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Letham Shank - Agriculture terms Category: Agriculture and Industry > Agriculture and the Countryside Date & country: 15/11/2007, UK Words: 234

Acre
An acre is the traditional unit of measure and is a square approximately 209 feet per side (=4840 sq. yds.). The amount one man and two oxen could plough in a day. It is gradually being replaced by the metric unit the Hectare.

Adjuvant
A substance other than water, when mixed in the spray mixture is intended to enhance the effectiveness of a pesticide.

Agribusiness
A progression from farming that combines agriculture and business. Large areas of land and large numbers of animals may be involved but with less interest in the environment and animal welfare than traditional family farms.

Agronomist
Qualified person who inspects crops and advises growers on agronomy, varieties, herbicides etc.

Air (Seed) Drill
A seed drill where air supplied by a fan is used as the medium to transport the seed from the metering unit (Picture) to the coulters.(Picture)

Ammonium nitrate
One of the main sources of artificial nitrogen fertiliser. Generally it is supplied as a prill and contains around one third of it's weight as 'nitrogen'.

Anthrax
A serious, sometimes fatal disease of animals and humans caused by a soil borne bacteria.

Aphids
Small insects that feed by sucking the sap from plants. They are the carriers of many viruses that affect a range of plants and crops.

Ash
(Fraxinus excelsior) Species of large deciduous tree native to Europe which likes heavy alkaline loams.

Auger
Long tubular pieces of equipment to move grain. Augers have a spiral screw inside an outer tube which pushes the grain from the lower end to the top end. They are usually powered by electric motors and vary in diameter from 75mm up to 300mm (Picture) gal/Machinery/madrier_disch.jpg

Bale
A compacted and bound bundle of straw, hay silage etc. May be square or round varying in size from 30 kg to 100kg.

Baler
Implement which picks up swaths of straw or hay and compresses it into a compact rectangular or cylidrical bale. When the desired size is reached it is automatically secured with twine or net wrapping.

bar
SI measure of pressure composed of 1000 millibar. Equal to around 14.2 lbs/sq.inch.

Barley
A cereal crop still popular in the UK although the acreage has reduced recently. It is identified by it's 'awns' which are covered in tiny barbs and cling to clothing. Barley is used as animal feed or by the brewing industry.

Batch drier
A machine which dries grains by passing air (possibly heated by gas or oil) through a 'batch' and when dry will empty and refill itself with the next batch.

Bean
Field beans are normally grown as a high protein animal feed but some are for human consumption. They are generally allowed to ripen and dry which permits them to be harvested by combine. (Picture)

Beetle
An insect with two pairs of wings, the front pair are hardened to cover the rear pair when folded. Most are beneficial and vary in size from under 1mm to over 60 mm. There are almost 4000 species in the UK.

Big Bags
Large generally polypropolene bags used for grain feed or fertiliser. Normally 500kg but some fertiliser is now in 600kg bags. Stockfeed may be supplied in 1000kg bags.(Picture)

Bindweed
A common weed with a conspicuous white flower which can have severe effects on crop yields if unchecked. It is generally seen growing through hedges and on roadsides.

Bio-diesel
Automotive fuel manufactured primarily from oil seed rape (Canola) blended with diesel to reduce build up of atmospheric CO2.

Blackface
A particularly stupid variety of sheep with a rough long fleece and relatively light body weight but very hardy.

Blackthorn
(Prunus spinosa) Small spiny shrub commonly used in hedging. The fruit are known as sloes and have several uses.

Boar
An entire male pig.

Border Leicester
Ususally used as a sire crossed with other breeds to produce lambs for meat.

Bramble
A sprawling, prickly shrub well known for it's black berries which can be made into jams and desserts. Known as the blackberry in southern England.

Broiler
A chicken raised for meat production, generally in large intensive buildings.

Brome (Barren)
(Bromus Sterilis) A grass weed which is commonly found in hedge bottoms but can be difficult to control if it invades a crop. Recognisable by it's green/purple drooping flowers and seed heads.(Picture)

Bullock
A castrated bull.

Burn
A term used in northern England and Scotland for a stream.

Bushel
An old volume measure of cereals. One bushel of wheat weighed approximately 63 lbs, barley 56lbs, .and oats 42lbs.

Buttercup
A common yellow flower (Ranunculus) generally found in wetter parts of the farm. It is common on undrained permanent pasture where it can become invasive.(Picture)

Canola
In agriculture, canola is the name given to certain varieties rapeseed (particularly in US & Canada)plants or the oil produced from those varieties.

Capping
Soils cap when a fine seedbed is sown and firmed but heavy rainfall follows. This causes the soil surface to form a hard layer when it dries out which in turn can prevent the emergence of shoots from the sown seeds.

Caryopsis
The term used to describe the simple fruit produced by grasses, including cereals.

Catch-crop
This is a quick growing crop, opportunistically grown for livestock feed etc. If for example winter barley was combined in July a fodder crop could be quickly sown and eaten during the winter allowing a spring crop to be drilled normally.

Cattle Passport
A document recording identification, movement and other details for a specific bovine animal.

Celcius
A temperature scale becoming universal where melting ice = 0° and boiling water =100° The alternative scale is Fahrenheit. A rough conversion is: °C * 1.8 + 32 = °F

Chain
A measure of length equal to 22 yards. or 20.1 metres.

Cheviot
A hardy breed named after the range of hills it originates from in northern England. It tends to be short legged but produces good quality meat.

Chickweed
An omnipresent weed growing almost anywhere in the UK. It is low growing and has tiny white flowers which produce seed almost all year round.

Clamp
A large area with walls possibly of timber but normally concrete which is used to store Silage. The clamp is filled with chopped grass from a forage harvester and compacted by tractor or handler and then sealed by means of a polythene membrane. Most moderns clamps are roofed.

Clean grazing
Pasture free from animal parasites, normally by resting it for one or more years.

Cleavers
(Galium aparine)A scrambling weed with 'sticky' hairy seeds and leaves. A problem weed which can smother crops and is generally seen in hedgerows.

CO2
Carbon dioxide. A gas linked to global warming emitted primarily by fossil fuels. Growing crops absorb CO2 and produce oxygen.

Colorado Beetle
A serious pest of potatoes, but very rarely seen in the fields of the UK. Most now arrive on imported foodstuffs.

Colostrum
The antibody-rich first milk produced by the mother immediately before and for a limited time after giving birth.

Combine
Combine (Harvester) Normally a self propelled machine which cuts, thrashes and separates grain from straw which it leaves either swathed or chopped.

Compaction
When soil is compressed naturally or otherwise to the extent that water cannot drain away or plant roots penetrate. Subsoiling is carried out to alleviate this.

Compound
Compound (Fertiliser) is one which contains more than one nutrient (nitrogen potash phosphorus sulphur)as opposed to a 'straight'(Picture).

Coppice
Cutting a broad leaved tree to a stump to encourage many fresh straight shoots which can be used for walking sticks, hurdles etc.

Couch Grass
(Elymus repens) Very common in crops and grassland, couch reproduces by rhizomes as well as seed making it a constant problem.

Coulter
That part of a seed drill which actually works in the soil to place and cover the seed. They may be of the disc type or shoe type.

Couped
(Cowped?) A dialect word for a sheep which has rolled on it's back and because of fleece or terrain cannot get back on it's feet.

Court
Court or courtings are yards, partally or totally covered to overwinter livestock in.

Crab Apple
(Malus Sylvestris) Common in hedges and occasionally as a small tree it has small apple shaped sour fruits.

Cranefly
Commonly known as 'daddy longlegs'.The larva of which is the leatherjacket can cause damage to grassland as it lives below ground for up to nine months.

Crawler
Commonly used to describe a track laying tractor. Traditionally tracks were steel but modern tractors have rubber tracks.

Creep
A creep is a shelter for young lambs that ewes are not able to enter. Feeding is supplied inside to encourage the lambs to take up solid food.(Picture)

Croft
A small (<50 acres) subsistence farm found in the highlands of Scotland. Most crofters have secondary jobs as a living cannot generally be made today.

Crush
A (cattle) crush is a frame used to hold a large animal stationary whilst administering medications etc.

Cultivation
Normally shallow tillage operations to improve, drainage, water conservation, aeration, or to control weeds.

Dagging
Removing soiled fleece from the rear of sheep. This prevents contamination of the fleece at clipping time.

Dessicate
To dry out. In a cropping sense, dessication usually means to apply a total herbicide to speed up the ripening and drying process.

Dipping
Dipping (sheep) is used to control external parasites such as blowfly and ticks. The sheep is immersed in a bath of water with a persistant insecticide mixed in.

Ditch
A water channel dug to assist drainage or the mark a boundary. In this part of the world most are bordered by a hedge.

Drain
In the field sense a drain is a clay or plastic porous pipe buried at around 1 metre deep and covered with approximately 300mm gravel to collect and remove water from farmland.

Draw
To make a draw with livestock is to sort fat from thin, ewes from tups, etc. Drawing lambs for market would be to select those with correct weight and conformation.

Drill (seed)
An implement used to place an exact amount of seed at a desired depth. This can be from 3kg/ha for canola to 250kg/ha for wheat.

Dykeback
A local term used to denote the area round the outside of a field which never gets full sun or wind because of the hedge or wall (dyke).

Earthworm
Estimates say that up to 7.5 million earthworms live in every hectare of ground. They are essential to the health of the soil, they draw organic matter down, bring subsoil up and their burrows assist drainage and aeration.

Elder
A quick growing shrub (Sambucus) which has massses of white flowers in summer which can be used for making wine and black berries in autumn which are used for pies jams etc.

Elm
A slow growing hardwood tree (Ulmus) once extremely common in hedgerows and woods but suffered from Dutch Elm Disease in the late 20th century. Slowly being replanted by Wych Elm which is resistant to this disease.

Ergot
A disease of cereal ears caused by a fungus. Seeds are replaced by black poisonous spore producing bodies. It is not common nowadays due to high seed standards.

Erosion
A natural process whereby rocks, soil and other deposits are worn away by the action of water, ice, or wind.

Ewe
A female sheep, generally after her first lambing.

Fahrenheit
The temperature scale on which melting ice = 32° and boiling water = 212° The alternative is Celcius. A rough conversion is: °F - 32 / 1.8 = °C

Fallow
Land left without a crop for one or more years. A very basic way to improve the soil fertility.

Family Farm
The 'traditional' idea of farming where a relatively small farm is owned and managed over several generations by one family. Normally two or more generations are working simultaneously. Most are very efficient and environmentally benign.

Fertiliser
Generally accepted as 'artificial' nutrients supplied to the soil to replace soil reserves taken off in crops. The major nutrients are Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium.

Field Capacity
The point at which soil becomes saturated and cannot hold more rainfall. If drainage is good, this should rarely occur but if it is poor runoff and erosionmay occur.

Finishing
The feeding of cattle or sheep at a higher rate of growth which increases muscle on the animal and makes it acceptable for slaughter.

Flea Beetle
Small beetle with enlarged rear legs which allow it to jump large distances. The larvae can be a problem in brassica crops such as canola where they develop inside the stems.

Fleece
Shearing a sheep so that it's wool is removed intact in one piece, results in a fleece.

Fluke
A (Liver fluke) parasitic flatworm with a complex lifecycle involving snails and sheep/cattle.

Foot and Mouth
(Disease) A viral disease of cloven hoofed animals (sheep, cattle, pigs etc) which is easily spread. The UK is normally free of this disease but the last imported infection in 2001 was seriously mismanaged by the government.

Foot Rot
An anerobic bacterial disease of sheep's feet exacerbated by wet weather or muddy fields. Some breeds are more susceptible than others.

Forage
Leafy crops that are (intentionally) grazed by livestock.

Forage Harvester
A machine powered by a tractor or self propelled which lifts a swath of wilted grass and chops it finely before delivering it to a following trailer. It is ensiled in a clamp

Ford
A natural or man made shallow part of a river or stream to allow crossing.

Free range
A system of poultry keeping in which hens are allowed to range over a large area of open land. The definition may vary as Agribusiness takes over.

Frog Hopper
An insect resembling a small frog which is best known for it's larva producing 'cuckoo spit' on plants.

Fungicide
A chemical (natural or synthetic )used to control or destroy fungi in growing crop. If left untreated diseases like mildew (Powdery) can have a devastating effect on crops.

Furlong
A measure of length equal to four chains or 88 yards. (80.4 metres)

Fusarium
A disease which infects the plants at a very early age and may kill seedlings, or at the ripening stage where ear development is affected and grain quality reduced.

Gilt
A young female pig until her second litter.

Gimmer
A female sheep over a year old which may or may not have had lambs.

Glyphosate
A total translocated herbicide. Commonly used in cleaning stubbles or grassland destruction. Roundup is the best known trade name.

Grainstore
Purpose built structure designed to store grain in without risk of damage due to moisture, fung,i vermin etc. Temperature and humidity may be monitored and controlled.

Groundsel
A 'nuisance' weed which can be found anywhere. Popular for feeding cage birds and rabbits.

Growth Stage
A decimal system to describe the progress of a plant through the season. GS 0 is a dry seed, GS 50 is flowering, GS 90 is ripening.