Business / Agriculture Glossary

Small Farm: Although there is no official, widely accepted definition of a small farm, the Small Farms Commission described it, for purposes of its 1997 study, as one with less than $250,000 in gross re . . . View Full Definition

Small Hog Operation Payment (SHOP): A $50 million program, announced January 12, 1999, that makes direct farm payments of up to $5 per hog on the first 500 hogs marketed during the last 6 months of 1998. Operations marketing 1 . . . View Full Definition

Smith-Lever Act Of 1914: P.L. 63-95 (May 8, 1914) authorized and provided initial funding for states to establish an educational outreach arm to 'extend' the results of research programs at the land grant colleges o . . . View Full Definition

Sodbuster: A program created by Title 12 of the Food Security Act of 1985 designed to discourage the plowing up of erosion-prone grasslands for use as cropland. If such highly erodible land is used for . . . View Full Definition

Soil: In the United States, about 70,000 kinds of soil are recognized in the nationwide system of classification. Each has a unique set of characteristics and a potential for use. These characteri . . . View Full Definition

Soil Bank Act: Title I of the Agricultural Act of 1956 (P.L. 84-540), designated the Soil Bank Act, created the Acreage Reserve Program to retire land producing basic commodities under an annual agreement . . . View Full Definition

Soil Bank Program: A federal program of the late 1950s and early 1960s that paid farmers to retire land from production for 10 years: the predecessor to today’s Conservation Reserve Program. Some elements in t . . . View Full Definition

Soil Conditioner: An organic material like humus or compost that helps soil absorb water, build a bacterial community, and take up mineral nutrients.

Soil Conservation And Domestic Allotment Act Of 1936: P.L. 74-46 (February 26, 1936) was designed to support farm income by making soil-conservation and soil-building payments to participating farmers. This design overcame the unconstitutional . . . View Full Definition

Soil Conservation District: A legal subdivision of state government, with a locally elected governing body, responsible for developing and carrying out a program of soil and water conservation within a geographic bound . . . View Full Definition

Soil Conservation Service (SCS): Replaced by a new USDA agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service after USDA reorganization in 1994. Responsibilities include carrying out technical assistance programs in cooperatio . . . View Full Definition

Soil Loss Tolerance (T Value): For a specific soil, the maximum average annual soil loss expressed as tons per acre per year that will permit current production levels to be maintained economically and indefinitely. T val . . . View Full Definition

Soil Moisture Zone: Depth of soil from which plant roots extract water.

Soil Quality (Health): Soil quality includes consideration of measures related to both productivity for crops and environmental factors.

Soil Series: A group of soils having horizons (or layers) similar in characteristics and arrangement in the soil profile, except for the texture of the surface portion. They are given proper names from p . . . View Full Definition

Soil Solarization: Fumigating and warming soil by covering it with black plastic. This is an alternative pest control technique being investigated as an alternative to the use of methyl bromide (a chemical fum . . . View Full Definition

Soil Sterilant: A chemical that temporarily or permanently prevents the growth of all plants and animals, depending on the chemical. Soil sterilants must be registered as pesticides.

Soil Survey: A program of the Natural Resources Conservation Service to inventory soil resources as a basis for determining land capabilities and conservation treatments that are needed, provide soil inf . . . View Full Definition

Sole Source Bid: This refers to the required bidding process for infant formula sold through the WIC program. It offers an infant formula manufacturer the option of bidding to be the only provider of infant . . . View Full Definition

Solid Waste: Non-liquid, non-soluble materials ranging from municipal garbage to industrial wastes that contain complex and sometimes hazardous substances. Solid wastes also include sewage sludge, agricu . . . View Full Definition

Sound Science: A phrase generally used in a political context to rhetorically challenge the validity of the other side’s arguments. The phrase has arisen in agricultural trade disputes when a country impos . . . View Full Definition

Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program: Originally authorized under the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 to buy commodities for soup kitchens and food banks not participating in the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP). Program a . . . View Full Definition

Southern Dairy Compact: An agreement among Southern U.S. states that would allow member states to jointly establish a minimum farm price for fluid milk that is above the federally mandated minimum price level in th . . . View Full Definition

Special And Differential Treatment (S and D): A set of GATT provisions (in Article 18) that exempts developing countries from the same strict trade rules and disciplines of more industrialized countries. In the Uruguay Round Agreement o . . . View Full Definition

Special Milk Program: Offers federal reimbursements for each half-pint of milk served to a child in a participating outlet, which generally is any school or facility caring for children that does not participate . . . View Full Definition

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