Glossary Entries beginning with D

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Glossary of Agricultural Production, Programs and Policy

4th Edition

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DDT: A widely used, colorless, odorless, water-insoluble synthetic pesticide that attacks the nervous system of animals and birds. DDT is a persistent, broad-spectrum pesticide that lingers in the environment and accumulates in the food chain. Because of damage to wildlife and the potential harm to human health, DDT was banned in 1972 in the U.S.
DELMARVA: The peninsula of land where Delaware (three counties), Maryland (nine counties), and Virginia (two counties) converge. This area, known for poultry production, is situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, and is also referred to as the "Eastern Shore."
DES Proviso: As part of the 1962 Drug Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, Congress stated that the Delaney Clause shall not bar approval of carcinogenic drugs and feed additives administered to food-producing animals, if upon examination by methods acceptable to the Food and Drug Administration, no residueof the material could be found in the edible tissues of the animals. TheEnvironmental Protection Agency has interpreted this to mean no residue above a level judged by theFDA to be safe.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid; a polymeric chromosomal constituent of living cell nuclei, composed of deoxyribose (a sugar), phosphoric acid, and four nitrogen basesCadenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. It contains the genetic information for living organisms, and consists of two strands in the shape of a double helix. A gene is a piece of DNA.
DON: SeeDeoxynivalenol (DON).
Daily liveweight gain: The live weight gain of an animal divided by the number of days between two weighings.
Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP): A program first authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 that offered subsidies to exporters of U.S. dairy products to help them compete with other subsidizing nations. Payments were made by the Commodity Credit Corporation, on a bid basis, either in cash, in-kind, or through certificates redeemable for commodities. The payment rates reflected the type of dairy products exported, the domestic and world prices of dairy products, and other factors. Eligible sales had to be in addition to, and not in place of, those that would normally be made, and payments could not displace commercial export sales. The program was reactivated in 1997. The program authorization was extended until 2002 by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 and until 2007 by theFarm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1503(a)). The DEIP is subject to Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture reduction commitments.
Dairy Forward Pricing Pilot Program: See Forward Price Contract Pilot Program.
Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA): An organization whose program is operated jointly with the USDA and the land grant universities to aid dairy producers in keeping milk production and management records. The program assists dairymen in designing breeding programs and testing milk for fat, protein, and solids. The organization collects and processes data, and establishes other programs that may increase dairy farmprofitability.
Dairy Import Licensing Program: See Dairy tariff-rate import quota licensing.
Dairy Indemnity Program (DIP): A federal program, begun in 1964, that repays dairy producers and manufacturers of dairy products who, through no fault of their own, suffer income losses on milk or milk products removed from commercial markets because such milk or milk products suffer contamination from registered pesticides. The program also authorizes payments to dairy producers for losses resulting from the removal of cows or dairy products from the market due to nuclear radiation or fallout, and residues of chemicals or toxic substances that may or may not result from the use of registered pesticides. Authority for the program expired September 30, 1985, and the program was not reauthorized in subsequent farm bills. However, annual appropriationswere made available by Congress. The program was reauthorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1503(b)). It was formerly known as the Dairy Indemnity Payment Program (DIPP).
Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI): Established in March 1994, a joint undertaking of the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. DMI's purpose is to provide better coordination of producer promotion funds by having a joint plan, joint budget, and joint execution. DMI works with state and regional organizations to ensure the future success of the dairy industry by integrating marketing, promotion, advertising, public relations, nutrition education, and research programs.
Dairy Market Enhancement Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-532): Signed into law November 22, 2000. The Act amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 and requires the USDA to regularly collect data on sales of dairy products used to establish minimum prices for Class III and Class IV milk under the federal milk order program. Those products are butter, cheese, nonfat dry milk, and dry whey. The USDA must also collect information from dairy manufacturing plants on the price, quantity, and moisture content of any dairy products sold. In addition, each dairy manufacturer and any other person storing dairy products must report on the quantity of dairy products stored.
Dairy Market Loss Assistance Program (DMLA): The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, provided direct cash payments to dairy producers facing greatly reduced milk prices. Producersqualified for the payments if their dairy operation marketed milk commercially in the U.S. anytime during the fourth quarter of 1998. Payments were limited to the first 26,000 hundredweight produced in either calendar year 1997 or 1998. The actual payments were calculated by dividing the amount made available ($200 million) by the total eligible hundredweights of milk from all approved dairy operations. Similar programs were authorized in the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000, which provided $125 million for 26,000 hundredweight for DMLA-II, and the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, which provided $675 million for 39,000 hundredweightfor DMLA-III for supplemental payments to producers who received payments under DMLA-II and to new dairy operations in 2000. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 attempted to replace ad hoc emergency payments with National Dairy Market Loss payments. See Marketing loss (assistance) payments, and Milk Income Loss Contract program (MILC).
Dairy Options Pilot Program (DOPP): To address the problems of increased price volatility and reduced price-supports, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 191) authorized the establishment of pilot programs for the use of futures and options. Producers in selected counties must have operated a dairy producing at least 100,000 pounds of milk over six consecutive months during the previous twelve months. Under the DOPP, producers could purchase milk put options on a maximum of 600,000 pounds of milk. Through the options contracts, producers were able to buy a kind of price insurance. When milk prices fell below the insured price (or strike price), the put option contract increased in value and paid the producer the difference minus the premium or cost of the option. The DOPP was the first such program established and trained milk producers in the use of put options in a price risk management strategy. The USDA provided 80 percent of the cost of the put option premiums and up to $30 per contract of the brokerage commissions for up to 600,000 pounds of a producer's future production. The Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000(Sec. 134)expanded the program to up to 300 counties with no more than 25 counties in any state. Authority for the program ended December 31, 2002. SeeOptions pilot program.
Dairy Production Disaster Assistance Program: An emergency program administered by the Farm Service Agencyto help eligible dairyproducers who suffered losses (diminished production or milk produced but not marketed) from recent natural disasters. The payments were available to producers in areas that suffered a disaster from November 27, 1997, through May 1, 1998, and that received a Presidential or Secretarial disaster designation. Assistance was only available to producers located in the primary designated counties and not the contiguous counties.
Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. §§ 4501-4514): Title I of the Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983. The Actauthorized a national producer program for dairy products promotion, research, and nutrition education to increase human consumption of milk and dairy products and reduce milk surpluses.
Dairy Promotion and Research Program: A national producer program for dairy product promotion, research, and nutrition education to increase human consumption of milk and dairy products and reduce milk surpluses. This self-help program is funded by a mandatory 15-cent-per-hundredweight assessment on all milk produced in the contiguous 48 states and marketed commercially by dairy producers. It is administered by the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board. The Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983, as amended, provided that dairy producers could direct up to ten cents per hundredweight of the assessment for contributions to qualified regional, state, or local dairy product promotion, research, or nutrition education programs. Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1505), an assessment on imported dairy products was authorized to help fund the research and promotion program. SeeFluid Milk Promotion Act of 1990.
Dairy Recourse Loan Program: A program to assist dairy processors in managing inventories of eligible dairy products and to assure a greater degree of price stability for the dairy industry. As authorizedby the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, the USDA was mandated to establish a recourse loantransition program beginning January 1, 2001. The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Act, 2001,delayed implementation until January 1, 2002. The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Act, 2002, repealed authority for the program. No authority for the program was included in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
Dairy Refund Payment Program (DRPP): Under authority of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993,dairy assessmentswere refunded to dairy producers for a given calendar year if the producer marketed no more milk than the producer marketed in the preceding year. The program was designed to refund price reductions paid to the Commodity Credit Corporation by dairy producers who later reduced their milk production. The authority for the dairy assessments was repealed by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 141).
Dairy Termination Program: See Milk Production Termination Program.
Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983 (P.L. 98-180): Signed into law November 29, 1983. The law froze tobacco price-supports, launched a voluntary dairy diversion program, and established a dairy promotion program. The law abolished leasing of quota for flue-cured tobacco beginning in 1987. See Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983.
Dairy assessment(s): Under authority of the Agriculture Act of 1949 (Sec. 204), as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of1990 and the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993, assessments were authorized for the calendar years 1991 through 1997 to reduce price-support program costs for excess milk equivalent purchases. A refund provision was provided and the program was eventually repealed by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 141 (g)). See Dairy Refund Payment Program (DRPP).
Dairy cattle breeds: In the U.S. these include the Aryshire, Brown Swiss, Dutch Belted, Guernsey, Holstein (-Friesian), Jersey, Kerry, Lineback, Milking Devon, and Milking Shorthorn.
Dairy compacts: Proposed regional marketing arrangements used to regulate the minimum price for fluid milk above the price established by federal milk marketing orders. The Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact was approved by Congress in 1996 and included Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Six states were awaiting Congressional or state action to join this compact: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Ohio. A Southern Dairy Compact was also formed although it still needed Congressional approval. Other compacts under consideration were a midwest compact, an inter-mountain compact, and a Pacific compact. The push for the creation of dairy compacts was blunted by the adoption of the National Dairy Market Loss Payment Program in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
Dairy price-support program (DPSP): USDA indirect support of the farm price of milk by the purchase of surplus storable manufactured dairy products, such as nonfat dry milk, cheese, and butter, from dairy processors. Under provisions of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996,the dairy price-support program was scheduled to expire on December 31, 1999. Congress extended the program in 2000 and again with passage of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, which extended the program until May 31, 2002. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Secs. 1501-1502) extended the authorization of the program through December 31, 2007, at the current level of support, allowed the USDA to adjust purchase prices twice a year to minimize government expenditures, and authorized a new counter-cyclical payment program.
Dairy product mandatory reporting: The Dairy Market Enhancement Act of 2000 established a mandatory reporting system for dairy products inventories and prices. It required the National Agricultural Statistics Service to regularly collect data on the prices and inventories of cheese, butter and nonfat dry milk sold by dairy manufacturers. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1504) amended the Dairy Market Enhancement Act of 2000 to include "substantially identical products" designated by the USDA as part of the mandatory reporting system.
Dairy products: See Dairy products (eligible), Manufactured dairy product(s),Manufacturing (grade) milk, and Storable manufactured dairy products.
Dairy products (eligible): Under the Dairy Recourse Loan Program, eligible manufactured dairy products were cheddar cheese, butter, and nonfat dry milk. See Dairy Recourse Loan Program, Manufactured dairy product(s), Manufacturing (grade) milk,and Storable manufactured dairy products.
Dairy surplus: See Surplus(es),and Surplus area(s).
Dairy tariff-rate import quota licensing: Import licensing, incorporating the Uruguay Round Agreement that provided for increased access to the U.S. market for dairy articles (primarily cheese), is used by the USDA to administer the tariff rate quota system for imports of dairy products. The tariff rate quotas are applied in two tiers, with the lowest rate being applied for a specified quantity of imports and the higher tier applied to any imports in excess of the specified amount.
Dam: A female parent.
Damaged kernels: Kernels or pieces of kernels that have sprouted or are internally damaged as a result of heat, moisture, insects, weather, mold, or microbes.
Damaging weather and related conditions: Damaging weather includes drought, hail, excessive moisture, freeze, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, or excessive wind, or any combination thereof. Related conditions include insect infestations, plant diseases, aflatoxin, or other deterioration of a crop or commodity that is accelerated or exacerbated naturally as a result of damaging weather occurring prior to or during harvest.
Dark-cutting beef: Believed to be the result of a reduced sugar content of the lean meat at the time of slaughter. The dark color of the lean meat is present in varying degrees, from that which is barely evident to so-called black cutters in which thelean is actually nearly black in color and usually has a "gummy" texture. Although there is little or no evidence that indicates the "dark-cutting" condition has any adverse effect on palatability, it is considered in grading because of its effect on acceptability and value.
Daughter product(s): See Pesticide degradate(s).
Day-haul operation: The assembly of workers at a pick-up point waiting to be hired and employed, including transportation of such workers to agricultural employment and the return of such workers to a drop-off point on the same day.
Dead animal disposal: The disposal of dead animals by composting, rendering, incineration, disposal in a permitted landfill, or burial on-site.
Dealer trust: The proposal to provide protection for producers and livestock markets who sell livestock to dealers. The trust would operate in much the same manner as the packer trust and the poultry trust authorized by the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, as amended.
Dealer(s): Under provisions of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, any person (not a market agency) engaged in the business of buying or selling livestock in commerce, either on his own account or as the employee or agent of the vendor or purchaser.
Debarment: Discretionary federal disciplinary action whereby persons are excluded from participating in covered activities. See Suspension.
Debeak: A poultry management practice designed to reduce the incidences of cannibalism and other aggressive behavior inpoultry raised in close confinement. A special method of hot debeaking has been developed for debeaking broilerchicks as early as one day of age. Rather than severing or cutting the beak, a hot blade is used to burn an area near the tip of the upper beak (egg tooth). The procedure is designed to leave a thin base to the tip of the upper beak. This makes it easier for the chick to eat without having a sensitive, raw beak. The tip of the upper beak gradually drops off without apparent injury to the chick, thus leaving a shortened upper beak and a normal lower mandible. Chicks are usually debeaked at the hatchery or within the first two weeks after hatching. Also Beak trimming.
Debt and Loan Restructuring System (DALR$): A sophisticated Farm Service Agencycomputer program using information supplied by borrowers to help determine appropriate loan servicing options.
Debt forgiveness: Reducing or terminating a Farm Service Agency farmer program loan, made or guaranteed, in a manner that results in a loss to the USDA, through (a) debt write-down or writing off of a loan; (b) compromising, adjusting, reducing, or charging off a debt or claim; (c) paying a loss on a guaranteed loan; or (d) discharging a debt as a result of bankruptcy. Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 5310), debt forgiveness does not include consolidation, rescheduling, reamortization, or deferral.
Debt limit: The maximum amount of federal debt that may legally be outstanding at any time. When the debt limit is reached, the government cannot borrow more money until the Congress has enacted a law to increase the limit.
Debt settlement: The resolution of outstanding delinquent loans by cancellation of the debt, compromise, or total repayment.
Debt write-down: For outstanding delinquent farm loans, the reduction of both interest and principle on the debt to a level that equals the value of the collateral securing the debt (recovery value).
Debt/asset ratio: A measure used to determine the financial soundness of a farming operation. Producers whose debts are equal to 70 percent or more of their assets are considered to be in financial difficulty.
Deciduous: (1) Any plant organ or group of organs that is shed naturally. (2) Perennial plants that are normally leafless for some time during the year.
Declining-balance loan(s): On credit-line operating loans, a loan that allows disbursement of funds until the cumulative disbursements total the face amount of the note. See Credit-line operating loan(s).
Decoupled; decoupling: A term used to describe programs that would separate the linkage between government payments to producers and the quantity of a commodityproduced or marketed and the quantity of inputs used in production. Producers would make production decisions based on market prices but receive government payments independent of production and marketing decisions. The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 was intended to be the ultimate decoupling legislation. See Coupled.
Defect(s)(timber): Abrupt bend (crook), fungal rot(conk), decay, split, gradual bend (sweep), or other injury that decreases the amount of usable wood that can be obtained from a log.
Defer(red)(ring)(ral): For the purpose of avoiding a loan default, the postponing until a later time, such as the end of the original loan term, the repayment of delinquent loan installments. Both principal and interest may be deferred, or principal only may be deferred while the interest charges continue to accrue.
Deferred delivery: Futures trading in distant delivery months.
Deferred months: Futures contracts that have a significant time (more than six months) before expiration. Usually referring to the current crop.
Deferred pricing: A method of pricing whereby a producer sells his commodity now and buys a futures contract to benefit from an expected price increase. Although sometimes called hedging, the producer is actually speculating that he can make more money by selling the cash commodity and buying a futures contract than by storing the commodity and selling it later.
Deferred taxation: A form of differential assessment that permits eligible land to be assessed at its value for agriculture. Deferred taxation is similar to preferential assessment, but landowners must pay some or all of the taxes that were excused if they later convert land to ineligible uses.
Deferred-payment contract: In grain marketing, the delaying of payment until a later date for grain that has been delivered and priced earlier.
Deficiency payment(s): A government income support payment made to producers who participated in the cotton, rice, wheat, or feed grains programs. The payment rate was per pound, bushel, or hundredweight. It was based on the difference between the target price established by law and either the market price or the price-support loan rate, whichever was higher. The total payment was equal to the payment rate multiplied by the eligible acreage planted or considered planted, and then multiplied by the program yield established for the particular farm. Deficiency payment authority was replaced with declining production flexibility contract payments in the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, and counter-cyclical payments under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
Defoliant(s): Substance that causes leaves and other foliage to drop from a plant, usually to facilitate harvest. See Defoliate; defoliation.
Defoliate; defoliation: (1) Removal of the leaves of a plant or entire crop by induced abscission or by mechanical means. Chemically induced defoliation is a standard production practice for cotton harvested with a mechanical spindle picker. Cotton mechanically harvested from a defoliated crop contains less trash and green stain than that harvested from an undefoliated crop. Clean cotton receives a better quality grade and higher price than trashy cotton. (2) Defoliation can result from extreme predation by leaf-eating pests. Water or severe nutrient stress and certain pathogens can also induce defoliation.
Deforestation: Practices and processes that change forest lands to nonforest uses.
Degradable: Capable of being reduced or broken down by bacteria or other decomposers.
Degradate(s): See Pesticide degradate(s).
Degradation: The deterioration of environmental resources.
Dehiscent: Splitting spontaneously when ripe.
Dehorn: The removal of horns from cattle, either chemically or surgically. For cattle in confinement, long horns can cause injury by getting caught in fences, gates, and chutes. Horns may also cause severe injuries to other cattle and personnel.
Delaney Clause: Under the food additive provision in Sec. 409 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the forbidding ofresiduesof any potentially carcinogenic pesticide in processed foods at concentration levels above those found in the raw product. No potentially carcinogenic residue is tolerated on processed foods if the pesticide is not used on the raw product. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by establishing that pesticide residues in both raw and processed foods will be regulated based on health-based standards set at safe levels, defined as levels at which there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from exposure.
Delaney Paradox: If a pesticide that causes cancer in man or laboratory animals concentrated in ready-to-eat processed food at a level greater than the tolerance for the raw agricultural commodity, the Delaney Clause prohibited the setting of a tolerance. This had paradoxical effects in terms of food safety, since alternative pesticides could pose higher (noncancer) risks and EPA allowed the same pesticide in other foods based on a determination that the risk was negligible.
Delayed pricing: Grain marketing agreement that allows producersto deliver a commodity on one date and to price it at a later date. Upon delivery, title to the commodity is transferred to the elevator, and a contract must be signed within a specified time after completion of delivery. Producersseeking to take advantage of a possible upward movement in prices, favorable tax treatment, or the immediate availability of storage may find this contract acceptable. The risks include elevator bankruptcy and downward price movement. See Price-later contract.
Delineation: For wetland purposes, a certified wetland determination. Natural Resources Conservation Service is the lead federal agency responsible for wetlands delineation on agricultural land for both swampbuster and Section 404. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead agency for nonagricultural lands delineation. See Wetland delineation.
Delinting: The removal of short fibers and fuzz from cottonseed. See Linters.
Deliver(y)(ed)(ies)(ing): (1) In commodity futures trading, the transfer of the cash commodity from the seller of a futures contract to a buyer of a futures contract. Each futures exchange has specific procedures for delivery of a cash commodity. Some futures contracts are cash-settled. (2) The bringing to the point of sale and transference of possession of the actual commodity.
Deliverable grade(s): In commodity futures trading, the standard grades of commodities or instruments listed in the rules of the exchanges that must be met when delivering cash commodities against futures contracts. Grades are often accompanied by a schedule of discounts and premiums allowable for delivery of commodities of lesser or greater quality than the standard called for by the exchange. See Deliver(y)(ed)(ies)(ing).
Deliverable stocks: (1) Stocks of commodities located in an exchange-approved storage, for which receipts may be used in making delivery onfutures contracts. (2) In the cotton trade, cotton certified for delivery.
Delivery month(s): In commodity futures trading, the month established for delivery in a futures contract.
Delivery notice: The written notice given by the seller of his intention to make delivery against an openshort futures position on a particular date. This notice, made through the clearinghouse, is separate and distinct from the warehouse receipt or other instrument that will be used to transfer title.
Delivery option: A provision of afutures contract that provides the short with flexibility in regard to timing, location, quantity, or quality in the delivery process.
Delivery point(s): In commodity futures trading, the locations and facilities designated by the futures exchange where stocks of acommodity may be delivered in fulfillment of a futures contract, under procedures established by the exchange.
Delivery price: The price fixed by the clearinghouse at which deliveries on futures are invoiced; generally, the price at which the futures contract is settled when deliveries are made.
Delta Regional Authority (DRA): Authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2001, the DRA is a federal-state partnership serving a 236-county area in the eight-state lower Mississippi River region. It is led by a federal co-chair and the governor of each participating state. The DRA is designed to remedy severe and chronic economic distress by stimulating economic development through working with multi-county local development districts. The DRA helps economically distressed communities leverage other federal and stateprograms that are focused on basic infrastructure development, transportation improvements, business development, and job training services. The DRA was reauthorized and amended by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 6027).
Delta Regional Authority Act of 2000: Division B, Title V, of the Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 2001, as incorporated into the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2001. See Delta Regional Authority (DRA).
Demand curve: As an illustration of demand theory, this curve establishes the relationship between the quantity demanded to the market priceof a good. On a graph with price on the vertical axis and quantity demanded on the horizontal axis, the demand curve connects all the points showing a price and the quantity demanded at that price by an individual or group at a specified location and period of time. The demand curve is downward sloping because typically as the price of a good decreases, the amount of the good purchased increases. The market demand curve for a good is the horizontal sum of all individual demand curves for that good.
Demurrage: Excess time taken for loading or unloading a vessel, thus causing delay of scheduled departure. Demurrage refers only to situations in which the charter or shipper, rather than the vessel's operator, is at fault.
Denali Commission: A tribal, federal, state, and local government partnership established in 1998 to provide critical utilities, infrastructure, and economic support to isolated and distressed communities in Alaska. The Commission is to (a) deliver the services of the federal government in the most cost-effective manner possible by reducing administrative and overhead costs; (b) provide job training and other economic development services to distressed communities; and (c) promoterural development through the provision of power generation, transmission facilities, modern communication systems, water and sewer systems, and other infrastructure needs. See Denali Commission Act of 1998.
Denali Commission Act of 1998: Division C, Title III, of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, which created the Denali Commission for the purposes of providing economic and infrastructure development to isolated and distressed communities in Alaska.
Denitrification: The bacterial reduction of nitrate to nitrogen gas (NO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and nitric oxide (NO). Denitrification occurs under anaerobic conditions and results in loss of available nitrogen from the soil.
Density (cotton): See Compress standard density, and Standard density (SD) (cotton).
Density (wool): The number of hair follicles per square inch of skin.
Dent (corn): Field corn. The seed has a dent on top of the endosperm, a wedge shape, and may be of any color. Dent corn is used to make starches, oils, livestock feed, ethanol fuel, crayons, paints, and paper. Dent corn also is used to make corn-syrup sweeteners for soft drinks and baked goods. See Sweet corn.
Deoxynivalenol (DON): A naturally occurring mycotoxin produced by several species of fusarium. Wet and cool weather from flowering time on to maturity promotes infection, resulting in scab or head blight in barley, wheat, oats, and rye. Wheat infected with scab has a tendency to have lighter-weight kernels, some of which are removed during normal harvesting and cleaning operations. Also Vomitoxin(s).
Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-354): Designed to improve coordination among the USDA's broad range of programs and agencies, the Act affected both the national office and the field structure. Major changes included mandating the closure and consolidation of field offices and the promotion of "one-stop shopping;" elevating the food safety activities; focusing the rural development activities in three new agencies; reorganizing the former Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Rural Electrification Administration, Soil Conservation Service, Farmers Home Administration, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, and Rural Development Administration into new mission-oriented agencies; combining the Agricultural Research Service and the National Agricultural Library; combining the Extension Service and Cooperative State Research Service; combining functions of the Grain Inspection Service and the Packers and Stockyards Administration into the new Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration; and creating a new National Appeals Division.
Depletion allowance: Deduction from taxable income derived from a wasting asset. The Internal Revenue Code permits the calculation of depletion allowances either on the basis of a percentage of the gross income from the property in question or on a per-unit-of-product basis. Depletion differs from depreciation in that the asset subject to depletion cannot be replaced, such as in mining or oil exploration.
Depooling: The pulling by milk handlers of milk out of a milk marketing order pool for pricing purposes.
Depopulation; depopulated; depop: The removal, rendering, or other disposal of infected animals by scientifically justified procedures through a government program. Typically, depopulation programs provide producer indemnities and the cleaning and disinfecting of infected animal premises.
Depositors: (1) One who places or deposits grain or other agricultural commodities in a warehouse for storage and handling and is the owner of an outstanding warehouse receipt. (2) The holder of an outstanding warehouse receipt.
Depreciation: (1) A decrease in value of real property caused by age, use, obsolescence, or physical deterioration. (2) A noncash accounting expense that reflects the allowance deduction in book value of assets such as machinery, buildings, or breeding livestock.
Depredation: The loss of commercially reared agricultural and aquatic animals due to the predatory actions of land animals, birds, snakes, seals, crabs, flatworms, or starfish.
Desert Land Act: See Desert Land Entry Act.
Desert Land Entry Act: Signed into law March 3, 1877. The Act was passed in recognition of the limited application of the 1862 Homestead Act. As first approved, it provided that title to 640 acres (one section) of arid land could be procured by conducting water to the land and reclaiming 20 percent of it. In 1890, the acreage was reduced to 320 acres. In order to receive a patent, at least 40 acres had to be irrigated.
Desert terminal lakes (program): Authority under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 2507) that requires the USDA to transfer $200 million in Commodity Credit Corporation funds to the Bureau of Reclamation to provide water to at-risk natural desertterminal lakes. The funds are not to be used to purchase or lease water rights.
Desertification: The progressive destruction of existing vegetative cover to form desert.
Desiccants: Substances, such as unwanted plant tops, that promote the drying of living tissue.
Designated CAFO: Any sized animal feeding operation that is designated a concentrated animal feeding operation requiring a permit, following inspection by a permitting authority that finds that the operation is adding pollutants to surface water. See Large CAFO, and Medium CAFO.
Designated nonbasic commodities: Commodities other than basic commodities for which the USDA is authorized and directed under permanent law to provide price-support. These include honey, barley, milk, sugarbeets, and sugarcane.
Designated warehouse (tobacco): As a condition of participation in the tobacco price-support program, producers must designate the warehouses at which they will market their tobacco. See Grower Designation Program (tobacco), and Flue-cured Tobacco Warehouse Designation Program.
Designer bug(s): A popular term for microbes,developed through biotechnology,that can degrade specific toxic chemicals at their source in toxic waste dumps, in groundwater, or on the land surface.
Detectable residue: The amount or presence of chemical residue or sample component that can be reliably observed or found by current, approved analytical methodology.
Determination of non-regulated status: An APHIS determination that a biotechnology-derived, new plant variety should be treated like any other plant and, therefore, may be grown, tested, or used for traditional crop breeding without any additional APHIS action.
Detritus: Fresh to partly decomposed organic matter.
Developed country(ies): The more industrialized nations that are sometimes collectively designated as the "North," because most are in the Northern Hemisphere.
Developing country(ies): Countries whose economies are mostly dependent on agriculture and primary resources and do not have a strong industrial base. The term is often used interchangeably with less developed countries (LDCs).
Development venture capital: Under the Rural Business Investment Program, capital in the form of equity capital investments in rural business investment companies with the objective of fostering economic development in rural areas.
Dewlap: The flap of skin between the chin and the chest on some bovines. The dewlap is used to release excess heat from the animal's body.
Diameter at breast-height (dbh): Traditional tree measurement calculating the diameter of a tree at 4.5 feet above the ground level.
Diameter inside bark: Diameter measurement of a standing tree or log in which the estimated or actual thickness of the bark is discounted.
Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: Advises the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services on whether to review dietary guidelines based on advances in scientific knowledge. See Dietary guidelines.
Dietary guidelines: Guidelines, developed by the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services, emphasizing variety, balance, and moderation in the total diet, without making recommendations regarding specific foods to include or to eliminate.
Dietary supplement: As defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, a product (other than tobacco), intended to supplement the diet, that bears or contains one or more of the following: a vitamin, mineral, herb, amino acid, or a dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake. A dietary supplement is not recommended for use as a conventional food or as a sole item of a meal or diet.
Differential assessment(s): Tax incentives widely used to maintain the economic viability of farming. Farmland is valued for property tax purposes at its agricultural use value, rather than its fair market value, which is generally higher. Full fair market value represents the amount a willing buyer will pay for the land. Also Current-use assessment(s), Deferred taxation, Preferential assessment(s), and Use-value assessment. See Fair market value, and Restrictive agreements.
Differential(s): (1) In federal milk marketing orders, a price enhancement formula for Class I milk meant to reflect the additional costs associated with producing and marketing milk for the fluid milk markets, such as increased sanitary requirements, balancing, and transportation costs. The amount historically increased the further the distance was from the Minnesota-Wisconsin production area. The amount was intended to encourage adequate local dairy production while protecting producers from lower-cost milk hauled into the milk marketing order region. Under recent order reform, the Class I differential was mandated by Congress to be at a level known as Option 1A. See Class I differential(s),and Producer price differential (PPD). (2) In commodity futures trading, price differences between classes, grades, and delivery points of various stocks of the same commodity. (3) As authorized by the Agricultural Act of 1949 (Sec. 403), for price-supports on individual lots of tobacco, adjustments for differences in grade, type, quality, location, and other factors.
Digester gas: The biogas produced as a result of the microbial decomposition of organic matter under anaerobic conditions. See Anaerobic decomposition, Anaerobic digester(s), and Anaerobic digestion (AD).
Digester(s): A sealed tank or container that decreases the volume of liquid-waste solids and stabilizes raw sludge by anaerobic bacterial action. See Anaerobic decomposition, Anaerobic digester(s), and Anaerobic digestion (AD).
Digestion: The biochemical decomposition of organic matter resulting in biogas and nutrient-rich fertilizer. See Anaerobic decomposition, Anaerobic digester(s), and Anaerobic digestion (AD).
Digital orthophotography (DOP): An image derived by geometrically correcting a scanned aerial photograph so that it is positionally accurate. See Orthophotography.
Digitizing: A method of converting map data from hard copy form into digital data usable by a computer.
Diluvium: See Alluvial soil.
Dinoflagellates: A natural part of marine ecosystems, generally referred to under the broad heading of "algae." Using their flagella (slender whip-like tails) they propel themselves about, acting very much like animals, though half contain chloroplasts and perform photosynthesis like other algae. Actually neither plant nor animal but "protists," these tiny organisms cause what are known as red tides or mahogany tides. See Pfiesteria (piscicida).
Dioxin: A byproduct of combustion, chemical manufacturing, municipal and medical waste incineration, or other industrial processes. Dioxin is a known carcinogen in animals, but the risk to humans is inconclusive. Low levels of dioxin are naturally occurring in air, water, soil, and living things.
Diploid: A cell or organism with two complete sets of chromosomes.
Direct Rural Housing Loans: Rural development loans available to low-income families for single-family housing in rural areas. Loans can be made to build, purchase, repair, or refinance homes. The maximum term can be 38 years, and the loan may be for100 percent of the appraised value. The basic interest rate is determined periodically based on the cost of money. Borrowers may qualify for an annual subsidy on the loan, which can reduce the interest rate to as low as one percent.
Direct additive(s): Substances added to food for specific purposes. See Additive(s), and Indirect additive(s).
Direct and counter-cyclical program (DCP): See Counter-cyclical payment(s) (CCP), and Direct payment(s) (DP).
Direct attribution: The "piercing of the veil" of business entities and tracking payments to individuals for payment limitation purposes. Direct attribution is intended to minimize the desire to participate in multiple entities for the sole purpose of maximizing payments. See Attribution.
Direct costs: Those costs that can be identified with single, specific research, teaching, or other sponsored project or organizational activity. See Indirect(s); indirect costs.
Direct export credit: Direct export financing provided by the Commodity Credit Corporation under the terms of the short-term Export Credit Sales Program. Terms may not exceed three years for the commercial sale of agricultural commodities from private stocks. There have been no sales under this program since FY1985. Also GSM-5.
Direct farm labor housing program: See Farm labor housing loans and grants.
Direct government payments: Payments that include counter-cyclical payments, loan deficiency payments, marketing loan gains, Conservation Reserve Programpayments, direct disaster assistance (but not crop insurance payments), and other direct government payments to producers. Commodity Credit Corporation loans and loan forfeitures are not included; they are part of cash receipts from the sale of crops and livestock. See Direct payment(s).
Direct hedge; direct hedging: When the hedger has (or needs) the commodity specified for delivery in the futures contract, the hedger is direct hedging. When the hedger does not have the specifiedcommodity, the hedger is cross-hedging.
Direct loan(s): (1) A common term for annual production credit received entirely from the Farm Service Agencyinstead of through commercial or cooperative lenders with a USDA guarantee. Direct loans are financed and serviced by the government. Direct loans, including farm ownership loans, operating loans, and emergency loans, provide financing for borrowers who are unable to obtain commercial credit, and help ensure credit availability in under-served areas and to beginning farmers and ranchers. (2) Loans directly from the Rural Housing Servicefor mortgage and other assistance. (3) Loans that involve the federal government disbursing the money to the borrower and receiving the money back from the borrower in regular installments in future years. The federal agency having responsibility for administering the credit program must counsel the prospective borrower on eligibility criteria and application procedures, evaluate the applicant's eligibility and ability to repay, perform the administrative procedures to process the application, make and record the loan payment, receive and record the receipts for payment, calculate the interest and remaining balance status, monitor the regularity of payments, follow up on delinquent status, and where necessary, institute legal action to eliminate or minimize the loss to the federal government in the event of the borrower's default on the loan.
Direct market(s)(ing): The sale of agricultural products directly to consumers without the use of an intermediary such as a wholesaler, retailer, packer, processor, shipper, or buyer. Examples of such operations are fruits and vegetables grown for roadside stands, farmers' markets, vehicles used for door-to-door marketing, and U-pick. See Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976.
Direct money: See Direct loan(s).
Direct nonpotable water reuse: The use of sufficiently treated reclaimed water that is acceptable for a wide range of nonpotable uses and for direct discharge into a nonpotable distribution system.
Direct payment(s): Historically, payments in the form of cash or commodity certificates made directly to producers. These include deficiency payments, paid land diversion payments, incentive payments, storage payments, Conservation Reserve Program, and the new direct payments (DP) payments.
Direct payment(s) (DP): Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1103), fixed income support payments provided to eligible producers of covered commodities. Producers enroll annually in the program to receive payments based on payment rates specified in the Act and their historic payment acres and payment yields. These payments replace the production flexibility contract payments (Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA) payments) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. Unlike the AMTA payments which fluctuated, direct payments are uniform for the life of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
Direct policy: A crop insurance policy sold directly by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporationor a private company acting as an agent of the FCIC. These policies previously accounted for approximately 10 percent of all federal crop insurance policies sold. Since 1998, federal crop insurance has been available exclusively through private crop insurance agents.
Direct potable water reuse: The use of sufficiently treatedreclaimed water that is acceptable for drinking and direct discharge into a potablewater distribution system. This practice has not been adopted by or approved for any community in the U.S.
Direct purchases: USDA purchases of surplus storable manufactured dairy products from dairy processors. See Dairy price-support program, and Purchase agreement(s); purchases.
Direct reuse (reclaimed water): The delivery of reclaimed water into a distribution system, including a reservoir, to be used by a specified user.
Direct-consumption sugar: Any sugar that is not to be further refined or improved in quality, whether such sugar is principally of crystalline structure or is liquid sugar, edible molasses, sugar syrup, or cane syrup.
Dirty(ies) (eggs): An individual egg that has an unbroken shell with adhering dirt or foreign material, prominent stains, or moderate stains covering more than 1/32 of the shell surface if localized, or 1/16 of the shell surface if scattered.
Disappearance: (1) Disappearance and use are often used interchangeably. However, disappearance is a broader concept in that it accounts for use of products as well as commodities lost to fire, floods, and other disasters. (2) See Feed disappearance.
Disaster Assistance Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-387): Signed into law August 11, 1988. The law provided assistance to producers hurt by drought and other natural disasters in 1988. Crop producers with losses greater than 35 percent of production were eligible for financial assistance, and feed assistance was available to livestock producers.
Disaster Assistance Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-82): Signed into law August 14, 1989. The law provided assistance to producers hurt by drought or other natural disasters in 1988 or 1989. To qualify for financial assistance, crop producers must have lost at least 35 percent of production. The requirement was higher for producers without crop insurance, as well as producers of nonprogram crops and those who did not participate in farm programs. Other assistance was similar to that which was provided in the Disaster Assistance Act of 1988.
Disaster Debt Set-Aside program: Under authority of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Sec. 331A), when Farm Service Agency borrowers are located in counties designated as disaster counties, or contiguous counties, and are unable to make their scheduled payments on any debt, the FSA is authorized to consider setting aside some payments to allow the operation to continue.
Disaster Reserve Assistance Program (DRAP): Authorized for the 1996 crop year only, the program provided up to 30 percent cost-share assistance to livestock producers who had insufficient feed available during the emergency period and were operating in an area that suffered at least a 40 percent loss of normal grazing and at least a 40 percent loss of feed grain and forage production.
Disaster Reserve Flood Compensation Program: A program authorized by the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Appropriations Act of 1999 to provide benefits to eligible livestock producers, in approved counties, whose land had been flooded and had been inaccessible or incapable of crop production, grazing, or haying during FY1998. See 1998 Flood Compensation Program (FCP), and 2000 Flood Compensation Program (FCP).
Disaster and emergency assistance: In the aftermath of a natural disaster, Farm Service Agency can provide emergency assistance to producers in a disaster area. For example, the agency can provide noninsured crop disaster program assistance for growers of crops for which federal crop insurance is not available. To help rehabilitate farmland damaged by a natural disaster, FSA can assist producers with cost-sharing to carry out emergency conservation practices under the Emergency Conservation Program. In the event of a national security emergency, FSA is responsible for preparedness plans and programs to assure food production and distribution, as well as the continued availability of farm machinery, feed, seed, and fertilizer. See Ad hoc disaster assistance (program(s)), Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (ARPA), Cattle Feed Program, Crop Disaster Program (CDP),Crop Loss Disaster Assistance Program (CLDAP), Dairy Production Disaster Assistance Program,Disaster Reserve Assistance Program (DRAP), Emergency and Disaster Assistance for Producers,Emergency Feed Assistance Program (EFAP),andLivestock Compensation Program (LCP).
Disaster assistance: See Disaster and emergency assistance.
Disaster payments: Specific authority for federal aid provided to feed grain, wheat, rice, and upland cotton producers when either planting was prevented (prevented planting) or crop yields were abnormally low (reduced yield) because of adverse weather and related conditions. Payments can also be made under special legislation enacted after an extensive natural disaster. The Disaster Assistance Act of 1989, for example, provided payments to crop producers who suffered losses in 1989 because of drought, hail, excessive moisture, or related conditions. Specific disaster payment authority provided in the Agricultural Act of 1949 was repealed by the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994. Ad hoc disaster assistance has been a continual feature of federal agricultural support although passage of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 was designed to eliminate the need for such assistance. See Crop Disaster Program (CDP), Livestock Assistance Program (LAP),and Livestock Compensation Program (LCP).
Disaster transfer (payments): Under the former peanut program, producersof additional peanuts who were unable to harvest and market their quota poundage due to drought, flood, other natural disaster, or any other condition beyond the control of the producer, could transfer additional peanuts to the quota loan pool to the extent that the producer's quota was not fully utilized. Producers received 70 percent of the quota loan rate on these transfers. These transfers could not exceed 25 percent of the farm poundage quota. See Peanut (price-support) program.
Discharge: (1) Flow of surface water into a stream or canal, or the outflow of groundwater from a flowing artesian well, ditch, or spring. (2) Discharge of liquid effluent from a facility, or chemical emissions into the air.
Discipline(s): The limiting of total spending by agricultural trading countries on trade-distorting policies.
Discount rate: The interest rate charged on loans by the Federal Reserve to member banks.
Discount(s)(ed): (1) For nonrecourse loans, the amount subtracted for grade and quality reasons from the loan rate on a per-unit basis relevant to the location where the loan collateral is stored at the time the loan is made. (2)An adjustment to the base price paid for a livestock carcass due to tissue damage, injuries, or other deviations from the standard. (3) Adjustment to the price of grain for moisture, quality, dockage, and other defects. (4) Quality differences between those standards set for some futures contracts and the quality of the delivered goods. If inferior goods are tendered for delivery, they are graded below the standard and a lesser amount is paid for them. (5) Price differences betweenfutures of different delivery months. (6) A downward adjustment to a median standardized sales or contract price due to defects or other irregularities.
Discretionary account: An arrangement by which the holder of the account gives written power of attorney to a person, often his broker, to make trading decisions. It is also known as a controlled account or managed account.
Discretionary entry: Under provisions of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, the USDA could make extended Farmer-Owned Reserve loans available to producers of wheat or feedgrains if either (a) the average market price for wheat or corn was below 120 percent of the current loan rate, respectively, or (b) the stocks-to-use ratio was estimated to be above 37.5 percent for wheat or 22.5 percent for corn on the last day of the marketing year. The average market price was calculated for a 90-day period that ran prior to December 15 of the year wheat was harvested and March 15 of the year following the harvesting of the feedgrains. The Farmer-Owned Reserve was suspended by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. See Farmer-Owned Reserve (FOR), and Mandatory entry.
Discretionary exit: Under provisions of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, a producer could repay a Farmer-Owned Reserve extended loan at any time. The Farmer-Owned Reserve was suspended by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. See Farmer-Owned Reserve (FOR).
Discretionary grant(s): Permits the federal government, according to specific legislation, to exercise discretionary judgment in selecting projects or programs to be supported. Selection of grantees is usually through a competitive grant process. Typically, the award amounts are determined through a negotiated agreement between the grantees and the granting agency.
Discretionary spending: Funding provided through annual appropriations bills. See Mandatory spending.
Disease vector: See Vector.
Diseconomies of scale: See Economies (diseconomies) of scale (size).
Disk pan: See Hardpan.
Disk(s): A harrow composed of circular plates arranged at an angle with the line of pull; used to prepare soil for seeding. See Harrow.
Disking; disked: The pulling of a disk over a site to control vegetation, correct soil compaction, or till the soil before seeding or planting.
Dispute Settlement Body (DSB): The General Council of the World Trade Organization, composed of representatives of all member countries, convenes as the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to administer rules and procedures agreed to in various agreements. The DSB has authority to establish panels, adopt panel and Appellate Body reports, maintain surveillance of implementation of rulings and recommendations, and authorize suspension of concession or other obligations under the various agreements.
Dispute settlement: In the trade context, procedures for consultation, conciliation, and possible referral to a neutral third party of a dispute between parties to a trade agreement.
Distance Education Grants for Insular Areas: Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1490), the USDA may make competitive grants or noncompetitive grants to eligible institutions in insular areas to strengthen the capacity of such institutions, through equipment acquisition,program development, and skills enhancement, to carry out distance education programs in food and agriculture using digital network technologies.
Distance Learning and Medical Link grant program: See Telemedicine and Distance Learning Services in Rural Areas, and Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program (DLT).
Distance Learning and Telemedicine Loan and Grant Program: See Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program (DLT).
Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program (DLT): The Rural Utilities Service program that supports projects through loans, grants, and loan and grant combinations to encourage and improve the use of telecommunications, computer networks, and related technologies forrural communities to improve access to education or health care services. The DLT grant program focuses on end-user equipment, and the DLT combination loan and grant program and the DLT loan program focus on equipment, facilities, instructional programs, technical assistance, networking, site development, planning, engineering, design, and land acquisition.
Distance education: Delivery of instructional material over a wide geographical area via one or more technologies including interactive video, computer, and laser.
Distance learning: The Rural Economic Development Act of 1990 established programs to promote economic and community development, including a Distance Learning and Medical Link grant program. The grant program was reauthorized by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 704), as part of the Telemedicine and Distance Learning Services in Rural Areas that also included authority for a loan program, and by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 6203). See Distance education.
Distant milk: Milk produced outside the boundaries of a milk marketing order.
Distillers' dried grains with solubles: The primary fermentation residues, after removal of the alcohol by distillation, from the yeast fermentation of cereal grains. The product contains approximately 27 percent protein.
Distinctly low quality: Grain that is obviously of inferior quality that is in an unusual state or condition, and that cannot be graded properly by use of the other grading factors provided in the grain standards. Distinctly low quality includes the presence of any objects too large to enter the sampling device.
Distressed county(ies): A county that is underdeveloped and has a high rate of poverty, unemployment, or out-migration.
Distressed loan: A loan that a borrower does not have the financial capacity to repay according to its terms.
Distributing plant (milk): A plant approved to handle Grade A milk at which fluid milk products are processed or packaged and from which there is a route disposition or transfer of packaged fluid milk products to other plants.
Distribution cooperative(s): A Rural Electric Cooperative that purchases wholesale power from its generation and transmissionor nearby investor-owned utility, and delivers it at cost to consumer-members.
Diversification; diversify: The avoidance of reliance upon production of one or few commodities; a risk management tool by producers, creditors, and agribusiness to minimize the impact of price, environmental, or production disruption.
Diversion limit: The amount of milk that operators of pool plants or cooperative associations may divert to nonpool plants and still have the milk retain its status as producer milk under a federal milk marketing order.
Diversion payments: Government payments made to producers in some years for not planting a specified portion of their crop acreage base or permitted acreage. A specified acreage is usually diverted to soil conserving uses. Authority for diversion payments was not included in the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. Also Paid land diversion, and Paid diversion program.
Diversion systems: The prevention of erosionand the improvement of water quality by installing diversions (into wetlands and water courses) on farmland or ranch land where excessive surface or subsurface water runoff contributes to erosion and water pollution problems.
Diverted acres; diversion: Under acreage reduction programs, those acres that are taken out of production in order to reduce commodity supplies and diverted to some conserving use. Acreage reduction programs were eliminated by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. Also Acreage diversion program(s).
Diverted milk; diverted; diversion: (1) Milk not physically received at a pool plant. However, such milk is included as a part of the total producer milk receipts that caused the milk to be diverted from the pool plant. (2) Milk marketing orders can impose requirements to ensure that those in the pool provide milk when it is needed for fluid purposes. At times of the year when supplies are lower and demand is high, Class III plants in the pool must be willing to divert supply to distributing plants for packaging Class I products in accordance withorder specifications. See Diversion limit.
Dockage: In grain inspection, the noncommodity component of a commodity sample (seeds, sand, straw, and stones) that can be easily removed using a standard mechanical device. It also includes underdeveloped, shriveled, and small pieces of kernels that cannot be recovered by properly rescreening or recleaning. The percent of dockage by weight is reported on a grade certificate, but does not form a part of the numerical grain grade under U.S. grain standards. Noncommodity material left in a sample after the removal of dockage is referred to as foreign material. See Foreign material.
Doggy: Wool that is shorter, harsher, and coarser than typical. It lacks crimp and elasticity.
Dollar Plan: A Rice Millers Association pilot program that provides protection against declining value due to damage that causes a yield shortfall. The amount of insurance is based on the cost of growing a crop in a specific area. A loss occurs when the annual value of the crop is less than the amount of insurance. The maximum dollar amount of insurance is stated on the actuarial document. The insured may select a percent of the maximum dollar amount equal to catastrophic, limited, or additional coverage levels. The pilot program is available for several crops including fresh market tomatoes, strawberries, and cherries.
Domestic Food Programs: Under agricultural appropriations, the title that includes the Office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, and the Food and Nutrition Service accounts.
Domestic animal disease(s): Diseases, such as brucellosis, pseudorabies, and scrapie, indigenous to the U.S.
Domestic farm labor: Typically, year-round farm labor or labor provided during the growing season by individuals who receive a substantial portion of their income from the production, catching, netting, handling, planting, drying, packing, grading, storing, delivering to storage, transporting to market, processing, or handling of agricultural or aquacultural products.
Domestic price(s): Typically, the price at which a domestic consumer may purchase commodities produced in the country. Such prices may be regulated. See World price(s).
Domestic subsidy: Any act, practice, or measure, other than an export subsidy, by which a government confers a benefit upon a product or enterprise.
Dominant: (1) That component of a community, typically a species, that exerts the greatest influence on its character because of its life-form or great abundance. (2) Generally, an individual or species of the upper layers of the canopy. (3) More particularly, one of the four main crown classes recognized, on a basis of relative status and condition in the crop, for establishing thinning grades for pure regular crops; the trees have their crowns in the uppermost layers of the canopy and are largely free-growing. (4) A species in a mixed crop that is the most numerous and vigorous.
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Dorsal: Towards the back.
Dorsal root ganglia (DRG): The swellings on the dorsal roots of spinal nerves that contain the cell bodies of sensory neurons. See Specified risk material(s) (SRM).
Double dressed-weight: A method of selling lambs in which the dressed weight is doubled. This is the live-weight for establishing the live-weight price regardless of the actual live weight.
Double insurance: Crop insurance for more than one crop planted on the same acreage in the same crop year.Under the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000, such crop insurance is prohibited unless the coverage for the additional crop is catastrophic coverage. However, if both crops are normally harvested within the same crop year on the same acreage, there is an established practice of double-cropping in the area, the producer has a history of planting two or more crops in the same year on the same acreage, and the additional crop is customarily double-cropped in the area with the first crop, then a policy of insurance is offered for both crops if the additional crop is planted on or before the final or late planting date for that crop.
Double-blind experiment: In a double-blind experiment, neither the researcher nor the participants are aware of which subjects are receiving the treatment – until after the study is completed. See Single-blind experiment.
Double-crop(ping)(ped): A second crop planted after the major crop is harvested. For example, soybeans may be grown after a winter wheat crop is harvested. Government farm programs have been designed to permit this normal cropping practice in certain parts of the country. For program purposes, double-cropping must have been practiced three out of the last five years immediately preceding the crop year in question. See Intercropping, Mixed cropping, Ratoon crop(ping), Relay cropping, and Sequential cropping.
Down payment (farm ownership) loan program (for beginning farmers): A special Farm Service Agency program, authorizedby the Agricultural Credit Improvement Act of 1992 (7 U.S.C. § 1935) and amended by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 5005), to help beginning farmers and ranchers purchase a farm or ranch, including by transfer of land from a retiring family member. An applicant must make a cash down-payment of at least 10 percent of the purchase price. FSA may finance 40 percent of the purchase price or appraised value, whichever is less (not to exceed $250,000). The term of the loan is for 15 years and at a fixed interest rate of 4 percent. The remaining balance, not to exceed 50 percent of the purchase price, may be provided by a commercial or private lender. If the loan balance comes from a qualified commercial lender, FSA can provide up to a 95 percent guarantee.
Down(ed) animals: Also Downers and Non-ambulatory livestock. See Non ambulatory disabled livestock.
Downers: Animals that are unable to walk to slaughter because of disease or broken legs and other injuries; seriously crippled livestock. On December 30, 2003, the USDA banned sick or injured cattle from being processed for human food. Also Down(ed) animals and Non-ambulatory livestock. See Non ambulatory disabled livestock.
Downy mildew: Fuzzy growth, on the lower surfaces of fruit, leaves, and stems, caused by fungus spores.
Drainage: (1) The removal of excess surface water or groundwater from land by means of surface or subsurface drains. (2) Improving the productivity of agricultural land by removing excess water from the soil by such means as ditches or subsurface drainage pipes. (3) The downward movement of water through the soil. When this occurs rapidly, the soil is referred to as well drained; otherwise the soil is said to be poorly drained. Most plant roots need oxygen as well as water, and soil that remains saturated (poorly drained) deprives roots of necessary oxygen. (4) Soil characteristics that affect natural drainage.
Drainage basin(s): The land area where precipitation runs off into streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. It is a land feature that can be identified by tracing a line along the highest elevations between two areas on a map; often a ridge. Large drainage basins, such as the area that drains into the Mississippi River, contain thousands of smaller drainage basins. See Watershed(s).
Dress(ed)(ing): (1) The prepared animal carcass after slaughter. (2) See Top dressing.
Dressed weight: The weight of the prepared animal carcass after slaughter. See Carcass weight (dressed),and Double dressed-weight.
Dressed-weight pricing: When cattle are marketed on a dressed-weight basis, price is established based on the actual hot-carcass weight. The buyer starts with a base "choice" carcass price, adjusts it for expected quality and yield grade, weight premiums and discounts, byproducts, slaughter costs, and the packer's profit. The seller generally pays transportation on dressed-cattle sales.
Dressing percentage: (1) The percentage of the live-animal weight that becomes the carcass weight at slaughter. It is determined by dividing the carcass weight by the live weight, then multiplying by one hundred. (2) The yield of thehot carcass (immediately after slaughter) expressed as a percentage of live-cattle weight.
Drift: See Pesticide drift.
Drill(ing): (1) See Grain drill. (2) Sowing seeds in furrows or holes by hand or machine.
Drip irrigation: Trickle irrigation delivered by plastic pipe or tubing with near-zero water pressure. Water drips from openings (emitters) located at regular intervals along the pipe. The pipe/tubing may be porous to allow further water seepage. Less water is used in drip irrigation than with conventional methods.
Driver (dairy): See Price mover.
Drop credit: The value of the hide and offal products credited back to the producer by a packer.
Drought Policy Commission: See National Drought Policy Commission (NDPC).
Drought stress: The limitation on maximum plant performance imposed by severe water limitation.
Drought tolerance: A total expression of a plant's ability to stay alive, grow, and ultimately produce grain or fiber, with part of its life cycle under water stress.
Dry cargo: Any cargo, packed or unpacked, carried in nonliquid bulk form. See Bulk cargo.
Dry manure management (system): Typically, a poultry or beef manure managementsystem that is characterized by either (a) frequent manure removal (at least weekly) and spreading on fields, or (b) long-term, in-house storage of manure. Dry manure can be handled more easily, occupies less space, and creates fewer odor problems than does liquid manure. Dry manure, if stored, should be placed in production buildings, storage facilities, or otherwise covered to prevent precipitation from coming into direct contact with the manure.Long-term, multiyear storage requires drying the manure to about 30 percent or less moisture level. It should be handled and treated to reduce the loss of nutrients to the atmosphere during storage; reduce pathogens,pests, and odors; and make the material a more stable fertilizer when applied to land.
Dry matter (DM): The part that remains after all the water content has been removed.
Dry milk products: Includes dry whole milk, nonfat dry milk, low-fat dry milk, dry cream, dry whey, dry buttermilk, casein, caseinates, andco-precipitates.
Dry mill(ed)(ing): Processing method that separates elements contained in the corn kernel by mechanical force. See Wet mill(ed)(ing).
Dry peas: Traditionally, edible threshed seeds of the garden-type pea plant and the winter field pea plant. These cool-season, annual crops include whole peas, split peas, and sweet peas.
Dry period: The rest period between lactations when a cow is not lactating.
Dry weight: The weight of animal or plant tissue after it has been dried in an oven at 65 degrees centigrade until a constant weight is achieved. Dry weight represents total inorganic and organic matter in the tissueCtissue with the weight of water removed.
Dry whey: Whey that has had the water removed. The composition of the whey has not been altered.
Dry-matter intake (DMI): A key factor in livestocktowards maintaining high production, body condition (conducive to reproductive goals), and general systemic/rumen health. Many factors impact dry-matter intake, including palatabilityof feed ingredients, water intake, feed digestibility, frequency of feeding, feed processing, level of production, cow comfort, cow genetics, rate of passage, and forage quality.
Dry-matter pricing: Refers to either (a) quoting a price on the basis of the pounds of dry matter in a bushel of grain, or (b) subtracting the weight of water from the total weight of grain to obtain the "transactions weight" to be multiplied by the base price to determine payment.
Dry; dries; drying: The removal of undesired moisture in grain or other commodities during postharvest operations by natural (air and sun) or mechanical means, or a combination of the two, for the purposes of preventing premature germination, formation of molds and diseases, and insect infestation.
Dry; drying up; going dry: In dairy cows, the end of lactation when very limited amounts of milk are produced.
Dryland farming: See Dryland production.
Dryland production: Production that utilizes only natural rainfall as a source of water in the production of the crop. Water stressis universally recognized as the factor most limiting to yield. In most areas, dryland production results in lower yields than irrigated production. Various strategies exist to maximize water availability for dryland production, e.g., diking between rows, deep tillage, and early maturing cultivars. Also referred to as dryland farming.
Dual-purpose breeds: Livestock and poultry breeds adapted to more than one purpose: a combination of milking, draft, or beef for cattle; a combination of wool, meat, or milking for sheep; milking and mohair for goats; and eggs and meat for chickens (more commonly all-purpose). See Dual-purpose cattle breeds, and Dual-purpose sheep breeds.
Dual-purpose cattle breeds: Cattlebred for both beef and milking performance, including the British White, Brown Swiss, Devon, Dexter, Maine-Anjou, Pinzgauer, Salers, Shorthorn, Simmental, Tarentaise, Welsh Black, White Park, and Zebu. See Cattle breeds, and Triple-purpose cattle breeds.
Dual-purpose sheep breeds: Sheepbred for a dual performance combination of meat, wool, or milking, including the Drysdale, Friesian Milk Sheep, and the Gromark. See Dual-purpose breeds.
Dual-purpose vegetables: Commodities that may be sold in fresh or processing markets. Dual commodities include asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery.
Dump(ed): An international term meaning to compress bales of grease wool to a very high density, and then to restrain the bales with wire or bands.
Dumping: The sale of products on the world market, below the average cost of production, for the purpose of disposing of surpluses or to gain access to a market.
Dunnage: Materials placed adjacent to or beneath stacked goods to secure them in place or to allow for ventilation during transport or storage.
Durum wheat: Triticum durum; a spring-seeded wheat that is very hard; a high-protein wheat used to make pasta products such as macaroni, spaghetti, and egg noodles.
Dust(s): Dry mixtures of insecticide with some type of inactive powders such as clay, talc, or ash. Some dusts such as boric acid are used as insecticides without other ingredients. Dusts generally leave an effective residue as long as the deposit remains dry. See Pesticide residue(s).
Duty(ies): See Tariff(s).
Dwarf bunt: See Bunt, and TCK smut.
Dwarf wheat(s): Wheats characterized by short, stiff straw, a greater need for fertilizer, and higher yields. Most new wheat varieties in the U.S. are dwarf or semi-dwarf.
Dystocia: Abnormal or difficult labor, causing difficulty in delivering the fetus.

University of Arkansas • Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
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Little Rock, Arkansas 72204 • USA
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