authorized a Class I milk base plan for the 75 federal milk marketing orders and a long-term acreage diversion under a Cropland Adjustment Program. The law also continued payment and acreage diversion programs for feed grains and cotton, and certificate and diversion programs for wheat.

Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 - P.L. 95-113 (September 9, 1977) was an omnibus farm bill. It increased price and income supports and established a farmer-owned reserve for grain. It also established a new two-tiered pricing program for peanuts. Under the peanut program, producers were given an acreage allotment on which a poundage quota was set. Growers could produce in excess of their quota, within their acreage allotment, but would receive the higher of the two price-support levels only for the quota amount. Peanuts in excess of the quota are referred to as "additionals." Title XIII was designated the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and replaced the original 1964 Act with a new law making significant changes, including the elimination of the purchase requirement and simplification of eligibility requirements. Title XIV was designated the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act and made USDA the leading federal agency for agricultural research, extension, and teaching programs. It also consolidated the funding for these programs.

Food and Agriculture Councils (FACs) - These councils were instituted in 1982 by USDA to function as interagency coordinating groups on three levels: national, state, and local. The state FACs are composed of senior level officials of individual USDA agencies within each state, and in recent years they have played a major role in managing the reorganization and "downsizing" of USDA’s field office structure. Local FACs have consisted of USDA representatives at county or area-wide levels; and a national FAC at USDA’s Washington headquarters has served as a liaison with the state and local FACs.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - A UN organization, founded in 1945, that collects and disseminates information about world agriculture. FAO also provides technical assistance to developing countries in agricultural production and distribution, food processing, nutrition, fisheries, and forestry. The FAO’s Global Information Early Warning System (GIEWS) monitors for famine conditions in regions of risk.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - An agency within the Public Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services. FDA is a public health agency, charged with protecting consumers by enforcing the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and several related public health laws. Importantly for agriculture, a major FDA mission is to protect the safety and wholesomeness of food. In this regard, its scientists test samples to see if any substances, such as pesticide residues, are present in unacceptable amounts, it sets food labeling standards, and it sees that medicated feeds and other drugs given to animals raised for food are not threatening to the consumer’s health.

Food and fiber system - That sector of the U.S. economy that includes agricultural production and all economic activities supporting or utilizing that production, including farm machinery and chemical production, and processing, manufacturing, transportation, and retailing. In 1995, the food and fiber system employed 22.9 million workers, or 17.3% of the U.S. workforce, and accounted for $983 billion, or 13.5% of the gross domestic product.

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) - The USDA agency whose goals are to provide needy people with access to a more nutritious diet, to improve the eating habits of the nation’s children, and to stabilize farm prices through the distribution of surplus foods. It administers 15 domestic food assistance programs (including the food stamp program, child nutrition programs (e.g., school feeding programs), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)). FNS works in partnership with the states and reimburses most of the administrative costs the states incur for carrying out local program administration.

Food-borne illnesses - Illnesses caused by pathogens that enter the human body where food is the carrier. In order of the incidence of cases, the leading pathogens are Campylobacter (bacteria commonly found in poultry), Salmonella (bacteria commonly found in poultry, eggs, meat, and milk), Shigella (bacteria transmitted through direct contact with an infected person, or from food or water contaminated by an infected person), E. coli 00157 (bacteria often found in cattle and transmitted through undercooked, contaminated ground beef), Yersinia (cause of diarrheal illness known to be most frequently associated with undercooked pork), Listeria (bacteria found in a variety of raw food, such as uncooked meats and vegetables, as well as in processed foods that become contaminated after processing), Vibrio (bacteria that can cause disease in those who eat contaminated seafood or have an open wound that is exposed to seawater).

Food Code - The code, published by the Food and Drug Administration, consists of model requirements for safeguarding public health that may be adopted and used by various parts of local, state, and federal governments, if desired. It is used by officials who have compliance responsibilities for food service, retail food stores, or food vending operations.

Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) - This program allows Indian Tribal Organizations to operate a food distribution program as an alternative to the food stamp program for those living on or near an Indian reservation. Eligibility for benefits is the same as that for the food stamp program and funds for the program are drawn from food stamp appropriations. Foods contained in packages include frozen and/or canned meats and poultry, canned fruits and vegetables and juices, dry cereals, cornmeal, flour, butter, macaroni, cheese, evaporated and nonfat dry milk, oats, peanuts and peanut butter, shortening and oils.

Food donations to charitable institutions, soup kitchens, and food banks - Donations of food by the Commodity Credit Corporation to help provide meals to needy people. Foods donated are from agricultural surpluses acquired by USDA as part of its price stabilization and surplus removal activities. Eligible charitable groups range from churches operating community kitchens for the homeless to orphanages and homes for the elderly. Other eligible groups include meals-on-wheels programs, soup kitchens, temporary shelters, correctional institutions offering rehabilitative activities, group homes for the mentally retarded, and hospitals that offer general and long-term health care.

Food for Peace Program - A label given to the food donation activities carried out overseas under P.L. 480.

Food for Progress Program (FPP) - A food aid program originally authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide commodities on credit terms or on a grant basis to developing countries and emerging democracies to assist in the introduction of elements of free enterprise into the countries’ agricultural economies. Commodities may be provided under authority of P.L. 480 (Title I) or Section 416(b); the CCC may purchase commodities for use in Food for Progress if the commodities are currently not held in CCC inventories. The FAIR Act of 1996 extends authority for the FPP through 2002.

Food guide pyramid - A graphic developed by USDA as the consumer guide to implementing the dietary guidelines in their own food choices. It consists of a six food groups and suggests the foods and number of servings from each group that should be consumed daily. At the bottom is the grains group, of which 6-11 servings should be consumed daily. The next level up contains the vegetable group (3-5 servings) and the fruits group (2-4 servings). The third level contains the dairy group (2-3 servings) and the protein group (2-3 servings). At the top of the pyramid is the group that should be eaten sparingly, which includes fats, oils and sweets. USDA published a Kids’ Food Pyramid in the spring of 1999.

Food grain - Cereal seeds most commonly used for human food, chiefly wheat and rice.

Food insecurity - Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO) defines food insecurity as when the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain.

Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information Mapping System (FIVIMS) - An interagency initiative that aims to bring together data from various sources into one information system, reflecting key food-security indicators at the national, regional and household levels. These systems will indicate the areas and populations affected by or at risk of hunger and malnutrition - the elements contributing to food insecurity. Five basic classes of indicators were recommended for use: income and income sources, food production, food prices, income distribution and impoverishment.

Food package - Generally refers to foods contained in the package of specific items provided to those participating in the WIC program or CSFP. Also may refer to foods distributed by food banks and pantries, and by Indian Tribal agencies distributing commodities in lieu of food stamps.

Food pantry - A service that collects and distributes unprepared food and grocery products to the needy.

Food power - The act of withholding or making available agricultural commodities for export or aid by an exporting nation or group of nations for the purpose of influencing the actions of another country or group of countries. Food power implies a foreign policy motivation rather than a financial or humanitarian motivation to export activities.

Food recovery - The collection of wholesome food for distribution to the poor and hungry. This includes field gleaning; perishable food rescue or salvage; the collection of perishable produce from wholesale and retail sources; food rescue, the collection of prepared foods from the food service industry; and nonperishable food collection, the collection of processed foods with long shelf lives.

Food safety initiative - A 1997 interagency initiative among the Food and Drug Administration, Center For Disease Control, Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Department of Agriculture to implement a series of coordinated efforts to reduce the annual incidence of food borne illness and resultant economic losses to consumers and industry by enhancing the safety of the U.S. food supply.

Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) - A 10,000 employee agency within USDA responsible for ensuring food safety in some 6,400 meat and poultry plants throughout the United States; the agency also certifies the safety programs operated for state and foreign plants. Most food safety inspection costs are borne by taxpayers rather than the industry, in contrast to user fees for inspection and grading related to marketing standards.

Food security - Access by all people at all times to enough food for an active healthy life. Food security at a minimum includes the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, and an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways, that is, without having to resort to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies. The World Food Summit, convened in Rome in November 1996 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, estimated that 800 million people worldwide do not have enough food to meet their basic nutritional needs. Representatives of the more than 180 nations attending the Summit pledged to work to reduce this number by half by no later than 2015. Causes of food insecurity may include poverty, civil conflict, governmental corruption, environmental degradation, and natural disasters. A U.S. position paper on international (world) food security, released in October 1997, argues that food security also requires "...social and economic conditions which empower individuals to gain access to food, either by producing food themselves or earning income to buy food."

Food Security Act of 1985 - P.L. 99-198 (December 23, 1985), a 5-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price and income supports and established a dairy herd buyout program. Changes were made in a variety of other USDA programs. Several enduring conservation program were created, including sodbuster, swampbuster, and the Conservation Reserve Program. Shortly after enactment, the Technical Corrections to Food Security Act of 1985 Amendments (P.L. 99-253, February 28, 1986) gave USDA discretion to require cross-compliance for wheat and feed grains instead of mandating them, changed acreage base calculations, and specified election procedures for local Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation committees. Technical changes and other modifications were enacted by the Food Security Improvements Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-260, March 20, 1986), including limiting the non-program crops that could be planted under the 50/92 provision, permitting haying and grazing on diverted wheat and feed grain acreage for a limited period in regions of distress, and increasing deductions taken from the price of milk received by producers to fund the dairy termination program (also called the whole herd buyout) program. Again in 1986, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (P.L. 99-509) made changes in the 1985 Act requiring advance deficiency payments to be made to producers of 1987 wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice crops at a minimum of 40% for wheat and feed grains and 30% for rice and upland cotton. The 1985 Act also amended the Farm Credit Act of 1971. Further commodity program changes were made in the FY1987 agricultural appropriations bill (P.L. 99-591, October 30, 1986). In addition to its funding provisions, P.L. 99-591 set the annual payment limitation at $50,000 per person for deficiency and paid land diversion payments, and included honey, resource adjustment (excluding land diversion), disaster, and Findley payments under a $250,000 aggregate payment limitation. Once again, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-203) not only set the 1988 fiscal year budget for agriculture and all federal agencies, but also set target prices for 1988 and 1989 program crops, established loan rates for program and non-program crops, and required a voluntary paid land diversion for feed grains. P.L. 100-203 further defined who could receive farm program payments by defining a "person" in terms of payment limitations.

Food Security Advisory Committee - A Federal advisory committee established as a subcommittee on the Board on International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) to provide private sector and civil society support to the Interagency Working Group on Food Security.

Food Security Commodity Reserve - A special reserve of up to 4 million metric tons of wheat, corn, sorghum, and rice to be used for international humanitarian purposes. This reserve created by the FAIR Act of 1996 is an expansion and replacement of the Food Security Wheat Reserve established by the Agriculture Act of 1980. The reserve is to be used to provide famine relief and other emergency relief when commodities are not available for programming under P.L. 480.

Food Security Wheat Reserve (FSWR) - Title III of the Agriculture Act of 1980 established a reserve of up to 4 million metric tons of wheat for use in meeting emergency food needs in developing countries. This reserve generally was to be used to meet famine or other urgent or extraordinary relief requirements during periods of tight supplies and high prices when commodities are not available under the provisions of P.L. 480. The FSWR was replaced by the Food Security Commodity Reserve under the FAIR Act of 1996.

Food Service Management Institute - This institute provides instruction, research, and materials in support of better food service management practices by child nutrition providers receiving federal support (e.g., schools operating school meal programs). It is permanently authorized under Section 21 of the National School Lunch Act, with an annual entitlement funding level of $3 million.

Food Stamp Act of 1964 - P.L. 88-525 (August 31, 1964) provided permanent legislative authority to the Food Stamp Program, which had been administratively implemented on a pilot basis in 1962. It was later replaced and completely rewritten and revised by the food stamp provisions of the Food and Agricultural Act of 1977 (Title XIII), which eliminated the purchase requirement and simplified eligibility requirements. Amendments were made to this Act in 1981-82, 1984-85, 1988, 1990, and 1994. Most recently, the 1996 omnibus welfare reform law (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, PRWORA) incorporated the most extensive changes to the food stamp program since the 1977 rewrite of the law. This was followed by more changes including the 1997 Balanced Budget Act (P.L. 105-33) and the 1998 agricultural, research, extension, and education reform law (P.L. 105-185). The current Food Stamp Act includes authority through FY2002 for the regular food stamp program, for nutrition assistance grants to Puerto Rico and American Samoa (in lieu of food stamps), and for commodity purchases for the emergency food assistance program.

Food Stamp Program - This program supplements the food buying power of eligible low-income households by providing them with monthly benefits through coupons or electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. Eligibility is governed primarily by a household’s financial resources (e.g., income eligibility generally is limited to those with total cash income below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines). However, applicants and recipients also must meet some non-financial requirements — e.g., the eligibility of noncitizens is limited, work requirements are imposed on most adults. In general, benefits may be used to purchase any food item for home consumption in an approved food concern. The regular food stamp program operates in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. Variants of the regular program (funded through nutrition assistance grants) operate in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas. Food stamps and nutrition assistance grants are administered by the Food and Nutrition Service and are funded as entitlements by annual agriculture appropriations acts.

Food borne pathogens - Disease-causing microorganisms found in food, usually bacteria, fungi, parasites, protozoans, and viruses. The top ten pathogens are: Salmonella; Staphylococcus Aureus; Campylobacter jejuni; Yersinia enerocolitica; Listeria monocytogenes; Vibrio cholerae non-01; Vibrio Parahemolyticus; Bacillus cereus; Escherichia coli - enteropathogenic; and Shigella. Many of these pathogens may be found in contaminated meat, poultry, shell eggs, dairy products, and seafood.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) - A major disease of cloven-footed animals (e.g., cattle and pigs) that does not exist in the United States. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conducts a surveillance program to track the disease in foreign countries, regulates the importation of animal products from countries where FMD exists, and tests imported animals in quarantine.

Forage - Vegetable matter, fresh or preserved, that is gathered and fed to animals as roughage includes alfalfa hay, corn silage, and other hay crops.

Forage value index (FVI) - A derived index of the relative change in the previous year’s average monthly rate per head for pasturing cattle on privately owned land in the West. Used in calculating federal grazing fees.

Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) - The USDA agency that administers agricultural export and food aid programs. FAS is also responsible for formulating agricultural trade policy, negotiating to reduce foreign agricultural trade barriers, and carrying out programs of international cooperation and technical assistance. The agency maintains a global network of agricultural officers (counselors and attaches) as well as a Washington-based staff to analyze and disseminate information on world agriculture and trade, develop and expand export markets, and represent the agricultural trade policy interests of U.S. producers in multilateral forums.

Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (RPA) - Provides authority to the Forest Service to prepare and update an assessment every 10 years to inventory and monitor the status and trends of the forest lands and range lands in the National Forest System, and to prepare a long-range plan every 5 years to guide Forest Service policies.

Forest health - A term used for a collection of concerns over the alleged deterioration in forest conditions, including both current problems (e.g., insect and disease infestations, wildfires, and related tree mortality) and risks of future problems (e.g., too many small-diameter trees (overstocking), excessive biomass, and an unnatural mix of tree species in mixed stands).

Forest plans - Land and resource management plans for units of the National Forest System under the National Forest Management Act. The Act specifies a detailed process and numerous requirements, including public participation and periodic revision, intended to achieve multiple use in the national forests.

Forest Service (FS) - The largest USDA agency in terms of employees (about 37,000) with responsibility for administering the National Forest System, for providing financial and technical forestry assistance to states and to private landowners under State and Private Forestry, and for conducting Forestry Research.

Forestland - A classification of land use in the Natural Resources Inventory (NRI). It includes areas where trees cover at least 10% of the land and must be at least an acre in size. Forestland was found on 395 million acres, almost 30% of all private lands, in the 1992 NRI.

Forestry Incentive Program (FIP) - Initiated in 1975 as an independent program and currently administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, FIP provides financial assistance for up to 65% of the cost of tree planting and timber stand improvement on private forest stands of less than 1,000 acres. Payments are limited to $10,000 per year. More than 4,500 forest owners with 165,000 acres participated in 1995. The program now is authorized under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, as amended.

Forfeiture penalty (sugar) - A penalty paid to the Commodity Credit Corporation by a processor of sugar beets or sugarcane who, having taken out a nonrecourse loan, decides to hand over sugar pledged as collateral to the CCC rather than accept the then-market price (see loan forfeiture). The penalty is 1 cent/lb. on raw cane sugar, 1.072 cents/lb. on refined beet sugar. Some view this penalty as lowering the price support levels authorized by the FAIR Act of 1996 by the penalty amount (i.e., for raw cane sugar, from 18 cents/lb. to 17 cents/lb.).

Formula-based tariff reductions - A method of negotiating tariff reductions using an agreed-upon formula applied to tariff rates (with limited exceptions being granted for very sensitive items) by all contracting parties.

Formula funds - Federal dollars distributed to the land grant colleges of agriculture through formulas found in the Hatch Act, the Smith-Lever Act, the McIntire-Stennis Act, and the Evans-Allen Act for (1) agricultural research at the state agricultural experiment stations, (2) extension programs and (3) forestry research at the land grant colleges of agriculture, and (4) research at the 1890 institutions, respectively.

Formula pricing - An arrangement where a buyer and seller agree in advance on the price to be paid for a product delivered in the future, based upon a pre-determined calculation. For example, a packer might agree to pay a hog producer the average cash market price on the day the hogs will be delivered, plus a 2-cent per-pound premium. Such transactions have been used widely in agriculture, particularly for livestock. Users believe that formula pricing brings efficiency and predictability to market transactions. However, as the use of formula pricing expands, fewer animals are sold in cash markets, where prices are more widely reported and understood by producers. Some of these producers believe that formula pricing makes it harder to determine the true value of their animals in the marketplace, and creates greater opportunity for buyers to manipulate and pay lower prices.

Forward contract - A cash transaction common in many industries, including agricultural commodity merchandising, in which a commercial buyer and seller agree upon delivery of a specified quality and quantity of goods at a specified future date. A price may be agreed upon in advance, or there may be agreement that the price will be determined at the time of delivery. Forward contracts, in contrast to futures contracts, are privately negotiated and are not standardized.

Forward market - This refers to informal (non-exchange) trading of commodities to be delivered at a future date. Contracts for forward delivery are "personalized" (i.e., delivery time and amount are determined between seller and customer).

Forward selling - Forward contracting in which the price is fixed at the time the contract is entered.

Four-firm ratio - It is common to express the degree of concentration within an industry, including agriculture (that is, the degree to which a few firms dominate sales or production) as a ratio, by stating the share (%) held by the top four firms.

Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) - A 1992 United Nations agreement in which signatory nations recognized the problem posed by climate change. They also agreed to the objective of stabilizing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that is not dangerous, and committed to doing this soon enough to ensure that food production is not threatened by changing climates.

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.

Free lunch (or breakfast, snack, or milk) - Refers to a federally subsidized meal (or snacks or half-pint of milk) that is offered under a child nutrition program at no cost to children who apply for and whose family income qualifies them for it. Income eligibility for free meals is set at 130% or less of the federal poverty income level, and substantially higher subsidies generally are provided for these meals than for paid meals, or reduced price meals.

Free market - A system in which the market forces of supply and demand determine prices and allocate available supplies, without government intervention. The concept of a free-market approach in agricultural policy, in its purest form, is no government price and income support programs, supply management programs, export subsidies, or barriers to international trade.

Free rider - In agricultural policy, the term generally refers to a firm or person who benefits from a collectively funded activity (such as a generic advertising and promotion, or check-off, program) without contributing to its costs.

Free stocks - Commodity stocks owned by farmers or others in the trade, rather than by those owned or controlled by the government. (Supplies in the Food Security Commodity Reserve are government-controlled and not considered free stocks.).

Free Trade Area - A group of countries that have removed trade barriers among the members, but each country may maintain its own trade regime with nonmember countries. The best known current example is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) - A proposed multilateral agreement that would establish free trade in all products, including agricultural products, for all the countries of the Western Hemisphere, except Cuba. Launched at the Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile, in March 1998, the negotiations to establish the FTAA are expected to be completed by 2005.

Freedom-to-farm - A phrase that was used in the congressional arena to characterize the production flexibility contract provisions of the FAIR Act of 1996.

Full-cost water - An annual rate for water delivered from Bureau of Reclamation facilities, which includes project construction costs attributed to irrigation, as well as outstanding deficits on operation and maintenance charges, with interest on both accruing from October 12, 1982. The term is defined in Section 202 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982. The Bureau charges full-cost for water delivered to lands above the acreage limitation.

Fumigant - A vaporized pesticide used to control pests in soil, buildings and greenhouses, and chambers holding products such as fruits to be treated. Methyl bromide is an example.

Fumonosin - A mycotoxin that can cause liver and brain damage in horses.

Fund for Rural America - A fund established by the FAIR Act of 1996 to augment existing resources for agricultural research and rural development through an annual transfer of funds from the U.S. Treasury to USDA. One-third of the fund is designated for competitive agricultural research grants, one-third for rural development projects, and one-third for either research or rural development, at the Secretary’s discretion. The FAIR Act authorized the U.S. Treasury to transfer $100 million annually to the Fund for 3 years. The Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 extended the authority for the program through FY2003 with an annual transfer to USDA of $60 million. However, the omnibus appropriations act for FY1999 (P.L. 105-277, October 21, 1998) prohibited the expenditure of the $60 million for Fund grants and projects.

Fungibility - The characteristic of interchangeability. Bulk commodities are generally described as fungible, whereas those with special characteristics may be marketed as identity preserved. Futures contracts for the same commodity and delivery month are fungible due to their standardized specifications for quality, quantity, delivery date and delivery locations.

Fungicide - Any pesticide used to control, deter, or destroy fungi, which are forms of plant life (including molds and yeasts) that lack chlorophyll and are unable to make their own food (such as the plant pathogen, powdery mildew).

Furrow irrigation - Small, shallow channels guide water across the surface of a leveled field. Crops are typically grown on a ridge or raised bed between the furrows. This is the major irrigation system that is based on gravity.

Future Farmers of America (FFA) - An organization for high school students studying vocational agriculture.

Futures contract - A standardized agreement calling for deferred delivery of a commodity, or its equivalent, entered through organized futures exchanges. Most agricultural futures contracts call for physical delivery, but feeder cattle futures contracts call for cash settlement at contract maturity. In fact, contracts are usually liquidated before delivery. Traders are classified as hedgers or speculators. The FAIR Act of 1996 requires USDA to conduct research through pilot programs to determine if futures and options contracts can provide producers with reasonable protection from the financial risks of fluctuations in price, yield, and income inherent in the production and marketing of agricultural commodities.

Futures price - (1) Commonly held to mean the price of a commodity for future delivery that is traded on a futures exchange. (2) The price of any futures contract.