Business / Agriculture Glossary

Fungibility: The characteristic of interchangeability. Bulk commodities are generally described as fungible, whereas those with special characteristics may be marketed as identity preserved. Futures cont . . . View Full Definition

Fungicide: Any pesticide used to control, deter, or destroy fungi, which are forms of plant life (including molds and yeasts) that lack chlorophyll and are unable to make their own food (such as the pl . . . View Full Definition

Furrow Irrigation: Small, shallow channels guide water across the surface of a leveled field. Crops are typically grown on a ridge or raised bed between the furrows. This is the major irrigation system that is . . . View Full Definition

Futures Contract: A standardized agreement calling for deferred delivery of a commodity, or its equivalent, entered through organized futures exchanges. Most agricultural futures contracts call for physical d . . . View Full Definition

Futures Price: (1) Commonly held to mean the price of a commodity for future delivery that is traded on a futures exchange. (2) The price of any futures contract.

Gas Chromatograph - Mass Spectrometer: An analytical technique for identifying the molecular composition and concentrations of various chemicals in water and soil samples.

Gasohol: Registered trade name for a blend consisting of 90% unleaded gasoline and 10% fermentation ethanol. Gasohol emissions contain less carbon monoxide than those from gasoline.

General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade (GATT): An agreement originally negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland in 1947 to increase international trade by reducing tariffs and nontariff trade barriers. The agreement provides a code of conduct f . . . View Full Definition

General Sales Manager (GSM): General Sales Manager of the Foreign Agricultural Service. This office administers the export credit guarantee programs (GSM-102 and GSM-103), the export enhancement program, the P.L. 480 pr . . . View Full Definition

Generalized System Of Preferences (GSP): First authorized by the Trade Act of 1974, GSP allows some 140 developing countries to ship more than 3,000 products to the United States duty-free. This helps developing countries to genera . . . View Full Definition

Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS): A regulatory category created for a group of food additives that were exempted from the more rigorous regulatory requirements for food additives in the 1958 Food Additives Amendment to the F . . . View Full Definition

Generic Advertising And Promotion: The promotion of a particular commodity without reference to a specific producer, brand name, or manufacturer. Because individual producers of nearly homogeneous agricultural commodities can . . . View Full Definition

Generic Certificates: Commodity certificates used by the CCC in the 1980s to meet payment obligations and simultaneously dispose of commodity inventories.

Genetic Engineering: The use of recombinant DNA or other specific molecular gene transfer or exchange techniques to add desirable traits to plants, animals, or other organisms, or to enhance biological processes . . . View Full Definition

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO): A term, currently used most often in international trade discussions, that designates crops that carry new traits that have been inserted through advanced genetic engineering methods (e.g., . . . View Full Definition

Genome: All the genetic material in the chromosomes of a particular organism. USDA’s research agencies have a Plant Genome Mapping Program to identify, characterize, and map the position of agricult . . . View Full Definition

Geographic Information System (GIS): Computerized systems used to compile, retrieve, analyze, and display spatially referenced data. Farming activities that utilize GIS typically include harvesting, fertilizing, pest control, s . . . View Full Definition

Germicide: Any compound that kills disease-causing microorganisms. Germicides must be registered by the Environmental Protection Agency as pesticides.

Gleaning: Collecting unharvested crops from fields or obtaining unused agricultural products from farmers, processors, or retailers, usually for distribution to food banks and charitable feeding organizations.

Global Positioning System (GPS): A network of satellites that can be used by ground-based units to precisely determine their location by latitude and longitude. GPS is part of the infrastructure required to operate geograph . . . View Full Definition

Good Manufacturing Practices (Gmps): Standards published in the Code of Federal Regulations and used by the Food and Drug Administration to ensure the quality of marketed products and that products are produced under sanitary c . . . View Full Definition

Good Samaritan Laws: With respect to food and agriculture programs, these laws are designed to encourage the donation of food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations serving the needy by minimizing the r . . . View Full Definition

Government Performance And Results Act (GPRA): This 1993 law (P.L. 103-62) requires most federal agencies, including USDA , to develop and adhere to new planning, evaluation, and reporting requirements, such as mission statements, 6-year . . . View Full Definition

Grade A Milk: Milk produced under sufficiently sanitary conditions to qualify for fluid (beverage) consumption. Also referred to as fluid grade milk. Only Grade A milk is regulated under federal milk mark . . . View Full Definition

Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance: Minimum standards and requirements for Grade A milk production and processing are outlined in the Grade A Pasturized Milk Ordinance (PMO) published by the Food and Drug Administration. Grade . . . View Full Definition

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