Descriptionary

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.

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.

haycock see cock.

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, curving blade held by a bent handle, used for mowing and reaping.

sickle a small version of a scythe with a straight, 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.

terracing plowing a shelf into a slope to slow water runoff.

thresh to separate grains or seeds from straw by beating the stems and husks.

thresher a machine that threshes.

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.