Copy of `Letham Shank - Agriculture terms`

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

Stone
Measure of weight equal to 14 lbs. 8 stone equalled one hundredweight.

Stook
A group of 6 or 8 sheaves of corn which were stacked on end in pairs to allow the grain and straw to dry.

Store cattle-sheep
Animals grown slowly to just below their potential, they are bought and made ready for slaughter by Finishers.

Straight
Straight (fertiliser) is one which contains only one nutrient e.g. nitogen or potash as opposed to a compound which contains more than one.

Straw
That part of the crop that is left after thrashing the grain. It may be baled for use as stock bedding or low grade feed or chopped and incorporated to help improve soil structure.

Strobilurin
A recent development in fungicides using chemicals extracted from another fungus. They have a suppressive effect on other fungi but also assist the plant in remaining green.

Stubble
The remains of the plant stem left behind after harvesting a crop.

Subsoil
That layer of soil normally below cultivation depth but which has a great effect on the performance of the topsoil. Subsoiling is an operation where a deep cultivator runs through the subsoil at a depth of around 450 mm when the soil is dry to shatter it.

Suffolk
(Sheep) A broad, long and heavy sheep used in meat production generally by crossing with other breeds such as mules or texel.

Sugar Beet
A variety of beet (Beta vulgaris) which is specifically grown because of it's high sugar content which can be processed to produce quality sugars.

Sulphur
A non metallic, trace element which is essential in plant growth. Atmospheric deposition has been adquate to replenish soil reserves until recently when fossil fuel emmissions have been 'cleaned up'. Sulphur (sulfur) must now be applied to crops in fertilisers.

Swath
A row of grass or straw which is laid ready for baling or similar operation.

Swede
A brassica root crop commonly used for feeding livestock either in situ in the field or after lifting and carting. Most 'turnips' in shops are actually swedes. Also known as 'Swedish Turnip' or 'Rutabaga'.

Telescopic
Telescopic handlers are a development of the traditional forklift. They have a boom which can be raised or lowered within which is another section which can be extended to give greater height or reach. Most can have a variety of attachments fitted such as grain buckets manure forks bale grabs or pallet forks.

Thrashing Mill
Before combines most grain was separated from straw by means of permanently sited mills in farm buildings. The next step before combines were large mobile mills. The principles of thrashing and separation has changed little over the years.

Tick
A type of mite which is suited only to one host animal per species. They feed on the blood of the host.

Tillering
The stage a plant goes through when side shoots are developing which each may carry its own flower and ear. Each such shoot is a tiller.

Tilth
The quality of a seedbed. The finer the tilth the better protected the seeds are and the better the soil/seed contact for moisture transfer.

Tine
A rigid or sprung leg of a cultivator which carries a wearing 'point'.

Tonne
A (metric) tonne consists of 1000 kilograms. An imperial ton equals 1016 kg.

Top Dress
Applying fertiliser to the surface of soil (normally in a growing crop) so that rain will wash the nutrients into the soil.

Tramline
A method to mark a field by halting seed flow during drilling to leave blank strips in the crop which subsequent tractor journeys may be made. Essential for the accurate application of pesticides and fertiliser.

Tup
Northern word for a ram - a male sheep for breeding.

Warble Fly
The larva of the warble fly cause much discomfort to cattle as it moves from the hoof to the animal's back under the skin.

Weaning
Gradually leading young animals to be less dependant on their mother's milk and become independant and eat solid foods.

Weed
'A plant growing in the wrong place.' End users have demanded fewer weed seeds in grain etc. over the years requiring fields to become weed free. Field margins however maintain the diversity necsessary to support various 'weeds'.

Wheat
The major cereal crop grown in the UK. Wheat falls into two categories, hard, generally suitable for milling (flour) and soft, usually used for distilling animal feed and biscuit making.

Wild Oat
(Avena Fatua) A grass weed which has incredible survival traits. It can be a major problem in cereal crops where it reduces yield and grain quality.

Windrow
Similar to a swath. The crop is laid in rows to be dried by the wind and sun.

Worm
As opposed to earthworm worms are generally intestinal worms of livestock which are normally contracted by infected pasture. Animals may be treated with anthelmintics to control worms.

Yeld
Northern term for a ewe which is not carrying lambs, when expected to be pregnant.

Yellow Rust
A disease of cereals which is generally controlled when treatments for other diseases are made. Yellow pustules appear on the leaf and develop between the veins to give a striped effect.

Yew
An evergreen hardwood tree noted for it's use in making longbows. Common in churchyards it has many myths attached to it.

Zoonosis
Zoonosis is any infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals, both wild and domestic, to humans.