Glossary Entries beginning with O

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Glossary of Agricultural Production, Programs and Policy

4th Edition

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Objectionable (foreign) odors (grain): Grain that has a musty (earthy), sour (rancid), or commercially objectionable foreign odor (except for smut or garlic odors).
Obligate wetland plants: Plants that live continually in saturated soil. These plants don't live in upland areas and have roots well adapted to water and saturated soils. See Facultative wetland plants.
Obligation(s): (1) An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction that will require payment. (2) A definite commitment that creates a legal liability of the U.S. government for the payment of appropriated funds for goods and services ordered or received.
Ocean farming; ocean ranching: See Open-ocean aquaculture.
Off target: See Pesticide drift.
Off-farm water: Water that comes from a federal supplier; irrigation district; commercial company; municipal or community water system; or mutual, private, or cooperative ditches.
Off-farm; off-farm income: Includes wages and salaries from working for other producers, plus non-farm income for all owner/farm operator families (whether or not they live on a farm).
Off-flavor: Described as a "musty-earthy" or other unpleasant taste in catfish that, in many cases, is caused by compounds excreted by certain algae and bacteria that can be absorbed by the catfish. One of the more serious problems for catfish marketing.
Off-line (offline) (re)processing: The removal of contaminated poultry carcasses from the processingline for reprocessing. Clorinated-water washing, trimming, and vacuuming are used, followed by a USDA inspection.
Off-sorts: Fleeces or parts of fleeces that are rejected because of being badly stained, undesirable in color, or carrying excessive vegetable matter.
Offal: In meat and poultry processing,byproducts such as entrails, fat, blood, bone, and feather. See Edible offal(s).
Offer: In commodity futures trading, an expression indicating one's desire to sell a commodity at a given price; opposite of bid. See Bid.
Offer and acceptance rate system: Under Commodity Credit Corporation storage activities, the system to determine storage and handling rates. Warehouse operators offer rates at which they will store and handle CCC-owned or loan grain and cotton, and the CCC can either accept or reject those rates. The CCC, however, may charge producers a lower rate for grain and cotton used as collateral for a nonrecourse loan.
Office of Budget and Program Analysis, USDA (OBPA): Coordinates the preparation of USDA budget estimates and legislative reports; administers systems for the allotment and apportionment of funds; provides policy, program, and budgetary analysis of USDAprograms and proposals; and provides staff assistance to USDA agencies in meeting their responsibilities for the development and review of regulations.
Office of Civil Rights: The USDA office responsible for assuring that federal civil rights laws on employment and program delivery are adhered to by the USDA.
Office of Communications (USDA): Delivers information about USDA programs and policies. The major centers of the Office of Communications are the Public and Media Outreach Center; the Video, Teleconference, and Radio Center; the Photography Center; the Design Center; and the Printing Management Center.
Office of Community Development (OCD): Administers rural community development programs, including those within the Rural Development mission area. Each program and initiative promotes self-sustaining, long-term economic and community development in rural areas. Programs include the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) program.
Office of International Cooperation and Development (OICD): The former USDA agency that coordinated agricultural training and researchprograms carried out in cooperation with other nations. It is now part of the Foreign Agricultural Service.
Office of Outreach: Established on August 22, 1997. The USDA office that ensures information, technical assistance, and training is available to all USDA customers through partnership with USDA agencies, with an emphasis on underserved populations to assure they have full access to all USDA programs and services. In addition, the Office of Outreach is responsible for administering the Small Farmer Outreach, Training and Technical Assistance Program.
Office of Pest Management Policy: Authorized by the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reauthorization Act of 1998 (Sec. 614) and reauthorized through FY2007 by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 7132). The USDA unit that coordinates pest management programs across several USDA agencies. It oversees administration of the National Agricultural Pesticide Impact Assessment Program.
Office of Risk Management: See Risk Management Agency (RMA).
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): Provides expert advice to the President in all areas of science and technology. Through the National Science and Technology Council, the OSTP helps the President in coordinating science, space, and technology policy and programs throughout the federal government.
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, USDA (OSDBU): Established pursuant to the Small Business Act of 1979 (P.L. 95-507). OSDBU has oversight over departmental procurement to assure maximum participation of small and disadvantaged businesses in the USDA's contracts for goods and services.
Office of the Chief Economist (OCE): Advises the Secretary of Agriculture on the economic implications of policies andprograms affecting the U.S. food and fiber system and rural areas. The Chief Economist coordinates, reviews, and approves the Department's commodity and farm sector forecasts. In addition, the Chief Economist oversees the activities of the Coordinator of Agricultural Labor Affairs, the Director of Sustainable Development, the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Office of Risk Assessment & Cost-Benefit Analysis, the Global Climate Change Office, and the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses.
Office of the General Counsel (OGC): Established in 1910 and known as the Office of the Solicitor until 1955. Determines legal policy and directs the performance of all legal work conducted by the USDA. All legal services are centralized within the OGC, and the General Counsel reports directly to the Secretary of Agriculture. The work of the office is carried out in the D.C. office and the 18 field offices divided into 5 regions - Southern, Central, Northern, Mountain, and Pacific. See General Counsel.
Office of the Inspector General (OIG): Established pursuant to the Inspector General Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-452). Conducts, supervises, and coordinates all audits and investigations relating to programsand operations of the USDA; advises the Secretary on existing and pending legislation and the impact of such on the efficiency and economy of operations within the USDA; and recommends policy and conducts activities to promote economy and eliminate fraud, waste, and mismanagement in USDA programsand operations. The OIG is headquartered in D.C. and operates seven regional offices.
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative: See U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
Official inspection legend: An official marking of USDA inspection for a processing plant applied to products processed there. Different legends are used on meat (beef/pork/lamb) products and poultry products; both are circular and carry the USDA number assigned to the plant where the product was last processed. Also Bug. See Marking.
Official sample-lot inspection service: A grain inspection service in which a licensed sampler draws a representative sample from the grain and takes it to a Federal Grain Inspection Service-approved laboratory for analysis by a licensed inspector. See Submitted sample inspection service.
Offset (administrative): See Administrative offset.
Offset (eligible oilseed acreage): Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1101(a)(2)(C)), for purposes of calculating the eligible oilseed acreage, a producer may elect to increase eligible oilseed acreage by reducing the contract acreage of acovered commodity used in calculating base acres on a acre-for-acre basis, except that the total base acreage for each oilseed on the farm may not exceed the 1998 through 2001-crop-year average for each oilseed.
Offset (futures): The liquidation of a long or short futures (or option) position by an equal and opposite futures (or option) transaction.
Offset (peanuts): Under the former peanut price-support program, the sharing of program losses across the three producing regions. To meet the requirements of the no-net-cost program mandate, a prioritized list of eight producer offsets were established by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 155 (d)). Offsets are not a feature of the peanut program under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
Offset refund: Offset money that the USDA returns to claimants who prevail in the Pigford v. Veneman lawsuit. When the USDA is notified by the Adjudicator that a claimant has won his or her claim, any offset money taken from January 1, 1999, to the date of the Adjudicator's decision is refunded to the claimant in most cases.
Offset requirement: A form of countertrade whereby an importing country requires an exporter to purchase a specific amount of locally produced goods or services from the importing country. Alternatively, the exporter may be required to establish manufacturing facilities in the importing country.
Offsetting compliance: Under former programs, a provision that required a producer participating in a paid land diversion or acreage reduction program not to offset that reduction by planting more than his crop acreage base for that crop on another farm under his management. In other words, if one farm under the control of the farm operator was enrolled in the program, then all farms under his or her control must enroll. The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 prohibited offsetting compliance as a condition for commodity program eligibility. See Cross compliance.
Offshore allotments (sugar): See Sugar (marketing) allotment(s).
Offshore state(s): Hawaii and Puerto Rico, for purposes of the flexible marketing allotments for sugar under the provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1403). See Mainland state(s), and Sugar (marketing) allotment(s).
Oil mill waste: Lint waste products derived from themilling of cottonseed.
Oilseed Payment Program: As authorized by the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000, direct payments to producers of 1999 oilseeds. Producers of soybeans and minor oilseeds are eligible for a payment equal to the producer's payment acres, multiplied by the payment yield, and then multiplied by the national payment rate.
Oilseed loan origination fee: A fee charged at the amount of two percent of the value of the price-support loan; required by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 for producers who took out an oilseed loan from crop years 1991 through 1993. It was discontinued beginning with the 1994 crop year. Also Soybean loan origination fee.
Oilseed meal: The product that is obtained by grinding the cakes, chips, or flakes that remain after most of the oil is removed from oilseeds. It is used as a feedstuff for livestock and poultry.
Oilseed(s): Those crops from which oil is extracted from the seed and used to produce edible or inedible oils as well as high-protein animal meal. Soybeans are the primary oilseed crop; other such crops are peanuts, cottonseed, sunflowerseed, flaxseed, safflowerseed, rapeseed, sesame seed, castor beans, canola, and mustard seed. For purposes of the Agricultural Market Transition Act, oilseeds referred to soybeans, sunflowerseed, flaxseed, safflowerseed, rapeseed, canola, mustard seed, and "other" oilseeds as designated by the USDA. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 includes oilseeds (soybeans) and other oilseeds.
Oilseeds program: Under provisions of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, nonrecourse marketing assistance loans and loan deficiency payments were available for the 1996-2002 crops of soybeans and minor oilseeds. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Title I) amended the program to provide a system of direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, and nonrecourse loans with marketing loan provisions through 2007.
Old farm (tobacco): For burley tobacco, a farm that had burley tobacco planted or considered planted in one or more years of the base period. For other tobacco, a farm on which there is tobacco history acreage in one or more years of the base period.
Old growth: Virgin timber; mature timber forest.
Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY99: See Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, FY1999.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (P.L. 97-35): Signed into law August 13, 1981. The Act initiated a system of user fees for the cost of grading and classing tobacco, cotton, naval stores, and for warehouse examination.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-253): Signed into law September 8, 1982. The law froze dairy price-supports and mandated the loan rates and acreage reserve programs for the 1983 crops.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-509): Signed into law October 21, 1986. The law required advance deficiency payments to producers of 1987 wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice crops, at a minimum of 40 percent for wheat and feed grains, and 30 percent for rice and upland cotton. It also amended the Farm Credit Act of 1971.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-203): Signed into law December 22, 1987. The law set the 1988 fiscal year budget for agriculture and all federal agencies. It set target prices for the 1988 and 1989 program crops, established loan rates for the price-support programs, and required a voluntary paid land diversion for feed grains. The law also further defined who is eligible to receive program payments (defining a "person").
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-239): Signed into law December 19, 1989. Title I of the Act, the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 1989, amended provisions of the Disaster Assistance Acts of 1988 and 1989, reduced available Targeted Export Assistance programfunds by over one-third, and allowed program crop producers to plant up to 25 percent of their permitted acreage to soybeans, sunflowers, and safflowers for the 1990 crop. The Act also made across-the-board reductions in deficiency payments for the 1990 crops of wheat, corn, cotton, and rice, and made discretionary the previously mandatory cut in the price-support for milk.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-508): Signed into law November 5, 1990. The law amended the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to reduce agricultural spending for 1991-95. It included a mandatory 15 percent planting flexibility, and assessments on nonprogram crop producers. See Normal flex acres (acreage); normal flexible acres (acreage) (NFA), and Triple-base plan.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66): Signed into law August 10, 1993. The law reduced payment acres for the 0/92 and 50/92 programs, required tobacco importers to pay no-net-cost tobacco fund assessments, eliminated loan origination fees for soybeans, extended and increased marketing assessments on peanuts, allowed refinancing and prepayment of Federal Financing Bank loans guaranteed by the Rural Electrification Administration, reduced the acreage requirement for the Conservation Reserve Program, and required the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to improve the actuarial soundness of federal crop insurance.
Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (P.L. 105-277): Signed into law October 21, 1998. The Act included the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, and provided nearly $6 billion in additional emergency farm assistance in addition to payments provided under provisions of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. The Act provided $1.5 billion for natural disaster assistance, $3.05 billion for market loss payments (including $200 million for dairy producers), $875 million for multiple-year losses, $200 million for livestock feed assistance, $25 million for Food for Peace shipments, and additional funding for farm operating loans, the Forestry Incentive Program, and the Farm Service Agency. The Act also created the Denali Commission.
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-418): Signed into law August 23, 1988. The law revised statutory procedures for dealing with unfair trade practices and import damage to U.S. industries. It gave the USDA discretionary authority to trigger marketing loans for wheat, feed grains, and soybeans if it is determined that unfair trade practices exist. The USDA could extend export programs, such as the Export Enhancement Program and the Targeted Export Assistance Program, in response to unfair competition.
On call (cotton): The cotton price based on premiums or discounts ("on" or "off") in a certain month of the New York Cotton Exchange. The base price of the cotton will remain unfixed, until the buyer instructs the seller to buy ("fix") futures, in order to establish the final contract price by adding the New York futures fixation level to the contract "on call." See Fixed price (cotton).
On-farm storage loans: See Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL).
On-farm storage; stored: Grain and oilseed storage facilities located on or near a farming operation, owned and controlled by the producer,and used for storage of theproducer'sown crops. Such facilities provide immediate storage flexibility and marketing strategy alternatives, and include cribs, bins, silos, and flat-type storage structures withgrain handling and drying equipment.
On-farm surface water: Surface supply not controlled by a water supply organization. Examples include streams, drainage ditches, lakes, ponds, springs, or reservoirs.
One-man baling: The use of field pickup hay balers with self-tying attachments and bale ejectors that allow one man to harvest hay crops.
One-stop shopping: The concept promoted by the USDA of combining offices and functions to allow producers and others accessing USDA services to complete their business at one location and in one visit.
One-sucker: A common name for a type of air-cured tobacco.
Open: Refers to nonpregnant females.
Open economy: A country that allows free international trade.
Open feedlot: An unroofed, animal-feeding operation in which no crop, vegetation, forage growth, or residue cover is maintained during the period that animals are confined in the operation.
Open market operations: In the U.S., a giant market for government securities (the debt of the U.S. government) exists. When the Federal Reserve buys or sells government securities in that market, it is conducting open market operations. If the Federal Reserve banks are ordered by the Federal Reserve to buy securities, they may be used as reserves which increase the money supply. If the Federal Reserve orders the banks to sell securities, this reduces the money supply.
Open position: See Position.
Open system(s); open system(s) technology(ies): A computing system whose architecture is not a secret in that the developers or sponsors of the system have publicized its structure in such detail that other developers can interface their software easily with it, thus enhancing compatibility, implementation, and variety of product offerings.
Open-end operating loan: A farm operating loanthat is similar to a revolving line of credit except that the operating commitment is for the life of the loan agreement and not just any point in time during the loan term. See Operating commitment, and Revolving line of credit (RLOC).
Open-ended grant(s): A mandatory grant where statute authorizes appropriation of funds sufficient to pay a set portion of the grantee's (usually a state) total cost without an upper limit. These are sometimes referred to as "open-ended entitlement grants" due to the entitlement of individual citizens to benefits under the awards. See Grant(s).
Open-ocean aquaculture: The culture of fish in the ocean through the use of submersible net pensystems. (2) The practice within the salmon industry of culturing juveniles, releasing them to mature in the open ocean, and then catching them when they return as adults to spawn.
Operating commitment: The maximum loan amount that a borrower can have outstanding at any time. See Open-end operating loan, and Revolving line of credit (RLOC).
Operating loan(s) (OL): Typically, a short-term loan (i.e., less than one year) to finance crop production, livestock production, inventories, accounts receivable, and other operating or short-term liquidity needs of a business. Operating loans made by the Farm Service Agency are limited to $200,000 for direct loans and $700,000 for guaranteed loans, for periods of one to seven years depending on loan purposes. Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Title V, Subtitle B), eligibility guidelines were expanded and the provision on debt forgiveness was amended. SeeFarmer program loan(s), Guarantee(s); guaranteed; guaranteed loan(s), and Guaranteed (Farm) Loan (program).
Operator(s): See Farm operator(s).
Opting out: Declining to participate in a class action lawsuit. In this case, anyone who met the class definition could notify the Facilitator that he or she did not want to be considered part of the class. See Pigford v. Veneman.
Option 1A: When the USDA issued its proposed milk marketing order rule in 1998, it offered two options. The first was Option 1A which would keep the Class I differentials at close to current levels. This option was later mandated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2000. See Option 1B.
Option 1B: A reform option for the Class I differential of federal milk marketing ordersthat was preferred by the USDA and dairy interests in the upper Midwest. This option would have reduced Class I differentials in many regions, which the USDA claimed would make farm milk pricing more market oriented. Option 1B would have resulted in lower Class I differentials for regions outside the upper Midwest, because this option was based on the assumption that there were closer markets than assumed under Option 1A from which milk could be drawn when supplies were low. Critics of the then-current Class I differentials contended that, in some regions, such differentials were too high and encouraged milk production in higher cost-of-production regions (particularly the Northeast and Southeast) at the expense of traditional dairy states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin. As a result, these regions were allegedly becoming less dependent on the upper Midwest for supplemental supplies in the short production months. Since processors must pay as much for milk shipped in from surplus regions as they would for local production, the critics maintained that there was no economic incentive to bring in milk from other regions, even if that region had a lower cost of production. The USDA attempted to establish a modified Option 1B by rule in 1999, but with passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2000, Congress mandated adoption of Option 1A.
Option(s) (contract): See Commodity option(s).
Option(s) buyer: In commodity options trading, the purchaser of either a call or put option. Optionbuyers receive the right, but not the obligation, to assume a futuresposition. See Commodity option(s), and Option(s) seller.
Option(s) premium: In commodity options trading, the price of an option paid by the option buyer to the option seller for the commodity option. See Commodity option(s).
Option(s) seller: In commodity options trading, one who sells a call or put option. If the option buyer exercises the right under the commodity option to buy or sell an underlying futures contract, then the seller of a commodity option is obligated to perform. See Commodity option(s), and Option(s) buyer.
Option(s) writer: See Writer.
Optional flex acres (acreage); optional flexible acres (acreage) (OFA): Under the planting flexibility provision of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, producers could choose to plant up to 25 percent of the crop acreage base to other permitted crops without a reduction in crop acreage base on the farm, but producers could receive no deficiency payments on this acreage. Optional flex acreage was eligible for price-support loans if the crop to which it is flexed was loan eligible. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 mandated a 15 percent reduction in payment acreage. The remaining 10 percent was the optional flex acreage. The optional flex acreage planting provision was eliminated in the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. See Maximum flex acres (acreage); maximum flexible acres (acreage) (MFA), Normal flex acres (acreage); normal flexible acres (acreage) (NFA), Permitted crop(s),Triple base, and Triple-base plan.
Optional unit(s): Under crop insurance, farms in the same county which qualify as one basic unit, either owned or cash-leased, can be insured as separate units with separate policies if located in different township sections. Separate actual production history records must be reported for each optional unit. Optional units may also be designated when a crop is being grown under distinctly different farming practices. See Enterprise unit(s), Insurance unit(s), andWhole farm unit(s).
Options pilot program: As allowed by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 191), the USDA could conduct a pilot program through 2002 to ascertain whether trading in the options and futures markets could be used by producers to reduce the risks of market price, yield, and income fluctuations. The program was to be funded and operated through the Commodity Credit Corporation. The pilot program for a commodity could not be operated in any county for more than three of the 1996 through 2002 calendar years. See Dairy options pilot program (DOPP).
Orchard run: See Farm weight.
Order(s): See Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), California milk marketing order, Commodity research and promotion program(s),Federal marketing order(s) and agreement(s), Market order, Milk marketing order(s), and Research and promotion order.
Orderly marketing: The orderly flow of supply to market throughout the normal marketing year, thus avoiding unreasonable price and supply fluctuations.
Orderly marketing agreement(s) (OMA): International compacts, negotiated between two or more governments, in which the trading partners agree to restrain the growth of trade in specified "sensitive" products, usually through the imposition of export quotas. Orderly marketing agreements are intended to ensure that future trade increases will not disrupt, threaten, or impair competitive industries or their workers in importing countries.
Organic (system) plan: A plan of management for an organic farming or handling operation that has been agreed to by the producer and certified by the Agricultural Marketing Service under the National Organic Program.
Organic Administrative Act of 1897 (16 U.S.C. §§ 473-482; partially repealed, 1976): The Act created the National Forest System and declared that the national forest lands be established to improve and protect the forest within the boundaries, secure favorable conditions of water flows, and furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of the citizens of the U.S. The Act entrusted the forest reserves to the Secretary of the Interior, but the Transfer Act of 1905 transferred forest administration to the USDA where it remains today.
Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (7 U.S.C. § 5925b): Under authority of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (Sec. 1672B), as amended by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 7218), the USDA may make competitive grants to support research and extension activities regarding organically produced and processed agricultural commodities for the purposes of (a) facilitating the development of organic agriculture production, breeding, and processing methods; (b) evaluating the potential economic benefits to producers and processors who use organic methods; (c) exploring international trade opportunities for organically produced and processed agricultural commodities; (d) determining desirable traits for organic commodities; (e) identifying marketing and policy constraints on the expansion of organic agriculture; and (f) conducting advanced on-farm research and development that emphasizes observation of, experimentation with, and innovation for working organic farms, including research relating to production and marketing and to socioeconomic conditions.
Organic Foods Production Act (P.L. 101-624) (7 U.S.C. §§ 6501 et seq.): Signed into law November 28, 1990. Title XXI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, as amended. The Act authorized the formation of the National Organic Standards Board and the establishment of national organic farming and handling standards. See National Organic Program, and Organic certification.
Organic Transitions (ORG): A Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, Integrated Activities, integrated pest management program designed to assist producers in successfully adopting organic practices by supporting systems research on organic farming combined with outreach and education programs to transfer technologies to producers in the near term. See Crops at Risk (CAR), Methyl Bromide Transitions Program (MBT), and Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program (RAMP).
Organic certification: As authorized by the Organic Foods Production Act (part of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990), theAgricultural Marketing Service was charged with the goal of developing a certification program establishing national organic standards governing the marketing of certain products as organically produced, assuring consumers that organically produced products meet consistent standards, and facilitating interstate commerce in fresh and processed food that is organically produced. See Certified organic; certified, and Certifying agent(s); certified agent(s).
Organic farming: There is no universally accepted definition, but in general, organic farming is a production system that avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock feed additives. To the maximum extent feasible, organic farming systems rely on crop rotation, crop residues, animal manures, legumes, green manure, off-farm organic wastes, mechanical cultivation, mineral-bearing rocks, and aspects of biological control of pests to maintain soil tilth and productivity, to supply plant nutrients, and to controlweeds, insects, and other pests. In an attempt to establish national standards for USDA-approved certification, a final rule for implementing the National Organic Program was published in December 2000 with full compliance required by October 2002. SeeNational Organic Program.
Organic fertilizer: Any fertilizer composed of natural minerals or biological products that has not been synthetically altered. See Fertilizer(s).
Organic foods: Foods produced through organic farming practices.
Organic legislation: See Authorization(s); authorize(d)(s); authority(ies).
Organic matter: That portion of soil consisting of soil organisms and dead and decaying plants and plant parts.
Organic(s): (1) A labeling term that denotes products produced under the authority of the Organic Foods Production Act. The principal guidelines for organic production are to use materials and practices that enhance the ecological balance of natural systems and that integrate the parts of the farming system into an ecological whole. (2) Pertaining to living organisms in general, to compounds formed by living organisms, and to the chemistry of compounds containing carbon.
Organically produced: Any agricultural product that was produced and handled in accordance with the National Organic Program.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): An organization established in December 1960 to study and discuss trade and related matters. Members include the U.S., Canada, the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, Korea, and Turkey.
Organochlorine: The common chemical names of organochlorine active ingredients include endosulfan, heptachlor, lindane, and methoxychlor. Most of the organochlorine pesticidesare no longer used in agriculture in the U.S.
Organoleptic inspection: Meat and poultry inspections that rely on the senses of sight, smell, taste, and touch. Such inspections are insufficient to detect microbial or chemical contamination.
Organophosphate(s) (OP): Pesticides made up of organic compounds containing phosphorous that affect the functioning of the nervous system. Common chemical names for organophosphate active ingredients include methyl parathion, ethyl parathion, malathion, and chlorpyrifos.
Original loan rate: See Basic loan rate.
Ornamental(s): Plants or shrubs grown for their decorative effect.
Ornamental(s) (fish): Various fish raised for water gardens, aquariums, and other viewing purposes. Ornamentals include angel fish, koi, ornamental goldfish, tropical fish, guppies, and ornamental catfish.
Ornamental(s) (plants): See Floral crops, and Nursery crop(s); greenhouse crop(s).
Orthophotography: An aerial photo that has been corrected to eliminate distortions due to camera tilt and topographic relief. It recreates the ground geometry to how it would appear from directly above each and every point. An orthophotograph has consistent scale throughout and can be used as a map. Photographs that have been seamed and then connected through an orthophotography process are called digital orthophotography.
Other acreage (peanuts): Under the peanut program in theFarm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1302 (f)(2)), base acres other than base acres for peanuts, acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program or Wetlands Reserve Program, and any other acreage enrolled in a conservation program for which payments are made in exchange for not producing a commodity on that land.
Other commodities: Under the payment limitation rules of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1603(d)(2)), peanuts, wool, mohair, and honey. See Loan commodity(ies).
Other farm-related income: Income that includes gross receipts from hunting leases, fishing fees, camping, and other recreational services; patronage dividends from farm cooperatives; sales of farm byproducts; and other sales and services closely related to the farm business. It excludes nonfarm income. See Farm-related income.
Other market formula purchase: A purchase of livestock by a packer in which the pricing mechanism is a formula price based on any market other than the market for that type livestock or livestock product. Other market formula purchases include formula purchases where the price formula is based on one or morefutures or options contracts.
Other nonfat solids price: See Other solids price.
Other oilseeds: Under Sec. 1001 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, sunflowerseed, rapeseed, canola, safflower, flaxseed, mustard seed, and another oilseed if designated by the USDA. Crambe and sesame are no longer considered other oilseeds because of their limited production.
Other order market: Milk sold in the marketing area but originating from a nonpool plant. It is subject to the pricing andpooling provisions of another federal marketing order.
Other solids (milk): Milk solids that include lactose and ash but not butterfat and proteins.
Other solids price: The dry wheyprice per pound, minus the make allowance of $0.159, multiplied by 1.03.
Other source milk: All skim milk and butterfat contained in or represented by (a) receipts of fluid milk products and bulk cream products from any source other than producers, handlers, or pool plants; (b) products (other than fluid milk products, fluid cream products, and products produced at the plant during the same month) from any source which are reprocessed, converted into, or combined with another product in the plant during the month; and (c) receipts of any milk product (other than a fluid milk product or a fluid cream product) for which the handler fails to establish a disposition.
Out of the program: See Free rider, and Nonprogram acres.
Out-of-the-money option: In commodity options trading, anoption with no intrinsic value; a call option whose strike price is above the current futures price, or a put option whose strike price is below the current futures price. See At-the-money option, and In-the-money option.
Outbreak (food safety): The contracting of a foodborne illness by two or more persons, traceable to the consumption of a common food.
Outbreeding: The mating of animals less closely related than the average for the population.
Outcrossing: The mating of individuals that are less closely related than the average of the breed.
Outgoing grant(s): The transfer of USDA funds to support a recipient in order to accomplish a public purpose that will not benefit the USDA. No substantial involvement is anticipated between the USDA and the recipient during the performance. These grants should be as competitive as practical. See Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement.
Outlay(s): The payment of appropriated funds made in order to liquidate obligations.
Outlier(s); outs: Cattle with one or more undesirable traits (i.e., dark cutters, poor grade and yield, or carcass-weight irregularities).
Output(s): (1) The total yield or quantity produced. (2) A marketable product of a farming operation such as cash crops, livestock products, or breeding stock.
Outreach: SeeOffice of Outreach.
Outreach Programs: A Farm Service Agency initiative to inform farmers and ranchers about FSA programs and services. The goal is to increase the participation of the underserved including limited-resource farmers and especially those who are socially disadvantaged or members of racial minority groups.
Outreach and assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers: Authorized by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (Sec. 2501), as amended by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Secs. 10707-10708). A program that makes available grants and contracts to eligible entities to provide outreach and technical assistance to encourage and assist socially disadvantagedfarmers and ranchers to own and operate farms and ranches and to equitably participate in the full range of programs offered by the USDA. Eligible entities include community-based organizations, 1890 land grant colleges and universities and Tuskegee University (including West Virginia State College), 1994 institutions, Indian tribal community colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, or any other institution of higher learning with demonstrated experience in providing education or other agriculturally related services to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in their area of influence. SeeOffice of Outreach.
Outreach for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers: An account under Title I, Agricultural Programs, of agricultural appropriations. See Outreach and assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
Outstanding (crop) loan: A nonrecourse loan is considered outstanding if a producer has secured the loan from the Commodity Credit Corporation, but has not settled the loan, either through repayment or delivery of the collateral to the CCC. See Loan settlement.
Outstanding research: Research that establishes the scientist as a nationally and internationally recognized authority and leader in an area of widespread scientific interest and investigation. The work will have resulted in honors and awards from major national organizations, and service as an advisor and consultant on scientific and technological programs and problems that extend well beyond the scientist's own field. The scientist's reputation as a scientific leader will serve as a recruiting attraction for recent graduates and collaborators and is likely to be a major consideration in agency sponsorship of research programs in his or her field.
Oven prepared: A food labeling term meaning a product that is fully cooked and ready to eat.
Over-order premium(s): See Over-order price(s).
Over-order price(s): An additional charge added to the minimum regulated class price charged by a milk supplier to a buyer. It may reflect services provided by the supplier or reflect the supply and demand conditions and negotiating position of the supplier and buyer. The revenue generated by over-order prices may be pooled and paid back to producers as an over-order premium.
Over-quota: All imports above the tariff-rate quota that have higher tariffs applied. See In-quota.
Over-quota peanuts: Also Nonquota peanuts. See Additionals; additional peanuts.
Overage and shrinkage (dairy): Overage is pool milk classified usage in excess of pool milk receipts and usually occurs through errors in recordkeeping. Shrinkage is the loss between milk receipts and the final product use classification.
Overall allotment quantity (OAQ): Under the sugar program, the estimated sugar consumption, plus reasonable carryover stocks at the end of the crop year, minus 1,532,000 short tons, raw value, minus carry-in stocks of sugar, including sugar in the Commodity Credit Corporation inventory. The USDA then adjusts the overall allotment quantity to avoid the forfeiture of sugar to the CCC.
Overbought: The situation when all the buyers have already bought and the market has extended itself beyond a realistic price. See Oversold.
Overgrazing: Exceeding the carrying capacity of a pasture through grazing too many ruminants on land that is unable to recover its vegetation; the grazing of ruminants on land not suitable for grazing because of its slope.
Overhead; overhead cost(s); overhead expenses: See Indirect(s); indirect costs.
Overlap: See Special import quota.
Overlap agents: Agents and toxins that pose a severe threat to animal health and animal products and public health. As such, both the Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA have regulatory authority over them.
Overmarketing(s): The number of pounds by which marketings of tobacco from a farm during the immediately preceding marketing year (if marketing quotas were in effect) exceed the effective farm marketing quota for such year.
Overmature: The point at which timber has begun to lessen in commercial value because of size, age, decay, or other factors. Many trees in a virgin or old growth stand are overmature and are in fact dying of old age.
Overplowing: The practice of moving agricultural activity onto marginal land, which often is steep-sloped, of low fertility, and subject to low and unreliable rainfall.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC): A self-sustaining U.S. government agency whose purpose is to promote economic growth in developing countries by encouraging U.S. private investment in those nations through two principal programs: (a) financing investment projects through direct loans or loan guarantees, and (b) insuring investment projects against a broad range of risks such as expropriation. These programs are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
Overseed(ing): The planting of seed into an existing crop or lawn.
Oversold: The situation when all the sellers have sold and the market has extended itself (to the downside) beyond a reasonable level. See Overbought.
Overstory: The layer of foliage in a forest canopy including the trees in a timber stand; tall mature timber that rises above the shorter immature understory trees.
Overtop application; over-the-top application: The broadcast application of pesticides or fertilizers over the top of the plant canopy by airplane or raised spray boom. See Layby (application);Postemergence (directed), Postemergence over the top, andPre-emergence application.
Ovicides: Pesticides that kill the eggs of insects and mites.
Ovine: Sheep and lamb.
Own certificate: See Issued certificate.

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