DESCRIPTIONARY OF LIVESTOCK AND FARMING
Descriptionary provides indispensable glossaries of terms to help you define and describe a subject you are writing about.
LIVESTOCK
abomasum - the fourth or true stomach of a ruminant, where most digestion takes place.
anthrax - a frequently fatal blood poisoning disease of cattle, sheep, and goats (pigs to a lesser degree) that is highly contagious and characterized by dark, bloody discharges from mouth, nose, and rectum.
boar - a male hog or pig.
buck - a male goat.
bummer - an orphaned lamb.
cloven-footed - having feet that are divided by clefts.
crossbreed - a cross between two different breeds; a hybrid.
crutching - trimming the wool around a ewe’s udder and flanks.
cud - regurgitated food chewed a second time and then reswallowed, part of the natural digestive process of ruminants
cull - to remove an undesirable animal from a herd.
dam - the mother of a pig, cow, sheep, or goat.
dewlap - a loose fold of skin hanging from the neck of some breeds of cattle.
disbud - to dehorn. Also known as to poll.
dock - to bob or cut off the end of a tail, usually of lambs for health reasons.
double-muscled - of some breeds of cattle, having bulging muscles and a rounded rump, supplying greater meat than other breeds.
elastration - livestock castration method in which a rubber band is wound tightly around the scrotum to cut off blood supply, ultimately resulting in the death, drying up, and falling off of the testicles.
estrus - the period when the female is sexually receptive to the male, or in heat.
ewe - a female sheep.
facing - trimming the wool around a ewe’s face.
farrow - a litter of pigs; to give birth to such a litter.
flock book - a register of purebred sheep.
flushing - a method of increasing fertility in animals by increasing their feed a few weeks prior to breeding.
fodder - various coarse foods for livestock, including cornstalks, hay, and straw.
foot-and-mouth - disease a long-lasting, highly contagious disease of cloven-footed animals characterized by fever and blisters in the mouth and around the hooves and teats.
gilt - a young sow who has not yet produced a litter.
grade - an animal with one purebred parent and one grade or scrub.
heat - the period of sexual arousal in animals, especially the estrus of females.
heifer - a young cow yet to produce young.
herdbook - a register of cattle or hog breeds.
hircine - like a goat; pertaining to goats.
kid - a young goat.
listeriosis - a brain inflammation disease in cattle, sheep, and goats associated with corn silage feeding and characterized by facial paralysis, a “depressed” look, and aimless wandering or walking in tight circles. Also known as circling disease.
mad cow disease - a disease of cattle, caused by proteins called prions, which clog brain cells. The prions are spread through the ingestion of infected tissue from a cow’s nervous system and are not destroyed by cooking the meat after slaughter.
mange - dermatitis caused by mite infestation, characterized by itching and wrinkling of the skin. Also known as barn itch.
mastitis - a common disease of sows, dairy goats, and dairy cattle, characterized by reduced milk flow, fever, lack of appetite, and a hot, swollen udder.
omasum - the third stomach of a ruminant.
ovine - like a sheep; pertaining to sheep.
pedigree - a written record or registry of the ancestry of an animal. Also, the registration certificate itself.
poll - to cut off or cut short the horns.
pollard - an animal with its horns removed.
porcine - like a pig; pertaining to a pig or hog.
purebred - an animal from two registered parents or from unmixed descent.
ram - a male sheep.
reticulum - the second stomach of a ruminant.
rumen - the first stomach of a ruminant.
ruminant - any of the cud-chewing animals, including cattle, sheep, and goats.
ruminate - to chew the cud.
rutting - sexual excitement of the male.
scours - severe diarrhea suffered by livestock animals.
scrub - an animal of unknown or unimproved ancestry.
service - to stud.
silage - green fodder stored in a silo.
sire - to father an animal; the father of an animal.
sow - an adult female pig.
stud - a male used for breeding.
swine - collective term for pigs or hogs.
switch - the hairy part of a tail.
taurine - like a bull; pertaining to bulls.
tribe - closely related families within a breed.
ungulate - any animal with hooves.
yearling - a newly born sheep or goat
FARMING
acre - a square of land measuring approximately 209 feet (61 m) per side.
auger - a spinning, spiral shaft that is used to convey grain in and out of storage bins.
baler - a machine that compresses and ties hay or straw into rectangles or round bales to facilitate storage.
barn raising - the erection of a new barn with the help of neighbors, family, and friends, a popular event in rural America.
bin - any storage unit, often concrete or corrugated metal, for grain.
biochemicals - environmentally friendly chemicals derived from natural sources, including enzymes, hormones, and pheromones, for use as insect repellants or to prevent insect mating and growth.
biosolids - either animal manure or sewage from sewage treatment plants, spread on fields to fertilize crops.
bocage - farmland divided into fields by hedges and small trees, especially in France.
broadcast - to spread seeds in a uniform manner.
bunker silo - a horizontal silo built above or below ground.
bushel - common unit of volume for the measurement of dry grains or produce, which may vary in weight according to the crop. A bushel of wheat, for example, weighs 60 pounds (28 kg), and a bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds (25 kg).
byre - a cow barn.
cash crops - any crops intended to be sold for money, as distinguished from crops grown to feed livestock or to be consumed by the farmer’s family.
cereal grains - the grains typically used in the manufacture of cereals, specifically barley, oats, rice, and wheat.
cock - a cone-shaped pile of hay or straw. Also known as a haycock.
combine - a large harvesting machine that cuts, threshes, cleans, and bags grain.
commodity - any agricultural goods.
compaction - compression of soil by tractors or other large farm machinery.
compost - decomposing organic matter used as fertilizer.
contour farming - plowing and planting that follows the contours of uneven terrain to help prevent water runoff and soil erosion.
corncrib - a storage building having slatted sides for the drying of corn.
cover crop - a fast-growing crop sown to prevent erosion of the soil.
cow path - a walled or fenced pathway leading from the barn and past crops to pasture for cows.
croft - a small subsistence farm—usually comprising no more than 5 acres—in Scotland. The term is sometimes applied to small farms in other countries as well.
crop dusting - applying pesticides on crops by airplane, helicopter, or other means.
cultivate - to develop soil with plowing and fertilizer in order to grow crops.
cultivator - an implement that breaks up the soil and uproots weeds around crops.
custom harvester - any company with equipment and transport vehicles hired by a farmer to harvest and deliver crops.
disk - to cut up the soil with rotating disks.
disk harrow - a harrowing implement employing metal disks to break up the soil.
domesticate - to tame, raise, and breed animals, usually for profit.
draft animal - any animal, such as a large horse or ox, bred or used for pulling.
drill - an apparatus pulled behind a tractor that cuts a groove in soil, drops seeds, and then covers the soil.
dry farming - collective term for the methods used to raise crops where there is little rainfall and no irrigation. The crops chosen are those well-adapted to near-drought conditions; moisture-stealing weeds are carefully culled, and a mulch is placed over the soil to keep moisture from evaporating too quickly in the sun.
elevator - a conveyor system that carries hay bales to the upper story of a barn.
erosion - the running or blowing off of soil, especially topsoil, caused by wind, rain, overgrazing by livestock, or too frequent cultivation.
extension agency - from an agricultural university, a research and educational branch set up to serve local farmers.
fallow - barren; to leave a field unseeded after plowing.
federal crop insurance - insurance provided to farmers from the U.S. government to protect against unforeseen hardship, such as storm damage, early frosts, plant diseases, pests, etc.
feed - a mix of grains and nutrients fed to livestock.
feed grains - corn, milo, and soybeans.
feed lot - an enclosed area where cattle are fed a high grade of feed to fatten them for market.
fertilizer - any nutrient added to the soil to enrich it for growing crops.
flail - a threshing or husk-loosening tool composed of two or more sticks attached by a chain that is swung at grain, largely outmoded due to modern harvesting methods.
flail chopper - a machine used to cut and load standing forage crops.
fodder - livestock feed, such as cornstalks, hay, and straw.
forage harvester - a machine that cuts up forage such as corn.
4-H - an agricultural organization through which children and teens learn various aspects of farming.
frost hollow - a low area or hollow that tends to draw cold air from higher elevations and thus produces more killing frosts, avoided by farmers.
frost hollow - a low area or hollow that tends to draw cold air from higher elevations and thus produces more killing frosts, avoided by farmers.
furrow - the long channel or rut cut into soil by a plow.
grain elevator - a large storage facility for grain, usually made up of multiple bins, silos, or tanks.
grange - a local organization of farmers that serves as a social outlet and center for support.
green manure - crop a crop, such as legumes, that restores nitrogen to the soil.
harrow - an implement having either spikes or disks for leveling, breaking up clods, and refining plowed soil.
harvest - to pick crops by hand, or to gather them through use of a farm machine, such as a combine.
harvester - any reaping machine.
hay - any grasses cut and prepared for livestock feed. As a verb, to cut and prepare grasses for fodder.
hayfork - a pitchfork.
hayloft - an upper story of a barn, where hay is stored.
headland - the unplowed perimeter of a field, where the tractor and equipment can be driven and maneuvered without damaging crops.
herbicide - any chemical used to kill weeds.
humus - nutrient-rich part of soil that contains naturally composted plant matter or manure.
husbandry - the business of farming.
hydroponic - a method of growing through which plants are fed nutrients without the use of soil.
insecticide - any chemical used to kill insects.
ley farming - sowing an arable plot with grass to be used as pasture for several years.
livestock - any farm animals, such as cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, or others, usually raised for profit.
manure - waste matter from farm animals, often spread on soil to enrich it.
manure spreader - a machine used to spread fertilizer uniformly.
moldboard plow - the classic, wedge-shaped plow, used by farmers for centuries.
monoculture - the raising of the same crop in the same fields year after year.
mower - a machine that cuts or mows hay.
organic farming - natural farming that uses no chemicals, artificial fertilizers, insecticides, etc.
pastoral farming - the breeding and raising of cattle, sheep, horses, goats, reindeer, or other grass-eating animals.
pasture - grass fields for grazing livestock.
pesticide - any chemical used to kill insects.
planter - a seeding machine that meters out and distributes seeds at uniform depths and intervals.
plow - to turn over the soil to prepare it for planting, often done by a tractor. Also the tractor itself.
plowshare - the cutting edge of a moldboard plow.
rake - a tined or toothed implement pulled by a tractor to gather loose hay or to windrow hay for baling.
rotation of crops - changing the type of crops grown in a field each year or every few years to help control weeds, pests, and diseases and to help maintain the fertility of the soil.
scythe - an old-fashioned implement composed of a long one-handed handle.
silage - chopped feed that may be composed of any numbers of crops, including grasses, corn, clover, or sorghum, and fermented in storage for use in winter.
silo - a cylindrical storage building for fodder.
spreader - any machine used to spread manure, lime, or other material in a uniform fashion.
straw - the stems of plants, such as wheat, used for animal bedding.
subsistence farming - crops and animals raised not to be sold but to be consumed by the farmer’s family.
thresh - to separate grains or seeds from straw by beating the stems and husks.
tiller - an implement having rotary tillers or blades for breaking up or plowing soil.
timothy - the most commonly grown hay grass on U.S. farms.
truck farming - intense farming of vegetable crops and their quick shipment to market by trucks.
waterway - any human-made, canal-like trough for catching and directing runoff away from cultivated areas.
weed - any unwanted plant that competes with crops for nutrients and water.
windrow - a long pile of hay left to dry in a field before being baled or bundled.
By Marc McCutcheon in the book 'DESCRIPTIONARY, Fourth Edition, Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing, New York, 2010, p.16-18 & 392-394. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.
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