Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws

97-905 ENR

CRS Report for Congress

Received through the CRS Web

Agriculture: A Glossary

of Terms, Programs, and Laws

October 1, 1997

Jasper Womach, Coordinator

Agricultural Policy Specialist

Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division

Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

Principal CRS contributors to this glossary are: Geoffrey S. Becker; John

Blodgett; Ralph Chite; Jean Yavis Jones; Paul Rockwell; and Jasper Womach. Other

CRS contributors are: Eugene Boyd; Lynne Corn; Betsy Cody; Claudia Copeland;

Diane Duffy; Bruce Foote; Ross Gorte; Charles Hanrahan; Remy Jurenas; Martin R.

Lee; Donna Porter; Jean M. Rawson; Joe Richardson; Jack Taylor; Linda Schierow;

Mary Tiemann; Donna Vogt; and Jeffrey Zinn. Jasper Womach is responsible for

coordination and editing. Because the industry, federal programs, policy issues, and

the law are continuously changing, this glossary will be updated in the future.

Suggestions and comments can be sent to jwomach@crs.loc.gov.

Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws

Summary

The complexities of federal farm and food programs have generated a unique

vocabulary. Common understanding of these terms (new and old) is important to

those involved in policymaking in this area. For this reason, the House Agriculture

Committee requested that CRS prepare a glossary of agriculture and related terms

(e.g., food programs, conservation, forestry, environmental protection, etc.). Besides

defining terms and phrases with specialized meanings for agriculture, the glossary also

identifies acronyms, agencies, programs, and laws related to agriculture that are of

particular interest to the staff and Members of Congress. CRS is releasing it for

general congressional use with the permission of the Committee.

The approximately 1,700 items selected for inclusion in this glossary were

determined in large part by Committee instructions concerning their needs, and by the

informed judgment of numerous CRS experts. Time and resource constraints

influenced how much and what was included. Many of the glossary explanations have

been drawn from other published sources, including previous CRS glossaries, those

published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies, and

glossaries contained in the publications of various organizations, universities, and

authors. In collecting these definitions, the compilers discovered that many terms

have diverse specialized meanings in different professional settings. In this glossary,

the definitions or explanations have been written to reflect their relevance to

agriculture and recent changes in farm and food policies.

This glossary is in alphabetical order and contains an explanation for each term

with appropriate cross references. The terms shown in bold in the text of narrative

explanations are included elsewhere as individual glossary terms; additionally, there

are cross references to related terms. Some of the acronyms, particularly those of

organizations and associations, are not followed by an explanation.

The definitions and explanations are not legal in nature, but are explanatory.

Hence, this document should not be used as a legal or administrative reference. For

those purposes, the Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, and the Code of Federal

Regulations are the more appropriate resources.

Agriculture: A Glossary

of Terms, Programs, and Laws

AAEA — American Agricultural Economics Association

AAFCO — American Association of Feed Control Officials

AAM — American Agriculture Movement

AAMP — American Association of Meat Processors

AARCC — Alternative Agriculture Research and Commercialization Corporation

ABA — American Bakers Association; 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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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with commodity programs designed to raise prices and farm income. Section 32 was

designed to widen market outlets for surplus agricultural commodities by permanently

appropriating funds to purchase commodities for primarily child nutrition programs.

Section 22 has been superseded, but Section 32 continues to operate.

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 — P.L. 75-430 (February 16, 1938) was enacted

as an alternative and replacement for the farm subsidy policies found unworkable in the AAA

legislation of 1933. The 1938 Act was the first to make price support mandatory for corn,

cotton, and wheat to help maintain a sufficient supply in low production periods along with

marketing quotas to keep supply in line with market demand. It established permissive

supports for butter, dates, figs, hops, turpentine, rosin, pecans, prunes, raisins, barley, rye,

grain sorghum, wool, winter cover-crop seeds, mohair, peanuts, and tobacco for the 1938-40

period. Also, Title V of the Act established the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.

The 1938 Act is considered part of permanent legislation for commodity programs and

farm income support (along with the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and

the Agricultural Act of 1949). Provisions of this law are often superseded by more current

legislation (such as the FAIR Act of 1996). However, if the current legislation expires and

new legislation is not enacted, the law reverts back to the permanent provisions of the 1938

Act.

Agricultural 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.

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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

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$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

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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

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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 backtags, 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

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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

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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

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Assessment — Generally an automatic or mandatory deduction from a producer’s marketing

receipts used to fund activities that promote or otherwise support a particular farm product.

Under certain agricultural marketing orders or commodity promotion programs,

assessments may be applied against receipts to help pay for generic advertising or research.

The term check-off is often used interchangeably with assessment. Federal deficit reduction

marketing assessments have also been connected to certain commodity price support

programs (dairy, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, and soybeans) to help reduce the federal budget

deficit, which arguably is higher because of the programs.

Assimilative capacity — The ability of a body of water to cleanse itself; its capacity to

receive wastewaters or toxic materials without deleterious effects and without damage to

aquatic life or humans who consume the water.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — A multilateral organization

formed in 1967 by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and

Thailand to promote economic, social, and cultural cooperation among nations in the

Southeast Asian region. Brunei joined later.

ASTA — American Seed Trade Association

ATO — Agricultural Trade Office

Atrazine — A selective herbicide, widely used on corn. It is environmentally significant,

since it was the second most commonly detected pesticide residue in an EPA survey of

drinking water wells conducted during 1988-1990. Due to concerns about groundwater

contamination and worker exposure, EPA is conducting a special review of atrazine

registration.

Attainment area — An area considered to have air quality as good as or better than the

National Ambient Air Quality Standards as defined in the Clean Air Act. An area

may be an attainment area for one pollutant and a non-attainment area for others.

Attractant — A chemical or agent that lures insects or other pests by stimulating their sense

of smell. Attractants are a nontoxic technique for luring insects into traps and are heavily

used in orchard crops. Though distinct from toxic baits, attractants are regulated as

pesticides.

AU — Animal unit

Australian Wheat Board (AWB) — A statutory marketing authority, which handles

Australia's domestic marketing of wheat and export marketings of wheat and flour. Under the

Australian system, farmers take their wheat to elevators designated as official handling agents

for the AWB. Following delivery, farmers receive an initial payment, then over a period of

time (which can be over a year) they receive additional payments until the full price has been

paid.

AVMA — American Veterinary Medical Association

AWA — Animal Welfare Act

AWB — Australian Wheat Board

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AWP — Adjusted world price

AWT — Advanced wastewater treatment

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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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).

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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/

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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.

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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

CRS-23

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 mostfavored-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.

CRS-24

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

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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 onequarter 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 CCCowned 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

CRS-26

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.

CRS-27

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.

CRS-28

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.

CRS-29

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

CRS-30

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

CRS-31

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. 100237 (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

CRS-32

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.

CRS-33

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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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 advanced technology.

Contract payments under AMTA — Some $36 billion in payments to be made to

farmers for contract crops for fiscal years 1996-2002 under Title I of the FAIR Act of

1996, known as the Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA). The total amount

made available for each fiscal year is specified in the Act and allocated to commodities each

fiscal year using a set of percentages also specified in the Act. These percentages were based

on the Congressional Budget Office’s February 1995 baseline forecast of what deficiency

payments would have been if provisions in effect for the 1995 crop had been extended. For

example, for fiscal 1997, the total allocation for wheat is 26.26% of total annual payments

of $5.385 billion, or $1.414 billion. The annual payment rate for wheat equals total spending

($1.414 billion) divided by the sum of all individual wheat payment contract quantities for the

year. As with other program commodities, an individual farm’s payment quantity equals

the farm’s program payment yield multiplied by 85% of the farms wheat contract acreage.

Program yields under the 1996 Act are determined in the same manner as under the 1949

Act for 1995 crops. An individual farmer’s transition payment is the payment quantity times

the annual payment rate. The payment is made by September 30 of each of the fiscal years

1996 through 2002. Producers may also choose to receive 50% of the contract payment in

December or January of the fiscal year. Farmers have near total planting flexibility on the

contract acres (the exception being fruits and vegetables) as well as on the remainder of the

farm.

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Contract production — A form of vertical integration where a firm commits to

purchase a commodity from a producer at a price formula set in advance of the purchase.

Contract sanctity — The concept that U.S. agricultural products already contracted to be

exported should not be subject to government cancellation because of short supply, national

security, and/or foreign policy reasons. The FACT Act of 1990 provides for contract

sanctity by prohibiting the President from restricting the export of any agricultural commodity

already under contract to be delivered within 270 days from the date the embargo is

imposed, except during national emergency or war.

Conventional agriculture — Generally used to contrast common or traditional

agricultural practices featuring heavy reliance on chemical and energy inputs typical of largescale, mechanized farms to alternative agriculture or sustainable agriculture practices.

Mold-board plowing to cover stubble, routine pesticide spraying, and use of synthetic

fertilizers are examples of conventional practices that contrast to alternative practices such

as no-till, integrated pest management, and use of animal and green manures.

Conventional tillage — Tillage operations considered standard for a specific location and

crop and that tend to bury the crop residues; usually considered as a base for determining the

cost effectiveness of erosion control practices. See no-till farming.

Converted wetland — Under the swampbuster program, these are wetlands that were

drained or altered to improve agricultural production after December 23, 1985, the date

swampbuster was enacted. On lands with this designation, no drainage maintenance and no

additional drainage are allowed.

Conveyance loss — Water loss in pipes, channels, conduits, ditches by leakage or

evaporation.

Cooperative — An enterprise or organization owned by and operated for the benefit of those

using its services. In agriculture, such an organization is owned and used by farmers mainly

to handle the off-farm part of their businesses — buying farm supplies, marketing their

products, furnishing electric and telephone service, and providing business services —at cost.

Essential features are democratic control, limited return on capital, and operation at cost, with

distribution of financial benefits to individuals in proportion to their use of the services made

available by the cooperative (called patronage refunds). In 1997, there were 3,884 farmer

cooperatives in the United States. As a variation from the traditional design, so-called “new

generation cooperatives" are characterized by limited membership, require substantial

investment, and include delivery contracts. Producers are increasingly using this model to

create their own value-added business enterprises. The USDA's Rural BusinessCooperative Service (RBS) assists in forming new cooperative businesses and improving

the operations of existing cooperatives through technical assistance, research, information

products. Cooperatives are afforded certain antitrust exemptions by the Capper-Volstead

Act.

Cooperative Extension System — A federal-state-local cooperative education system that

provides continuing adult education based on the academic programs of the land grant

colleges of agriculture and their affiliated state agricultural experiment stations.

The system employs approximately 32,000 people located on land grant campuses and offices

in virtually every county in the nation. About half of Extension’s education programs focus

on agriculture and natural resources, one-quarter on youth development (including the

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vocational 4-H program), and the balance on home economics and community resource

development work.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) — The

USDA agency that administers federal funds appropriated for agricultural and forestry

research, extension, and education programs at eligible institutions, including the land grant

colleges of agriculture in the states, selected veterinary schools, and other institutions with

capabilities in the food and agricultural science arena. The agency administers formula

funds to the 1862 land grant colleges under the Hatch Act of 1887, the Smith-Lever

Act of 1914 and the McIntire-Stennis Act of 1962; Evans-Allen funds for research

programs at the 1890 land grant colleges; the National Research Initiative (NRI)

Competitive Grants program; the Special Grants program; grants for higher education; and

the research portion of the Fund for Rural America. http://www.reeusda.gov/

Cooperator program — Officially known as the Foreign Market Development

Program (FMDP). One of several agricultural export promotion programs operated by the

Foreign Agricultural Service. This program consists of joint government/agri-industry

efforts to develop markets by acquainting potential foreign customers with U.S. farm

products. Activities under this program include providing technical assistance to prospective

foreign buyers, overseas food exhibits, product demonstrations and advertising aimed at

foreign consumers. FAS shares the financing of these projects with the “cooperators,” which

are nonprofit commodity trade associations primarily composed of producer-based farm

groups.

Coordinated review effort (CRE) — Food and Consumer Service reviews of the

National School Lunch Program conducted in cooperation with state agencies to improve

the management of the programs, evaluate meal data accuracy, and provide training and

technical support to schools to help improve local program accountability.

Corn Belt — That area of the United States where corn is a principal cash crop, including

Iowa, Indiana, most of Illinois, and parts of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota,

Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

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

for U.S. corn gluten feeds.

Corn/hog ratio — See hog/corn ratio, and feed ratio.

Corporate farm — A form of farm ownership which is a separate legal entity from the

owners of the farm. Changes in the tax law in the 1970s encouraged the incorporation of

farms as corporate tax rates declined while individual tax rates rose, mainly because of

inflation. The 1992 Census of Agriculture reports that less than 4%, or nearly 73,000, of the

1.925 million farms in the nation were corporate farms. By contrast, more than 1.653 million

(86%) were individual or family-owned operations and 186,000 (10%) were partnerships.

Cosmetic appearance — Section 1351 of the FACT Act of 1990 defines the term as

“the exterior appearance of an agricultural commodity, including changes to that appearance

resulting from superficial damage or other alterations that do not significantly affect yield,

taste, or nutritional value.” The Agricultural Marketing Service sets grades and standards

for many agricultural commodities. Some consumer and environmental groups have argued

that some of these standards are harmful because they encourage excessive pesticide use

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merely to make fruits and vegetables “attractive.” Agricultural interests disagree, countering

that consumers prefer blemish-free produce and that cosmetic standards are no less important

than other grading factors.

Cost/benefit analysis — A quantitative and sometimes qualitative evaluation of the costs

which would be incurred by some action (such as implementing an environmental regulation)

versus the overall benefits to society of the proposed action.

Cost-containment (for WIC) — Refers to statutory provisions in the Child Nutrition

Act of 1966 that require state agencies to contain WIC program costs, particularly with

respect to the cost of infant formula sold through the program. See also competitive

bidding and sole source bids.

Cost, insurance, and freight (C.I.F.) — In general, c.i.f. means that the seller’s price

includes the cost of the goods, the marine insurance, and all transportation charges to the

named point of destination. Similar terms include C.&F., cost and freight; C.F.I., cost,

freight, and insurance; C.I.F. & C., cost, insurance, freight, and commission; C.I.F.C. & I.,

cost, insurance, freight, commission, and interest; and C.I.F.I. & E., cost, insurance, freight,

interest, and exchange. C.A.F. is the French form of C.I.F.

Cost of production — The average unit cost (including purchased inputs and other

expenses) of producing an agricultural commodity. The Agricultural and Consumer

Protection Act of 1973 requires USDA to make annual estimates of the average cost of

producing selected commodities. These cost of production estimates have been used by

Congress in considering farm policy options.

Cotton competitiveness provisions — A series of provisions in the cotton support

program, including step two payments and import quotas, that are intended to encourage

the consumption of U.S. cotton even when its price may be higher than foreign cotton.

Cottonseed Oil Assistance Program (COAP) — Along with the Sunflower Oil

Assistance Program (SOAP), COAP is one of two programs under which bonuses were

awarded to exporters to assist in exports of U.S. vegetable oil to targeted markets. Funds for

the programs were authorized to be made available under Section 32 of the Agricultural

Adjustment Act of 1935. The provision in the Disaster Assistance Act of 1988 that

authorized the COAP to begin in fiscal year 1989 expired at the end of fiscal year 1995.

However, the Agriculture Appropriations Act of 1996 provided authority to operate the

program in fiscal year 1996. COAP was not reauthorized by the FAIR Act of 1996,

although export subsidies for cottonseed oil can be financed under the Export Enhancement

Program (EEP).

Countertrade — A trade transaction of goods and services without the exchange of money.

Forms of countertrade include barter, buy-back or compensation, counter-purchase, offset

requirements, swap, or triangular trade.

Countervailing duty — A charge levied on an imported article to offset the unfair price

advantage it holds due to a subsidy paid to producers or exporters by the government of the

exporting country. Section 303 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, provides for

an assessment equal to the amount of the subsidy, in addition to other duties and fees normally

paid on the imported article. Countervailing duties are permitted under Article 6 of the

GATT.

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Country-of-origin labeling — Under Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as

amended, most products entering the United States must be clearly marked so that the

“ultimate purchaser” can identify the country of origin. Imported meat products are subject

to this requirement: imported carcasses and parts of carcasses must be labeled, and individual

retail (consumer-ready) packages also must be labeled. Imported carcasses or parts generally

go to U.S. plants for further processing. The labeling policy considers these plants as the

“ultimate purchasers.” Therefore, any products these plants make from the imported meat

(for example, ground beef patties made in the United States from beef that originated in

Canada or elsewhere) do not have to bear country-of-origin labels. A number of other

agricultural articles are exempt from the basic country-of-origin labeling requirements: eggs,

livestock and other animals, live or dead; and other “natural products” such as fruits,

vegetables, nuts and berries. (However, the outermost containers used to bring these articles

into the United States must indicate the country of origin.) There is an interest among U.S.

farmers to require more extensive labeling of agricultural products (especially meats and

produce). At issue are whether consumers would be more likely to buy the U.S. alternative

if such labeling is more prevalent and whether foreign countries might view such a change as

a nontariff trade barrier.

County committees — Panels of three to five farmers, elected by other farmers, to oversee

the local operation of commodity programs, credit, and other programs of the Farm

Service Agency. County committees, established by the Soil Conservation and

Domestic Allotment Act of 1935, are so named because they have overseen USDA field

offices for farmers that once existed in most rural farm counties throughout the United States.

Today, the committees often oversee activities in multi-county areas, due to USDA

reorganization and consolidation of its field office structure into a network of about 2,500

field service centers. The committees are responsible for hiring and supervising the

County Executive Director (CED), who manages the day-to-day activities of the field

service center and its employees. The director and most county office staff legally are

employees of the farmer-elected committees rather than the federal government, although their

salaries come from federal funds.

County Executive Director (CED) — The supervisor hired by the Farm Service Agency

county committee to manage the day-to day activities of a field service center (formerly

called the county office).

County loan rate — Nonrecourse loan rates vary from county to county to account for

transportation cost differences to the nearest terminal elevator. The weighted average for all

county loan rates — the actual loan levels received by farmers — in the United States must

equal the national average loan rate, established by USDA according to limits set by

Congress.

County office — Usually refers to the local office of the Farm Service Agency, where

farmers go to conduct business associated with federal farm commodity and credit programs,

and some conservation programs. As a result of reorganization in 1994, local offices are

increasingly shared with other USDA agencies having local representatives, such as the

Natural Resources Conservation Service. Offices shared by several agencies are called

field service centers.

County payments — Forest Service payments of 25% of gross revenues from each

national forest to the states for use on road and school programs in the counties where the

national forests are located. Technically known as Payments to States, because the states

determine which road and school programs can be funded, but 100% of the payments are

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allocated to the counties based on the national forest acreage in each county. Commonly

confused with Payments in lieu of taxes.

Cover crop — A close-growing crop, planted primarily as a rotation between regularly

planted crops, or between trees and vines in orchards and vineyards, to protect soil from

erosion and improve it between periods of regular crops, or.

Cow-calf operator — A ranch or farm where cows are raised and bred mainly to produce

calves usually destined for the beef market. The cows produce a calf crop each year, and the

operation keeps some heifer calves from each calf crop for breeding herd replacements. The

rest of the calf crop is sold between the ages of 6 and 12 months along with old or

nonproductive cows and bulls. Such calves often are sold to producers who raise them as

feeder cattle.

CP — Contracting party

CPI — Consumer price index

CRBSC — Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program

CRC — Crop Revenue Coverage (See Revenue insurance.)

CRES — Conservation Reporting and Evaluation System

Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) — A sporadic and rare, but fatal human disease that

usually strikes people over 65. It occurs worldwide at an estimated annual rate of one case

per million population. About 10-15% of CJD cases are inherited. A small number of cases

occurred as the result of various medical treatments or procedures which inadvertently

transferred the CJD agent. In March 1996, the British government announced a possible link

between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and CJD. The announcement was

prompted by the discovery of several atypical cases of CJD in Great Britain.

Critical control point — An operation (practice, procedure, process, or location) at or by

which preventive or control measures can be exercised that will eliminate, prevent, or

minimize one or more hazards. Critical control points are fundamental to Hazard Analysis

and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems, which are now being adopted by the food

industry to prevent health hazards in the food supply.

Critical habitat — Under the Endangered Species Act, critical habitat is an area

essential to the conservation of a listed species, though the area need not actually be occupied

by the species at the time it is designated. Critical habitat must be designated for all

threatened and endangered species under the Act (with certain specified exceptions). The

areas may be federal or nonfederal land, but only the federal government is required to protect

it. A federal agency with whom a landowner is dealing must ensure that its actions (which

may include giving a loan, increasing irrigation flows, etc.) do not adversely modify these

areas.

Crop acreage base — A crop-specific measure equal to the average number of acres

planted (or considered planted) to a particular program crop for the previous five years. The

sum of the crop acreage bases for all program crops on a farm may not exceed the farm

acreage. The acreage base was used in determining the number of acres a farmer, under an

acreage reduction program, had to remove from normal crop production and devote to

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conserving uses in order to be eligible for USDA price and income supports. The FAIR

Act of 1996 suspends the base acreage provisions of the permanent law.

Crop insurance — A multiperil crop insurance program available for a fee (premium) to

the producers of most crops as protection against significant yield losses from natural hazards.

The present Federal Crop Insurance Program is a comprehensive, subsidized, all-risk

program that provides different degrees of protection for different premium amounts.

Crop reports — Reports compiled by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service

(NASS) on various commodities that are released throughout the year. Information in the

reports includes estimates on planted acreage, yield, and expected production, as well as

comparison of production from previous years.

Crop residue — That portion of a plant, such as a corn stalk, left in the field after harvest.

Crop residues are measured for farmers who use conservation tillage to implement their

conservation plans to meet conservation compliance requirements. These farmers are

required to maintain a minimum level of crop residue to be in compliance. Under revisions

to the conservation compliance program in the FAIR Act of 1996, farmers are allowed to

use third parties, certified by USDA, to measure levels of crop residue.

Crop rotation — The growing of different crops, in recurring succession, on the same land

in contrast to monoculture cropping. Rotation usually is done to replenish soil fertility and

to reduce pest populations in order to increase the potential for high levels of production in

future years.

Crop year — Generally refers to USDA-designated 12-month period for each crop that

begins with that crop’s typical month of harvest (see marketing year).

Cropland — Land used primarily for the production of row crops, close-growing crops, and

fruit and nut crops. It includes cultivated and noncultivated acreage, but not land enrolled in

the Conservation Reserve Program. Approximately 382 million acres of cropland,

including 50 million acres of irrigated land, was in use in the United States during the most

recent national resources inventory, conducted in 1992. Cropland is 30% of all nonfederal rural lands. In 1996, the value of production from cropland was about $108 billion.

Cross compliance — A no longer used requirement that a farmer who participates in a

price support program for one crop must also participate in price support programs for

other crops grown on the same farm.

CRP — Conservation Reserve Program

Crush spread — In the soybean futures market, the simultaneous purchase of soybean

futures and the sale of soybean meal and soybean oil futures to establish a processing margin.

See gross processing margin.

CSCE — Coffee, Sugar, and Cocoa Exchange

CSE — Consumer subsidy equivalent

CSFP — Commodity Supplemental Food Program

CSPI — Center for Science in the Public Interest

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CSREES — Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

CSRS — Cooperative State Research Service (See Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service.)

CU — Consumers’ Union

Custom feeders — Producers who provide the service of feeding animals (e.g., cattle, hogs)

they do not own, in return for a fee paid by someone else (such as a packer) who does own

the animals. Custom feeding potentially provides packers with more control over supplies and

prices of animals. Custom feeding is a form of vertical integration.

Customs union — An agreement between two or more countries to remove trade barriers

between each other and to establish common tariff and nontariff policies with respect to other

countries. The European Community (EC) of the European Union (EU) is the best

know customs union.

CVD — Countervailing duty

CVM — Center for Veterinary Medicine

CWA — Clean Water Act (Federal Water Pollution Control Act)

CWB — Canadian Wheat Board

cwt. — Hundredweight, or one hundred pounds

CXT — Common external tariff

CY — Crop year; calendar year

CYFAR — Children, Youth and Families at Risk Program

CZMA — Coastal Zone Management Act

Dacthal (DCPA) — A selective herbicide, trade name Dacthal, used especially on

vegetables. DCPA and its breakdown products are environmentally significant and became

the most commonly detected pesticide residues in an EPA survey of drinking water wells

conducted during 1988-1990.

Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983 — P.L. 98-180 (November 29, 1983) was

designated the Dairy And Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983. Title I authorized a

voluntary dairy diversion program, which was operated between January 1984 and

March 1985. Producers who elected to participate in the program and reduce their milk

marketings by between 5 and 30% below their base production were paid $10 per hundred

pounds (cwt.) for these reductions. For a 16-month period (12/1/83- 3/31/85), all dairy

farmers were assessed 50 cents per cwt. on all milk marketed to help defray the cost of the

diversion program. The Act also authorized a national dairy check-off program for dairy

product promotion, research and nutrition education. This self-help program is funded

through a permanent 15-cent per cwt. assessment on all milk production, and is administered

by a board of dairy farmers who are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Title II was

designated the Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983. Title II provided for reduced levels of

CRS-45

price support for tobacco, the prohibition of lease and transfer of flue-cured quota, the

mandatory sale of allotments and quotas by nonfarming entities, the required inspection of

imported tobacco, and various other modifications to the tobacco programs.

Dairy Diversion Program — A voluntary supply control program authorized by the

Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983, under which producers in 1984-85

received payments, of $10 per cwt., for reducing their milk marketings by between 5 to 30%

below an earlier base period.

Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP) — A program that offers subsidies to

exporters of U.S. dairy products to help them compete with other nations. USDA pays cash

to exporters as bonuses to help them sell certain U.S. dairy products at prices below the

exporter’s cost of acquiring them. The program was originally authorized by the Food

Security Act of 1985 and extended by the FACT Act of 1990 and the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act of 1994. The total tonnage and dollar amounts of these and other export

subsidies have been limited by the recent Uruguay Round multilateral trade agreement. The

FAIR Act of 1996 extends the program through 2002, and permits its use for market

development in addition to offsetting the subsidies of other countries.

Dairy Price Support Program — The federal program that maintains a minimum farm

price for milk used in the manufacture of dairy products. The CCC indirectly assures a

minimum price for milk by purchasing any cheddar cheese, nonfat dry milk, and butter offered

to it by dairy processors at stated prices. These purchase prices are set high enough to enable

dairy processors to pay farmers at least the support price for the milk they use in

manufacturing these products. The support price is $10.20 per hundred pounds of milk (cwt.)

in 1997. It will decrease to $10.05/cwt in 1998, and $9.90/cwt in 1999. Under provisions

of the FAIR Act of 1996, the dairy price support program is scheduled to terminate on

December 31, 1999.

Dairy Promotion Program — The Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 authorized

a national producer program for dairy product promotion, research, and nutrition education

as part of a comprehensive strategy to increase human consumption of milk and dairy

products and to reduce dairy surpluses. Dairy farmers fund this self-help program through

a mandatory 15-cent per hundredweight assessment on all milk produced in the 48 contiguous

states and marketed commercially. Dairy farmers can direct up to 10 cents of this assessment

for contributions to qualified regional, state or local dairy product promotion, research or

nutrition education programs. The national program is administered by the National Dairy

Promotion and Research Board (Dairy Board), a group of 36 dairy farmers appointed by the

Secretary of Agriculture to staggered 3-year terms. This program should not be confused with

the processor funded Fluid Milk Promotion Program.

Dairy Termination Program — Also called the whole herd buyout, this program was

authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985. Under it, farmers received USDA payments

for agreeing to remove their entire dairy herds from production for 5 years.

Data call-in — A part of the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) process of developing key

required test data, especially on the long-term, chronic effects of existing pesticides, in

advance of scheduled Registration Standard reviews. Data call-in from manufacturers is an

adjunct of the registration standards program intended to expedite re-registration.

DC — District Conservationist

CRS-46

DDT — The abbreviated name of a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide, dichlorodiphenyl-trichloromethane. It is persistent in the environment and biomagnifies in birds of

prey. EPA canceled U.S. registration of virtually all but emergency uses of DDT in 1972.

Debt-asset ratio — A financial ratio that measures the percentage of a farm operator’s

assets that are financed by debt. For example, a ratio of 0.4 means that for every $100 of

assets the operator has $40 of debt. The ratio indicates to a lender the degree of security of

a loan. Higher values indicate greater risk. Although a safe or acceptable level varies greatly

by enterprise, a debt-asset ratio in excess of 0.4 may indicate financial stress. A ratio of 0

means that the operator owes no debt; a ratio greater than 1 means that the borrower’s debts

exceed the value of assets, indicating the insolvency of the farm business.

Decoupling — The concept of separating federal farm payments from the requirement that

farmers produce specified program crops and/or divert land from production. A chief goal

of decoupling is to remove a seemingly inherent contradiction in traditional policy: asking

farmers to reduce production, while implicitly encouraging more output by tying their benefits

to each unit produced. The decoupling concept was first introduced during debate over policy

options in the 1985 omnibus farm bill, and was effectively implemented by policy changes

made by the FAIR Act of 1996.

Deferred pricing — A cash forward contract that provides for determining price by

formula at a later date. This also may be called “booking the basis,” when the formula sets

price relative to a futures price.

Deficiency payments — Direct government payments made to farmers who participated

in an annual commodity program for wheat, feed grains, rice, or cotton, prior to 1996.

The crop-specific deficiency payment rate was based on the difference between the

legislatively set target price and the lower national average market price during a specified

time. The total payment was equal to the payment rate, multiplied by a farm’s eligible

payment acreage and the program payment yield established for the particular farm. In

the latter years of the program, farmers could receive up to one-half of their projected

deficiency payments at program signup. If actual deficiency payments, which were

determined after the crop year, were less than advance deficiency payments, the farmer

was required to reimburse the government for the difference, except for zero, 50/85-92

payments. The FAIR Act of 1996 eliminated deficiency payments and replaced them with

production flexibility contract payments.

Defoliant — An herbicide that removes leaves from trees and growing plants.

DEIP — Dairy Export Incentive Program

Delaney Clause — The Delaney Clause in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

(FFDCA) states that no additive shall be deemed to be safe for human food if it is found to

induce cancer in man or animals. It is an example of the zero tolerance concept in food

safety policy. The Delaney prohibition appears in three separate parts of the FFDCA: Section

409 on food additives; Section 512, relating to animal drugs in meat and poultry; and Section

721 on color additives. The Section 409 prohibition applied to many pesticide residues until

enactment of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-170, August 3, 1996).

This legislation removed pesticide residue tolerances from Delaney Clause constraints.

CRS-47

Delayed pricing — A type of deferred pricing that provides for transfer of title before the

price is determined and final settlement made. Contracts including this feature are sometimes

called “price-later” contracts.

Delivery — In settlement of a futures contract, the tender and receipt of the actual

commodity, the cash value of the commodity, or of a delivery instrument covering the

commodity (e.g., warehouse receipts or shipping certificates). Futures contracts may be

settled by delivery, but more often they are settled by offset or cash. Each futures exchange

has specific procedures for delivery of a commodity.

Delivery month — The specified month within which a futures contract matures and can

be settled by delivery. Also referred to as contract month.

Delivery point — A location where a commodity can be delivered to fulfill a futures

contract.

Dermal toxicity — The ability of a pesticide or other chemical to poison people or animals

via skin contact. Many organophosphate pesticides exhibit high dermal toxicity.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) — USDA was originally established in 1862 and

raised to cabinet status in 1889. In FY1997 it had an employment level equal to about

113,000 staff years, working in some 30 separate agencies, carrying out program activities

valued at $84 billion, with net federal budgetary outlays of $57 billion. Forestry, natural

resource, and farm activities utilized 58% of the staff time. However, about 70% of USDA

expenditures went to domestic food assistance programs. Over 90% of the staff are located

in local, state, and regional field offices away from the Washington, DC, headquarters.

Approximately three-fourths of USDA spending is classified as mandatory spending, which

by definition is not constrained by the annual appropriations process. Eligibility for

mandatory programs is written into law; any individual or entity that meets the eligibility

requirements is entitled to a payment as authorized by the law. The vast majority of

mandatory spending is in the Food Stamp Program and certain other food and nutrition

programs, the farm commodity programs, the crop insurance program, and the

Conservation Reserve Program. The other roughly 25% of USDA budget is classified

as discretionary and is subject to annual appropriations, including rural development,

agricultural research and education, agricultural credit, international food aid, food marketing

and inspection, forestry, and certain nutrition programs. All USDA discretionary programs

are funded through an annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug

Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (except the Forest Service is

funded through the Department of Interior appropriations act). Annual appropriations are

made to the food stamp and other mandatory nutrition programs based on estimated spending

needs. However, supplemental appropriations are generally made if and when these estimates

fall short of required spending. An annual appropriation is made to the Commodity Credit

Corporation, which funds the commodity programs and the Conservation Reserve

Program, in order to cover its past net realized losses. Most, but not all, USDA programs are

under the congressional authorizing jurisdiction of the House Committee on Agriculture and

the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. http://www.usda.gov/

Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 — Title II of P.L. 103-354

(October 13, 1994) was designated the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994

and gave the Secretary of Agriculture broad authority to reorganize USDA to achieve greater

efficiency, effectiveness, and economy. The law called for consolidation of agencies and

offices, as well as a reduction in personnel of 7,500 by the end of FY1999.

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DES — Diethylstilbesterol

Desiccant — A chemical agent that absorbs moisture; desiccants can be used to control

insect pests or mildew, and also to dry foliage before harvest (as with potatoes). Desiccants

are regulated as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide

Act.

Designated uses of water — Water uses identified in state water quality standards that

must be achieved and maintained as required under the Clean Water Act. Uses can include

cold water fisheries, public water supply, irrigation, etc.

Desired future condition — Used to describe the future condition of federal rangeland

resources that meet management objectives. Desired future condition is based on ecological,

social, and economic considerations during the land and resource management planning

process. Desired future condition is usually expressed as ecological status or management

status of vegetation and desired soil qualities.

Desired plant community — The plant community that has been determined through a

land use or management plan to best meet the plan’s objectives for a site. A desired plant

community is consistent with the site’s capability to produce the required resource attributes

through natural succession, management intervention, or a combination of both.

Development easement — A legal agreement by which a landowner surrenders the right

to develop a designated parcel of property. Some local and state governments have programs

to acquire development easements from private landowners to prevent conversion of farmland

to other uses.

Diethylstibestrol (DES) — A synthetic estrogen hormone. DES

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