Glossary
Agriculture: Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws
By Jasper Womach
Oct 28, 2002, 10:14pm

http://cnie.org/nle/AgGlossary/AgGlossary.htm

A

AARCC -- Alternative Agriculture Research and Commercialization Corporation

ABA -- American Bakers Association; American Bankers Association; American Bar Association

Abandoned wells --Abandoned drainage wells and abandoned water wells on vacant farmsteads are of particular concern for agriculture. Abandoned wells can present both safety risks and a direct conduit by which groundwater can be contaminated by surface runoff. A number of states have incentive and/or regulatory programs to cap or seal abandoned wells.

AC -- Area conservationist

ACA -- Agricultural Credit Association

ACE -- Agriculture in Concert with the Environment

Acid deposition / acid rain -- Abnormally acidic (low pH) precipitation (or dry deposition) resulting from emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds that transform during chemical processes in the atmosphere. Acid deposition can affect the chemistry of soils and acidify lakes, adversely affecting forests and fish. It does not adversely affect cropland. The Clean Air Act includes a program focused on controlling precursor emissions of acid deposition--primarily sulfur oxides from coal-fired electric utilities.

ACP -- Agricultural Conservation Program

ACPA -- American Crop Protection Association   Acquired lands -- Lands in federal ownership that were obtained by the federal government through purchase, condemnation, gift, or exchange. One category of public lands.   ACR -- Acreage conservation reserve  

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. Irrigation accounts for about 85 maf (million acre-feet) of water use 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.  

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

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 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 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.  

ACS -- Alternative conservation system  

ACSH -- American Council on Science and Health  

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 EPA, FDA and USDA are required to take enforcement action against the contaminated food or agricultural commodity. The term is also used in other regulatory programs.  

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

ACTPN -- Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations  

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 severe poisonous effect resulting from a single short-term exposure to a toxic substance. See also chronic toxicity.  

AD -- Anti-dumping duty  

Ad valorem duty -- A tariff expressed as a fixed percentage of the value of the imported commodity or product.  

ADA -- American Dairy Association; American Dietetic Association  

ADC -- Animal Damage Control Program  

Additional peanuts -- Peanuts sold from a farm in any marketing year in excess of the amount of quota peanuts (see peanut poundage quota) 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, 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, loans for additional peanuts remain available.  

ADI -- Acceptable daily intake  

Adjusted world price (cotton) -- As part of the upland cotton marketing assistance loan program, 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 is also used for determining so-called Step 2 payments.  

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.  

AFBF -- American Farm Bureau Federation (Farm Bureau)  

AFDO -- Association of Food and Drug Officials  

AFFI -- American Frozen Food Institute  

AFIA -- American Feed Industry Association  

AFT -- American Farmland Trust  

Agency for International Development (AID or USAID) -- An independent agency of the executive branch that administers U.S. international development and humanitarian assistance programs. USAID administers commodity donations for humanitarian or development purposes under P.L. 480, or Food for Peace, and commodity import programs. http://www.info.usaid.gov/  

Aggregate measure of support (AMS) -- An indicator of the amount of domestic support for agriculture. As used in the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, the AMS refers to a measure of the gap between domestic and world prices multiplied by the quantity supported, plus any other commodity-specific transfers. Internal or domestic support reduction commitments in the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture are expressed in terms of reductions in a total AMS covering all trade-distorting internal support measures for agriculture.  

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

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 diversification -- A system of farming that encourages production of a variety of plant 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 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. http://www.ams.usda.gov/  

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, EPA 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 Service (ARS) -- A USDA agency employing federal scientists to conduct basic, applied, and developmental research in the following fields: livestock; plants; soil, water and air quality; energy; food safety and quality; nutrition; food processing, storage, and distribution efficiency; non-food agricultural products; and international development. http://www.ars.usda.gov/  

Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) -- This was the USDA agency once primarily responsible for administering the farm commodity price and income support programs, and conservation cost-sharing programs. Its functions were folded into a new Farm Service Agency as a consequence of 1994 reorganization. A local field service center is maintained in nearly all farming localities.  

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 made U.S. agricultural commodities available through long-term credit at low interest rates and provided 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 USDA's 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.  

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, authorized 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 EPA 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.  

AHI -- Animal Health Institute  

AID -- Agency for International Development  

AIF -- Animal Industry Foundation  

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 authoritizes EPA 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 EPA 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.  

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.  

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 fuels -- Substitutes for traditional liquid, oil- derived motor vehicle fuels like gasoline and diesel. Includes methanol, ethanol, 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.  

AMI -- American Meat Institute  

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.  

AMS -- Aggregate measure of support; Agricultural Marketing Service  

AMTA -- Agricultural Market Transition Act  

ANCOM -- Andean Common Market  

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. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/  

Animal Damage Control (ADC) Program -- An Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service program 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 (FDA) 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 identification and traceback -- Currently, the private marketing system, assisted by computerization of records, generally can trace the 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 foodborne 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. 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 USDA's 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.  

ANPR -- Advance notice of proposed rulemaking  

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.  

Antidumping 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 U.S. 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.  

APA -- Administrative Procedure Act  

APEC -- Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum  

APHA -- American Public Health Association  

APHIS -- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service  

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.  

APWA -- American Public Welfare Association  

AQI -- Agricultural Quarantine Inspection  

Aquaculture -- The National Aquaculture Act of 1980 defines aquaculture as 'the propagation and rearing of aquatic species in controlled or selected environments, including ocean ranching.' The Act divides responsibility for most aquaculture research, regulatory and related activities among the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior. Private aquaculture has grown rapidly and diversified in recent years; in the United States, aquaculture is dominated (80%) by catfish production.  

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.  

ARI -- Aquifer risk index  

Arid -- A relatively dry climate in which annual precipitation is less than 10 inches, which generally is insufficient for crops to be grown without irrigation. Such areas usually are the focus of debate over federal water policies.  

ARP -- Acreage reduction program  

ARS -- Agricultural Research Service  

ASA -- American Society of Agronomy; American Soybean Association; American Sugar Alliance  

ASAE -- American Society of Agricultural Engineers  

ASEAN -- Association of Southeast Asian Nations  

ASFSA -- American School Food Service Association  

ASIA -- American Sheep Industry Association  

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 Taipai), and Hong Kong. Mexico and Papua New Guinea joined in 1993 and Chile was admitted in 1994. APEC provides a forum for ministerial level discussion and cooperation on a range of economic issues including trade, investment, technology transfer, and transportation.  

ASQ -- Allowable sale quantity  

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.

B

B&I -- Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program

BACT -- Best available control technology

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. Some Bankhead-Jones land are managed by both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Some Forest Service Bankhead Jones lands are National Grasslands.

Banks for Cooperatives (BC) -- Lending institutions within the Farm Credit System that provide credit to agricultural cooperatives and rural utility cooperatives nationwide. Currently, there are two BCs with national charters -- the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives and CoBank Agricultural Bank (Denver). CoBank also 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.

Barter -- A form of countertrade in which goods having offsetting 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 permittee 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.

BAT -- Best available technology

bbf -- Billion board feet

BC -- Banks for Cooperatives

BCS -- Basic conservation systems

BCT -- Best control technology

Beef (cattle) price index (BPI) -- An index of the weighted average annual price for beef cattle, excluding calves, for an 11 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) -- 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.

BFP -- Basic formula price

BFW -- Bread for the World

BGH -- Bovine growth hormone (See bovine somatotropin.)

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.

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 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 storage of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and certain pesticides in plants and animals. For example, 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. Bioconcentration is a synonym for biaccumulation.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) -- A measure of the amount of oxygen consumed in 5 days due to 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 naturally. COD can be determined much more quickly than BOD and more accurately reflects the amount of organic matter in a water sample.

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 oxygen demand -- See biochemical oxygen demand.

Biologics -- Immunization vaccines, bactrians, 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.

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 in contrast to synthetic chemicals (i.e., viruses, bacteria, pheromones, natural plant compounds).

Biotechnology -- The use of micro-organisms, live plant or animal cells or their parts, to create new products or to carry out biological processes aimed at genetic improvement. See genetic engineering.

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 of USDA. Federally guaranteed commercial loans at market interest rates (GSM-102) were combined (blended) with direct export credit from the government 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.

BLM -- Bureau of Land Management

BLS -- Bureau of Labor Statistics

Blue box -- 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.

BMP -- Best management practice(s)

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.

BOD -- Biochemical oxygen demand; biological oxygen demand

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.

BOR -- Bureau of Reclamation

Botanical pesticide -- A pesticide whose active ingredient is a plant-produced chemical such as nicotine or strychnine. Also called a plant-derived pesticide. 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 rate -- The most-favored-nation tariff rate resulting from negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and incorporated as an integral component of a country's schedule of concessions. If a GATT contracting party raises a tariff to a higher level than its bound rate, the country or countries adversely affected have the right under GATT to retaliate against an equivalent value of the offending country's exports or to receive compensation, usually in the form of reduced tariffs on other products they export to the offending country.

Bovine growth hormone(BGH) -- See bovine somatotropin (bST).

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 has been cited as one possible means of transmission. Scientists have suggested that there might be a link between BSE in cattle and more than a dozen recent European cases of a human variant of the disease, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. To date, no BSE has been found in U.S. cattle or beef supplies, although other BSE-like animal diseases are found in the United States, including scrapie in sheep and goats.

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.

BPI -- Beef (Cattle) Price Index

BPJ -- Best professional judgment

BPT -- Best practicable technology, best practicable treatment

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 the U.S. cattle herds by the end of 1998 at the current funding level.

BSE -- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

bST -- Bovine somatotropin

Bt -- Bacillus thuringiensis is a bacterium commonly known as Bt. It is a biological pesticide (biopesticide) used in several genetically engineered plants (transgenic 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 corn, which will be resistant to the European corn borer, is available for the 1997 planting season. Bt degrades rapidly to non-toxic compounds, does not present any human or animal hazards, and does not harm beneficial insects. Pest resistance management (PRM) plans are required by EPA as part of the registration.

bu. -- bushel

Buffer strips -- Small areas of erosion-resistant vegetation planted on fields, usually along the contour or along the boundaries, to slow the flow of runoff and reduce erosion.

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 -- 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. http://www.blm.gov/

Bureau of Reclamation -- 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. The Bureau built, operates, and maintains more than 300 storage dams on rivers throughout the western United States. http://www.usbr.gov/

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.

By-pass flow -- Water required by a regulating or permitting entity to be retained in-stream to protect fish habitat and other water-based functions and values. For example, the Forest Service requires some operators to allow a certain amount of water to bypass their dams to preserve endangered fish habitat. The FAIR Act of 1996 contains a provision (Section 389) that prohibits the Forest Service from placing limits on bypass flow across lands it manages as a condition when renewing permits while a task force studies five specified questions.

CAA -- Clean Air Act

CACFP -- Child and Adult Care Food Program

CAFO -- Concentrated animal feeding operation

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 also 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.

Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) -- A quasi-governmental self- financed agency, established in 1935, that markets Canadian wheat, oats, and barley on behalf of producers. Commercial grain is put into annual marketing pools by grade, with the pool period lasting 12 months and ending July 31. The CWB markets the grain to domestic and foreign buyers, with unsold grain transferred to the pool established for the next year. The overall procedure ensures a uniform per-bushel return, excluding storage costs, to all producers for each grade, regardless of the time they deliver their grain to elevators. The flow of grain from farm to terminal is closely regulated. The CWB also works to develop new markets for Canadian wheat and has authority to enter into long-term supply contracts with foreign countries.  

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 EPA 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.  

CAP -- Common Agricultural Policy; Commodity Assistance Program  

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.  

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.  

CARD -- Center for Agricultural and Rural Development  

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, 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 liquid or solid material added to an active ingredient in a pesticide.  

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 much livestock will be allowed on an allotment on public lands.  

Carryover -- The supply of a farm commodity not yet used at the end of a marketing year and carried over into the next year. An excessively large carryover is typically described as a surplus condition that causes prices to fall. When the carryover falls below normal, there may be concerns of a shortage contributing to price escalation.  

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 forward sale -- See forward contracting.  

Cash grain farm -- A farm where corn, grain sorghum, small grains, soybeans, or field peas and beans account for at least 50% of the value of farm 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.  

CAST -- Council for Agricultural Science and Technology  

CAT -- Catastrophic crop insurance  

Catastrophic (CAT) Crop Insurance -- 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 Federal Crop Insurance 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.  

CBI -- Caribbean Basin Initiative  

CBT -- Chicago Board of Trade  

CCC -- Commodity Credit Corporation  

CCI -- Cotton Council International  

CD -- Conservation district  

CDC -- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  

CED -- County Executive Director  

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 and last published for 1992, was the responsibility of the Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census. However, the FY1997 USDA appropriations act transferred funding for the Census of Agriculture to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which intends to start data collection for the 1997 Census in January 1998.  

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) -- The agency within the Food and Drug Administration responsible for regulating the food processing industry. Legislation in this area normally is handled by the House Commerce Committee, except for seafood, which is under the jurisdiction of the House Agriculture Committee.  

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. 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).  

CEQ -- Council on Environmental Quality  

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.  

CFA -- Consumer Federation of America  

CFCs -- Chlorofluorocarbons  

CFO -- Conservation farm option; Chief Financial Officer  

CFR -- Code of Federal Regulations  

CFSCAN -- Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition  

CFTC -- Commodity Futures Trading Commission  

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.  

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 cause increased 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, 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 USDA, Food and Consumer 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 (which provides federal subsidies for milk served to children in eligible outlets) and the school breakfast program (which provides federal subsidies for breakfasts served in participating elementary and secondary schools). 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 FY1998, as is federal spending for state administrative expenses (SAE) associated with the operation of child nutrition meal service programs. The nutrition education and training (NET) program, which provides grants to states for educating and training school food personnel, teachers, and students about nutrition, is authorized through FY2002.  

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 and nutrition education and training programs, 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 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.  

C.I.F. (or c.i.f.) -- Cost, insurance, and freight  

CIPs -- Commodity import programs  

CIS -- Commonwealth of Independent States  

CJD -- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (See bovine spongiform encephalopathy.)  

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.  

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.  

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) 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. EPA 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 precussors).  

Clean Water Act -- 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 EPA 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. 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. A program in the Act that regulates discharges of dredged and fill material into wetlands (Section 404) requires permits for activities on agricultural wetlands.  

CLOC -- Commodity letters of credit  

CMA -- Chemical Manufacturers Association  

CME -- Chicago Mercantile Exchange  

CMS -- Conservation management system  

CNP -- Child nutrition programs  

CNPP -- Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion  

CO -- Conservation operations  

COAP -- Cottonseed Oil Assistance Program  

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.  

CoBank -- National Bank for Cooperatives  

COC -- County Office Committee  

COD -- Chemical oxygen demand  

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.  

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 grain harvester. In one operation it combines cutting, threshing, separation, cleaning, and straw dispersal.  

Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture -- Established by Title I of the FAIR Act of 1996 to conduct a comprehensive review of changes to production agriculture in the United States. The Commission also will study the future of production agriculture in the United States and the appropriate role of the federal government in it.  

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 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 FY1998 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 USDA'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; those eligible for nonrecourse marketing assistance loans, soybeans and minor oilseeds; those under marketing quota limits, peanuts and tobacco; and, milk. A broader term that includes these programs and others is farm programs.  

Commodity promotion programs -- Programs that advertise and promote a commodity without reference to the specific farmer, brand name, or manufacturer. The programs are authorized by law and financed by assessments (also called check-offs) of industry members, such as producers, importers, and handlers. The FAIR Act of 1996 explicitly authorizes new producer-funded research and promotion programs for canola and rapeseed, kiwifruit, and popcorn and also gives USDA general authority to create programs for other commodities at the request of producer groups.  

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.  

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 lunch programs) -- 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 USDA's 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.  

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.  

Con Act -- Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act  

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. EPA 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 EPA 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 payment terms that are more favorable than those obtainable in the commercial market. Under P.L. 480, the concessional terms include the length of the credit period, the grace period for repayment, and the interest rate charged. 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 EPA 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 (cross) 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 -- 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 USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service are compiled at each conservation district in its field office technical guide.  

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 USDA's Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), but now through USDA's 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.  

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 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 for future sale -- A sales contract under which a farmer agrees to deliver products of specified quality and quantity to a buyer for a specified price within a prescribed time frame. Contract sales are a growing practice, recently accounting for 86% of poultry, more than 50% of fruits, and 43% of milk. The benefits to processors are greater uniformity and predictability resulting in lower costs of grading, processing, and packing. The benefits to farmers are more stable income from a guaranteed market and price, and possibly access to a wider range of production inputs and adva