Northumbrian Farm Glossary - from Aad to Yowens

As a daft laddie in the 1950s (see the editor 2nd from right above at Demesne Farm in Bellingham, with l to r Jack & Bob Beattie; the local Sergeant; Willie Potts with Jock; and Ante Dagg), you could count on a fine schooling in the art of the proper farm talk required in the North Tyne. Fifty years on, to accompany the Daft Laddies book and the series of web posts on this blog, an extensive glossary was prepared. Rather than post it all here, I've put it up on a Google Knol (click here to read it).

If you need just a bit of quick translation, and can find nowt on the fancy Google Translate widget that will approximate the North Tyne language, it's probably best you make your way through this very special dictionary - each link is live below, and will take you to the letter you're after.

A - aad to aye
B - baalks to byorman
C - caa to cuwman
D - dadd to dyke
E - easin' to eye
F - fall to fummlin
G - gan to gye
H - haad to huw
I - illiven to ivribody
J - jaa
K - keb to kositos
L - lambin' to lugs
M - maaks to mule
N - neb to nuw
O - only to oxters
P - paaky to pund
Q - quart
R - rake to rutts
S - saa to syke
T - taalk to turnoot
U - there's nee u man!
V - there's nee v man!
W - wall to wrang
X - there's nee x man!
Y - yarkin' to yowens
Z - there's nee z man!

Northumbrian Dialect Scholarship

By Clive Dalton

The late Harold Orton was a Professor in the English Department at the University of Leeds where his students used to go out during the summer vacation into rural areas to interview and record folk such as farm workers, game keepers and other rural workers. The English Department was near the Agriculture Department where I taught, and it was a great experience meeting Harold. He told me he had done some of his own student study in Bellingham and had recorded Jack Telfer the tobacconist and watchmaker.

We talked of the North Tyne accent and he assembled some students to hear me give an example of the lingo! Choosing a subject was easy as I just imitated some of the grand old folk I worked for. I gave them a treatise on how to judge Blackfaced tups!

Prof Orton played me recordings of rural folk from the East Riding and West Riding of Yorkshire and it may as well have been a foreign language. He then played me a discussion between two rural lads from around Wooler arguing about the merits of their Border "tarriers" (terriers), and to sort it out they were going to let them have a "whorry". It took me some time te get me lugs tuned in illustrating the changes in speech over very small areas of the county. The material collected by Prof Orton is now famous world wide as a source of English dialects.

An update from 1980 on Orton's work is presented on the Woolshed 1 blog in two parts:

Part 1: http://woolshed1.blogspot.com/2008/10/northumberland-changes-in-agricultural.html
Part 2: http://woolshed1.blogspot.com/2008/10/northumberland-changes-in-agricultural_12.html

In researching images for the blog related to this project, I found this article reporting the study is from the 1956 archives of the New York Times, who have a unique (and amusing) take on the study.

Here's a link to a copy of that article - click here.

Northumberland: The Greet Northumbrian burr

By Roland Bibby
Northumbriana, No 37. Spring 1989 ISSN 0306-4809

The famous burr of Northumberland, the choking, rendering “r” sound, or rather its origin is an interesting subject. Most of Northumberland and a slice of North Durham were within the burr’s boundary in an 1890 survey. The burr has long been the Northumbrian’s trademark.

Traditional explanations are that Harry Hotspur had an impediment in his speech – he spoke thickly, Shakespeare put it – and everyone here copied the hero; and that the Danes brought it; and that proud Northumbrians copied the French. None was satisfactory.

The young bloods might have imitated Hotspur but their elders and females would surely have not. There is no trace of the Danes having a burr and they did not settle amongst, and influence the speech of Northumberland (or Durham until they began sneaking in from Yorkshire).

The French “r” is documented. It began in Verseilles about 1700, a fad of fashionable fops which spread across the palace, Paris, France and adjoining countries. Why if it crossed the Channel should it ignore the Sassenachs and pounce on Northumbrians? Why should Northumberland welcome this “gift” from the Scot’s great allies the French; still in 1700 the great enemy of the is country? And so one wondered and waited.

Then three of four years ago, I mentioned this age-old problem to Reginald Dand, ex-Amble, ex Morpeth, now doon theor in Sassenachia and a keen student of place and personal names. “Haad up” he said, “Ever thought of all the Anglo Saxon “hr” and “hl” words? The hr ones are not easy to say without a bold imitation of the burr.

He was right of course. The initial “h” before the “l”, “r” or “w” was common in Anglo Saxon for example:

HLADEN to load
HLAEDEL a ladle
HLAEDER a ladder
HLENAN to learn
HLENE thin, lean
HLAF a loaf
HLYNN a cataract or waterfall
HRAWEFN a raven
HREAW raw
HREDDAN to rid
HREOD reed
HREOF rough
HREOWAN to rue
HRIDDEL a sieve
HWAELA a whale
Hwaerw where
HWAET what
HWEATE wheat
HWEOL wheel
HWEARF wharf
HWY why

There are many more examples. The Normans we are told eliminated the initial “h”. This is suspect but it did go, except amongst highly refined people who carefully say “hwy”, “hwen” and “hwart” and would swoon to find they are preserving a feature of that vulgar Anglo-Saxon.

Needless to say, the elimination did not work in Northumberland, and that purist “h” can still be heard occasionally. However, it is not the “h” which could burr an “r” we seek, but the reason why, here and here alone, in a “hr”ing nation, the burr was born, blossomed and was perpetuated regardless of all who, white-faced, listened. That Dand theory needed something more.

There is a lesser-known curiosity of Northumbrian speech, the rasping gas-jet of an “h” in “H-h-hwaat” and “H-H-hwee”. It can elongate the following vowel eg “Aa h-h-oh-up”! “H-h-reen thi bell man”!

It can redouble the “h”s effect in the “hr” words, almost insisting on the burr. It can attach itself to “r” in words that never had an “h” in front and so, if a Northumbrian says the English saying – “Around the rugged rock etc”, you can hear six burrs and the six preliminary “h” jets, but three of the six words can form old French, and three from Scandinavian. It made explosions of the Northumbrian “huz” (us) and “hit” (it).
In other words, it is easy to get from the gas-jet “h” in “hr” words to the same in “r” words.

Heslop remarked on the Northumbrian “h” – “with a very strong breathing, as in which, when, while, what, wick, (hwick) and quite (white).” Ealier in 1959 Walter White wrote: “And how a Northumbrian exasperates the “h” bringing it up hoarsely from the very bottom of his chest! At times I could hardly recognise my own name exploded from a Northumbrian throat.”(H-h-waaltor H-h-wite).

Brocket says nothing of the hoarse “h”; indeed his burr is a “peculiar whirring sound”. Moody does not mention such a strong “h” but does say that the aspirate is “scrupulously respected by Northumbrians … never dropped save in certain monosyllabic words (he, him, etc) – a natural kind of elision… never wrongly introduced before a vowel…” (never, never, “Allo, ‘Arold –hit’s the Halec ‘ere”. This meticulous respect for the “h” could well be the lasting echo of the gas-jet “h”.

Moody does not relate the strong “h” to the burr, but he strongly denies the Hotspur-Danish-French origins of the latter, and asserts that the burr was not indigenous but was acquired much earlier than the birth of the French “r”. We can reasonably assume that it was acquired before Hotspur’s time; that it was generated by the strong “h”; that the latter was yet another oddity born in Northumberland’s long isolation; if only to spite the Norman barons!

Image credit: Military History Online website.

Northumberland: Changes in agricultural dialect. Part 2

By Alison Johnson
From a paper prepared when a final honours student at the School of English, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Printed in Northumbriana, No 20, Summer/Autumn 1980. ISSN 0308-4809

PART 2
Although there has been a number of national dialect surveys undertaken in Europe before the turn of the century, it was not until the 1950s that any systematic attempt was made to record the regional variations in English. Harold Orton's "Survey of English Dialects" (SED) was initiated both in response to the fact that linguists felt dialects were worth investigating in their own right, and also for a concern that in England, "pure dialect form is disappearing even in country districts, owing to the spread of education and to modern facilities for intercommunication.

With his SED, Orton effectively performed what he saw as a "salvage operation", recording pure genuine forms of dialect that were likely to disappear without trace. Some 25 years later, I have visited nine Northumbrian villages surveyed by Orton (Lowick, Embleton. Thropton, Ellington, Earsdon, Heddon-on-the-wall, Allendale, Haltwhistle, Wark) (see part 1) to examine the extent of changes in dialect in the face of increasing urbanisation, modern farming methods, and changes in education and communications in general.

Of the nine young farmers I interviewed, the responses of TO of Earsdon were to provide some of the most interesting material I collected. Son of a Yorkshire-born mother, TO was born on the farm near Earsdon, like his father before him. TO is 28 years of age, he has lived on the farm all his life apart from spells at school and college. He was educated locally as a child and took elocution lessons. Later he received his agricultural education at Haydon Bridge Technical School in the south west of Northumberland, at the Northumberland College of Agriculture and the Berkshire college of Agriculture.

A number of TO's responses reflected the loss of dialect words due to the rise of modern farming techniques. Question of "When the grass has been mown for hay, what do you do next"? The common replies in the SED were to ted it, or strew it (scatter). Although one of my informants, CH of Haltwhistle did use strew, this was rare. TO's replies to "crimp, wuffle or scatter" it refer to the use of machines unknown to SED informants, as well as the hay bob. MA of Wark also referred to this machine and would certainly have baffled the interviewers in the 1950s survey. Similarly TO could not tell me a call for hens to come to him (in SED) because he only encounters hens in battery cages!

On the other hand, TO does use a good deal of dialect terms. He was the only one of my young informants to have "onstead" in his normal usage for "farm steading". This was a frequent response in the SED and was also used by my oldest informant, JM of Heddon-on-the-Wall who acted as control for this research among younger informants.

TO's father's farm is now located in an urbanised area rather than an isolated village, as it was in the 1950s. TO's use of older dialect forms is perhaps surprising in view of this. One might also have expected that he would have lost contact with his local dialect since he took elocution lessons and was educated away from home. It is difficult to assess the extent to which TO's use of dialect was natural in the interview situation as on occasions he seemed to be consciously polite.

It is worth offering a cautionary note to would-be collectors of dialect as the presence of a tape-recorder can often inhibit more spontaneous kinds of speech. In a question of "what do you call the little balls that rabbits leave behind", TO answered "carlings". Then he said that this is what his mother told him to say when he was younger – otherwise the word (more common by far) was "dottles".

A similar instance occurred with GM of Heddon-on-the-wall in response to the question of "what root crops do you grow"? GM said potatoes in the interview but I know that he usually calls them "taiteez", which he did when prompted, admitting that his wife, a non-dialect speaker prefers him not to use dialect forms such as this.

A number of other informants also said they want to speak more "politely" when they knew they were being tape-recorded – hence potatoes for taties in many cases. CH told me that he wanted to modify his dialect (despite the fact that I have a Northumbrian accent myself) because he finds that people outside of his native Haltwhistle often misunderstood him. MA of Wark expressed similar sentiments and as a student at University, told me he feels a pressure to confirm to his standard-speaking colleagues at the expense of his dialect.

Sometimes in the interview he was confused about what he said at home and what he said at University. For example in a question he could not remember how he usually pronounced "swath" for a row of mown hay. The University pronunciation "swath" was an natural to him as the dialect "swaeth". Similarly TO would say "trof" for trough and then changed it to the dialect "trow"; and several informants varied between the standard "yuh" for ewe and the dialect "yow".

Generally dialect forms seemed to be used when informants were engrossed in conversations and more standard forms when they became conscious of their speech being recorded, or when they were least conscious of the purpose of the interview.

However, despite the limitations of the structured interview situations, many examples of the pure genuine forms of the dialect were obtained.

Northumberland: Changes in agricultural dialect. Part 1.

By Alison Johnson
From a paper prepared when a final honours student at the School of English, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Printed in Northumbriana, No 19, Spring 1980. ISSN 0308-4809

PART 1

Interest in Northumbrian dialect stretches back through many centuries - the characteristic burr for instance was made famous by Hotspur in the thirteen hundreds, and Daniel Defoe wrote of the Northumbrians' "hollow jarring in the throat" in the 17^th century.

One of the most important considerations of the dialect to emerge in recent years was Harold Orton's study in the 1950s, when Northumberland was included in his national "Survey of English Dialects" (SED). Since it's over 20 years since Orton began to publish his results, I became interested in the subsequent development of the dialect of Northumbrian agricultural community.

I decided to conduct a survey in the same nine villages of Northumberland that Orton and his fieldworkers used. However, where Orton was trying to find the oldest extant dialect in the area, I was interested in how much the dialect had been "handed down" form father to son, and now much had been preserved against the background of increasing standardisation of English speech, and technological changes in farming.

Orton had hoped that by using comparatively isolated rural communities he would get as authentic a variety of dialect as possible. SED informants were very rarely below the age of 60 and often over 80, for after all, it is they who are likely to have preserved the traditional dialect best. In both Orton's and my own surveys the majority of speakers interviewed were born and bred in their respective villages; often their families had farmed there for generations. The informants in my research differed from Orton's in that they were young and had usually attended and agricultural college or school away from home, where they would have come into contact with different speech varieties.

I chose one informant from each of the nine villages (Lowick, Embleton, Thropton, Ellington, Earsdon, Heddon-on-the-wall, Allendale, Haltwhistle, Wark). The nine informants were in their twenties (ranging from 20-28, average 24). A 10th informant acted as a control of the research – being 74 years old he was a typical SED informant. I hoped he would give comparable results to those provided by the SED, demonstrating the retention of a lot of old dialect. The other informants were old enough to have gained experience and familiarity with contemporary types of farming, and young enough to have knowledge of, and to be influenced by the more recent development of farming. How much of the old dialect would they be familiar with? Would they use new dialect items as a result of change in farm technology?

The choice of informants, all of whom were members of the Northumberland Federation of Young Farmer's Clubs was based on age and locality, not on social factors although all the informants happened to be either self-employed or working on their father's farms; none were farm labourers. They had varying educational background but education was not found to be a particularly important influence on dialect retention. All the informants were male, for two reasons. Firstly, this in keeping with Orton's survey, and secondly they were more likely to be familiar with technical terms than were females.

Information was collected by tape-recorded interviews, usually made in the informant's own homes. The interviews were based on Orton's questionnaire. This had nine books of questions in all, but I used only a selection from the first three, which are most relevant to farming today. For example, the informants were asked – "What do you call the animals that give us milk?", or where do you store your hay if you have it inside?" Some sections were omitted because they referred to farming methods which are now obsolete, and which young farmers had not used. For example, questions referring to cart horses, threshing machines, old fashioned ploughs, etc were ignored.

I expected that the results of the interviews as recorded would show a trend towards standardisation of speech and I was largely interested in how things like, (a) new technical words would demonstrate the influence of technological change in farming methods, and (b) dialect items which had either been retained or introduced since the 1950s.

The former category (a) was found for example in response to the question, "what do cows feed on in the cow house? The answer "silage" was never recorded in the SED since silage was unknown then and all the informants naturally use the word "hay". Silage however was commonplace by the time of my study and the world was therefore commonly used though still outweighed by the more usual "hay".

Examples of dialect survival (b) were noted in response to situations like "what do you call the liquid that runs down the drain of the byre'? Informant CH of Haltwhistle was unique in replying "yeddle". This world was used by the SED's Haltwhistle informant and still seems to be in common usage there today.

A fine example of the dialect development since the 1950s was that given in respsone to the question which asked the informant to identify couch grass from a picture. MD of Lowick said that the common term in his locality was "rak". This is most interesting when compared with the SED recorded response in Lowick. Then the common term was wicken, and wrack was mentioned only as a modern term. MD of Lowick two decades later was not at all familiar with wicken which serves to illustrate the increasing dominance and usage of the dialect word wrack in the Lowick area during that period.

These specimens results are merely a small sample of the kind of findings that resulted from my study as an introduction to the research. I look forward to presenting further discussion of my results, more details of the information themselves and other points of interest in future issues.

Footnote by Clive Dalton

The late Harold Orton was a Professor in the English Department at the University of Leeds where his students used to go out during the summer vacation into rural areas to interview and record folk such as farm workers, game keepers and other rural workers. The English Department was near the Agriculture Department where I taught, and it was a great experience meeting Harold. He told me he had done some of his own student study in Bellingham and had recorded Jack Telfer the tobacconist and watchmaker.

We talked of the North Tyne accent and he assembled some students to hear me give an example of the lingo! Choosing a subject was easy as I just imitated some of the grand old folk I worked for. I gave them a treatise on how to judge Blackfaced tups!

Prof Orton played me recordings of rural folk from the East Riding and West Riding of Yorkshire and it may as well have been a foreign language. He then played me a discussion between two rural lads from around Wooler arguing about the merits of their Border "tarriers" (terriers), and to sort it out they were going to let them have a "whorry". It took me some time te get me lugs tuned in illustrating the changes in speech over very small areas of the county. The material collected by Prof Orton is now famous world wide as a source of English dialects.

Here's a link to a great New York Times article on Professor Orton's study - it's always entertaining to hear what another culture thinks of the English.

Soil and Fertiliser Glossary

Acidulated: Fertiliser manufacturing process where acids are used.
Aeration: Process where air gets into the soil pores.
Aggregate: Cluster of soil particles (sand, silt and clay).
Allophanic soils: Soils containing aluminium and silicon formed from volcanic ash.
Alluvial soils: Soils deposited on land by water.
Ammonium nitrate: Inorganic fertiliser with 33% or rapidly available N.
Ammonium phosphates: Inorganic fertiliser containing N(33%).
Ammonium sulphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing N(21%) and S(24%).
Ammonium nitrogen: Inorganic soluble form of N.
Anion: Ion carrying one or more negative charges.
Anion storage capacity (ASC): Measure of the capacity of soil to store nutrients e.g. P and S: Previously known as phosphate retention capacity.
Ash soils: Yellow-brown loams, brown granular loams and clays, and red brown loams, derived from volcanic eruption.
Available nutrients: Nutrients in soil easily absorbed by plants.
Available water: Proportion water in soil that is easily absorbed by plants.
Available water-holding capacity: Sum of available water capacity of each root-containing layer.
Bare fallowing: Fallow leaving bare soil.
Base saturation: Percentage of cation exchange capacity of a soil saturated with basic cations.
Base cations: Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) and potassium (K).
Biomass: Living organisms in the soil.
Borax: Trace element fertiliser containing 11% boron.
Boron: B.
Border dyking: Levees or borders to control flow of water on to land.
Brassica crops: Cauliflowers, cabbages, turnips and Swedes.
Brown earths: Aerobic soils with brown colour due to iron particles on soil particles.
Buffering capacity: Ability to resist changes in pH; also changes in concentration in nutrient concentration.
Bulk density: The mass of a standard volume of soil.
C:N ratio: Concentration of carbon in organic matter divided by the concentration of nitrogen.
Calcareous: Containing calcium carbonate (limestone).
Calcined magnesite: Inorganic fertiliser containing 50-55% magnesium in rapidly available form.
Calcium sulphate: Gypsum. Inorganic fertiliser containing S(20%) in rapidly available form.
Cation: Ion carrying one or more positive charges.
Cation storage capacity (CSC): Measure of capacity of a soil to store nutrients e.g. Ca, M.G., K and Na. Also called cation exchange capacity.
Chelates: Trace elements combined into organic molecules which makes them readily available to plants.
Clay soils: Soil containing fine mineral particles no bigger than 0.002mm in diameter.
Clod: Large dense lump of soil.
Co: Cobalt.
Coarse soil texture: Soil dominated by sand-sized mineral particles.
Cobalt sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing Co (21%).
Compaction: Soil where heavy machinery of stock have destroyed air-filled pores.
Concretion: Soil particle composed mainly of a single chemical compound e.g. Calcium carbonate or iron oxides.
Copper sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing Cu(25%).
Cover crop: Crop planted to protect the soil surface or seed planted after it has started to grow e.g. Grass seed in crop of barley.
Crop residue: Unharvested part of a crop (roots and straw).
Crop rotation: Sequence of different crops grown on an area of lad which could include a fallow.
Crumb structure: Small, rounded, porous aggregates in soil.
Denitrification: Reduction of nitrate or nitrate nitrogen to gaseous form.
Development fertiliser: Fertiliser applied to boost the overall fertility of a farm.
Diammonium phosphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing N (18%). P (21%) and K(0), S(2%).
Dolomite: Form of limestone containing calcium or magnesium carbonate. Has 10% Mg in slow release form.
Effective root depth: Depth of soil before root penetration stops.
Elemental Sulphur: Inorganic fertiliser which is 100% S in slow release form.
Equivalent acidity: Weight of pure calcium carbonate (limestone) to neutralise the acidity caused by applying 100kg of fertiliser.
Erosion: Loss of soil by wind, water or ice.
Essential plant nutrients: Chemical elements essential for normal plant growth.
Eutrofication: Enrichment of surface water with plant nutrients causing weed and algal growth, and anaerobic conditions.
Fallow: Period when no crop is grown.
Fe: Iron.
Ferrous sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing 19% Fe.
Fertiliser: Any organic or mineral material added to soil to supply essential nutrients for plant growth. (Not the legal definition).
Field capacity: Soil water content 2-3 days after a saturated soil has been allowed to drain, and when free drainage has stopped.
Fine texture soils: Soils in which fine particles (clay and silt) predominate.
Fixation: Process that converts plant nutrients from soluble form to less soluble form.
Friable soil: Soil which breaks down with ease to desirable tilth.
Gley soil: Soil developed under poor drainage.
Granular structure: Soil with well-defined crumb structure.
Green manuring: Growing a crop e.g. oats, lupins to plough back into the soil.
Ground water: Zone below soil surface in which water can move freely.
Growing degree days: Number of days when air temperature is above 10ºC.
Gumland soils: Soils containing the resin from kauri trees.
Gypsum: Inorganic fertiliser containing 20% S in rapidly available form. Calcium sulphate.
Heavy metal: Toxic metallic elements e.g. Cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromium, lead and nickel.
Horizon: Horizontal layers in the soil profile differing in appearance and chemical properties.
Hump and hollow: Reshaped land surface to help drain off surface water.
Humus: Stable form of organic matter in soil containing plant and animal residues decomposed by micro-organisms.
Impeded drainage: Condition where no free movement of water through soil is possible.
Impervious: Resistant to water or plant roots.
Infiltration: Entry of water into the soil surface.
Immobilisation: Reverse of mineralisation.
Inorganic: Mineral substances containing carbon only in the form of carbonates.
Intrazonal soils: Soils influenced when formed by parent material or temporary or permanent saturation.
Ions: Electrically charged particles formed when substances dissolve in water. Anions have negative charge and cations have positive charge.
Iron pan: Narrow layer of soil in which individual particles are cemented together by iron oxides.
Labile nutrients: Plant nutrients in soil that are able to replenish the soil solution rapidly to maintain plant growth.
Land classification: Grouping land into categories based on suitability for purpose.
Leaching: Removal of nutrients from upper soil layers by downward movement of water.
Limestone: Rock made up mainly of calcium carbonate.
Liquid fertilisers: Fertilisers spread in liquid form.
Loam: Soil containing sand, silt and clay-sized particles without any one type dominating.
Macronutrient: Element required in large amounts for plant growth.
Magnesium oxide: See Calcined magnesite.
Magnesium sulphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing 10% Mg in rapidly available form.
Maintenance fertiliser: Fertiliser applied to replace nutrients removed from the soil.
Manganese sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing 24% Mn.
MAX: Maximum available water-holding capacity of soil root zone.
Mb: Molybdenum.
Melanic soils: Soils with dark surface horizon rich in nutrients such as Ca and Mg.
Micronutrient: Element required in small amounts (ppm) for plant growth.
Mineral nitrogen: Soluble N compounds in nitrate, nitrite or ammonium forms.
Mineral soil: Soil consisting mainly of mineral materials and less than 20% organic matter.
Mineralisation: Process where micro-organisms convert plant nutrients from organic to inorganic form.
Mn: Manganese.
Mole drainage: Dragging metal plug (mole) through soil to make drainage tunnels.
Monoammonium phosphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing N(11%). P(21%) and K(0), S(2%).
Mulch: Material applied to soil to prevent water loss by evaporation and suppress weed growth.
Nitrate nitrogen: Inorganic soluble form of N.
Nitrogen assimilation: Incorporation of N into organic materials by living organisms.
Nitrogen cycle: Process of how nitrogen is used in a grazing system incorporating N from the air, the role of N fixing by legumes, and return of dung and urine from the animal.
Nitrogen fixation: Conversion of nitrogen gas in the air by rhizobia bacteria on roots of legumes into forms that can be used by plants.
Nutrient budget: Exercise to balance nutrients applied with nutrients removed from the farm.
Nutrient cycling: Process of nutrients moving from soil to plants and returned again to soil.
Olsen P test: Measure of plant available P.
Organic soil: Soil containing more than 20% organic matter.
Over liming: Applying more lime than needed to achieve optimum pH.
Oxidation pond slurry: Content of farm oxidation pond used as organic fertiliser.
Parent material: Material from which the soil is formed.
Partially acidulated phosphate rock (PAPR): Inorganic fertiliser containing P in both soluble and slow release form. Total P content around 15%.
Peat: Soil formed by accumulation of undecomposed or partially decomposed plant residues.
Permanent wilting point: Water content of soil at which plants wilt and don’t recover.
Permeability: Ease which with water, gases or water can pass through a soil.
pH: Measure of acidity or alkalinity of soil.
Phosphate retention capacity: Soils capacity to absorb phosphate anions.
Plasticity: Ability for soil to stay in shape after being moulding with fingers.
Plough pan: Soil layer with poor permeability formed below depth of regular cultivation.
Poaching: Same as pugging.
Podzols: Strongly leached acid soils with clearly defined bleached horizon.
Porosity: Volume of pores as percentage of volume of soil.
Potassium chloride: Inorganic fertiliser containing 50% potassium in rapidly available form.
Potassium sulphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing 40% K and 17% S in rapidly available form.
Profile: Vertical section through soil exposing different horizons.
Pugging: Destruction of surface structure of wet soils by stock or traffic.
Pumice soils: Soils formed from volcanic pumice.
Quick test K(QTK): Measure of plant available K.
Quick test Mg(QTMG): Measure of plant available Mg.
Raw soils: Very young soils with no distinct profile.
Reaction: Acidity or alkalinity of soil expressed as pH value.
Reactive phosphate rock (RPR): Natural occurring, slow-release P fertiliser containing between 12-15% P. An unacidulated fertiliser.
Recent soils: Weakly weathered soils with little profile but with distinct topsoil.
Rhizobia: Bacteria live in root nodules on legumes that convert atmospheric N into plant available N.
Rhyolite: Derived from rhyolite, a fine-grained igneous rock that occurs in larva flows.
Rill erosion: Erosion forming small gullies or rills on soil surface.
Ripping: Same as subsoiling.
Root nodules: Small growth on roots of legumes containing rhizobia bacteria.
Root zone: Depth to which roots penetrate.
Run-off: Rainfall or irrigation water which flows off soil surface.
Saline soils: Salt-affected soils.
Sand: Mineral soil particles between 0.02 and 2mm in diameter.
Sandy soil: Soil with texture dominated by sand fraction.
Saturate: To fill to capacity e.g. Soil pores with water.
Se: Selenium.
Sedimentary soil: Soil formed by layers of material deposited by wind or water.
Sheet erosion: Small amounts of soil eroded in a uniform manner from soil surface.
Silt: Mineral soil particles between 0.002 and 0.02mm.
Silting: Deposition of water-borne soil particles in a stream or lake or on flooded land.
Sulphur leaching index (SLI): Index of likely loss of sulphate Sulphur from root zone by leaching.
Slow-release fertiliser: Fertilisers that release their nutrients over an extended period.
Sodium molybdate: Trace element fertiliser containing 39% Mb.
Sodium selenate prills: Trace element fertiliser containing 1% Se.
Soil cap: Dense layer on surface of soil.
Soil solution: Water in soil and materials dissolved in it.
Soil structure: Arrangement of primary soil particles (sand, silt, clay) into aggregates.
Soil tests: Chemical estimates of soil‘s ability to supply nutrients available to plants.
Soil water deficit: Difference between actual amount of water in soil and its water holding capacity.
Solubor: Trace element fertiliser containing 20% Bo.
Sorption: Combination of adsorption and absorption where ions are removed from soil solution by reacting with soil particles.
Subsoil: Soil below B horizon, below cultivated layer or below the root zone.
Subsoiling: Breaking the compact subsoil with tines and without inverting it.
Subsurface tillage: Cultivation with blade to cut plant roots to loosen soil without inverting it.
Sulphate of ammonia: See ammonium sulphate.
Sulphate Sulphur: Inorganic soluble form of S.
Sulphur leaching index: Empirical assessment of potential for sulphate Sulphur to be leached from soil.
Superphosphate(Single super): Rapid release inorganic fertiliser containing around 9%P and 12% S. A fully acidulated P fertiliser.
Superphosphate(Triple super): Rapid release inorganic fertiliser containing around 20%P and 2% S. A fully acidulated P fertiliser.
Surface drains: Reshaped land surface to help removal of surface water.
Texture: Relative proportion of solid primary particles (sand, silt and clay) in a soil.
Tile drain: Clay pipes in subsoil to remove surface water.
Tilth: Fine texture of topsoil required before sowing.
Topsoil: Uppermost layer of soil. The cultivated area.
Ultic soils: Strongly weathered soils with accumulation of clay in the subsoil.
Unacidulated: Process in fertiliser manufacture involving acid.
Urea: Inorganic fertiliser with N (46%) in rapidly available form.
Whey: Byproduct from cheese manufacture used as cow feed or fertiliser.
Virgin soil: Uncultivated soil.
Volcanic rock: Rock derived from volcanic activity e.g. Basalt, pumice and rhyolite.
Volumetric water content: Volume of water in soil as percentage of soil volume.
Water stress: Stress in plants caused by inadequate water.
Water table: Level below which a soil is saturated with water.
Weathering: Physical and chemical changes caused by atmospheric forces occurring near the surface.
Wilting point: Same as permanent wilting point.
Wind erosion: Caused by particles blown by wind.
Zinc sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing 23% Zn.
Zn: Zinc.
Zonal soils: Soils in which climate and vegetation are the most important soil-forming factors.

Information source: I.S. Cornforth (1998). Practical soil management. Lincoln University Press. ISBN 0-909049-15-7

Sheep Breed Glossary

Meat breeds

• Awassi (fat-tailed)
• Dorper
• Dorset Down
• Dorset Horn
• Hampshire
• Oxford Down
• Polled Dorset
• Ryeland
• Shropshire
• South Dorset
• South Dorset Down
• South Hampshire
• South Suffolk
• Southdown
• Suffolk
• Texel
• Wiltshire

Wool breeds

• Boroola Merino (fine wool)
• Drysdale (coarse wool)
• Merino (fine wool)
• Polwarth (fine wool)
• Tukidale (coarse wool)
• Dual-purpose (meat and wool) breeds
• Border Leicester
• Borderdale
• Cheviot
• Coopworth
• Corriedale
• Dohne
• East Friesian
• English Leicester
• Finnish Landrace
• German White-faced Mutton
• Lincoln
• Perendale
• Romney
• Milking breeds
• East Friesian
• Polled Dorset
• Pelt breeds
• Gotland Pelt
• Karakul
• Rare breeds
• Arapawa
• Hokanui Merino
• Raglan Romney
• Pitt Island Merino

Reproduction Glossary

AB: Artificial Breeding. Term used in New Zealand and Australia for AI.
Abortion: Premature birth of the foetus.
Afterbirth: Membrane surrounding the foetus and the umbilical cord
AI: Artificial Insemination. Placing semen for a male into the reproductive tract (vagina) of the female.
Barren: Infertile or failed to produce offspring.
Birth fluids: See amniotic fluid.
Bulling: Oestrus or heat in cattle.
Buller: Nymphomaniac female.
Amniotic fluid: Fluid around the foetus. Called “the waters” when they burst.
Castration: Removal of male testicles.
Cervix: Entrance to the uterus or womb.
Clone: Organism with identical genetic makeup (genome) to others.
Colostrum: The first milk produced by the dam after birth.
Copulation: The actual act of the male mounting and ejaculating semen into the female.
Corpus luteum: Structure that forms on the ovary when an egg is shed at ovulation. Plural is corpora lutea.
Coupling: See copulation.
Cycling: See oestrus.
Chin-ball: Device fitted to the chin of a bull to mark the cow when she is mounted.
Cryptorchid: Partially castrated (infertile) male where testicles are pushed up against body wall and scrotum removed with a rubber ring.
DNA: Genetic code which carries the inherited traits in an organism.
Dry: Barren.

• Dry/dry – not produced offspring, barren
• Wet/dry – produced an offspring (shows milk in udder) but not reared it.

Dystocia: Difficult birth caused by very large offspring.
Embryo: The early stage of development in the uterus or bird in the shell.
Embryo transfer (ET): Transferring an embryo from one animal (its dam) to another recipient dam or surrogate mother.
Entire: Complete uncastrated male.
Fecundity: Measure of the number of offspring born and reared by the dam.
Fertility: The ability of the female to produce to produce eggs, get pregnant and give birth to live young. Ability of the male to produce viable sperm.
Foetus: Unborn animal inside its mother’s uterus.
Fostering: Giving a dam an offspring to rear that is not her own.
Freemartin: Female (usually infertile) twin of a male-female twin pair.
Frozen semen: Male ejaculate frozen at 196ºC .
Genetic rescue (GR): Collecting oocytes from a cow’s ovaries immediately after death.
Heat: Period when a female is receptive to mating by a male. “Standing heat” is the period of maximum receptance when the female stands very still to be mated.
Hermaphrodite: An animal with both male and female sex organs – bisexual.
Hormone: Secretions from special glands that act as chemical messengers in the bloodstream to cause various functions like oestrus and milk letdown.
In-vitro culture (IVC): Culturing fertilised ova in the laboratory.
In-vitro fertilisation (IVF): Collecting and fertilising ova in a test tube before implanting in a dam.
In-vitro maturation (IVM): Maturing oocytes in the laboratory.
In-vitro production (IVP): Growing oocytes in the laboratory to produce embryos including IVM, IVF and IVC.
Juvenile in-vitro embyo transfer (JIVET): Where IVP is done on juvenile animals.
Joining: Time when males are put with females to start mating.
Mating: The fertilisation of females by males, or the season of joining.
MOET: Multiple ovulation and embryo transfer.
Mothering: The act of a dam protecting and suckling its offspring.
Mounting: The behaviour of animals when approaching oestrus where one mounts the other. This can be female-female mounting or male-female mounting leading to copulation.
Nymphomaniac: Female that is continually in oestrus.
On-the-drop: Animal about to give birth.
Oestrus: (noun) Period when the animal is receptive to the male. See heat.
Oestrous: (adjective). See oestrus.
Oocytes: Developing eggs on the ovary.
Ovary: Oemale organ that produces eggs or ova.
Ovum: Mature oocyte or egg.
Ovum pickup: Same as TVR.
Ovum transfer (OT): Where an ovum is transferred from its own dam to another surrogate dam for fertilisation.
Pizzle: Penis of a ram.
Placenta: Organ inside the uterus by which the dam supplies blood to the foetus.
Riding: See mounting.
Rig: Male with an undescended testicle. May be fertile.
Season: “In season” is the same as “in heat”.
Semen: Male ejaculate made up of sperm and seminal fluids from various glands.
Sexed semen: Semen where male and female sperm have been separated.
Sexually active group (SAG): Group of cows expressing communal oestrus behaviour.
Sperm or spermatozoa: Fertilising component of semen contributing the male DNA.
Springing: Showing udder development.
Springers: Animals close to giving birth.
Surrogate: Recipient dam that carries, gives birth and rears an offspring that is not its own.
Teaser: Vasectomised entire male that cannot get females pregnant.
Trans-vaginal recovery (TVR): Collecting oocytes directly from a live cow’s ovaries.
Umbilicus: Cord through which blood from the dam reaches the foetus in the uterus.
Uterus: Female organ in which the foetus develops.
Vasectomy: Cutting the vas deferens in the male that carries sperm from the testicle to the penis, thus making him infertile.

Poultry Glossary

Albumen: Protein that makes up the white of an egg. Is made up of four different layers.
Australorp: Dual purpose (eggs and meat) breed of fowl develop in Australia from Black Orpington.
Bantam: Small type of fowl.
Battery cage: Cage to hold laying hens. Can hold single or multiple birds.
Beak trimming: Cutting and cauterising the tip of the upper beak to prevent pecking other birds.
Blood spot: Blood seen in the white of an egg or attached to the yolk membrane.
Boiler: An old adult fowl used for meat after its laying life is completed.
Broiler: Young chicken grown for meat under intensive indoor conditions.
Broiler breeder: Parent of commercial meat chicken.
Brooder: Equipment used to provide heat to chicks from day old to 3-4 weeks.
Broody: Condition when hen stops laying and wants to sit on eggs.
Candling: Visual examination of eggs over a light to check for eating quality and if they are fertile.

Pig Glossary

Baconer: Pig slaughtered at about 80 kg liveweight (60kg carcass) to produce bacon and ham.
Barrow: A castrated male pig.
Boar: Usually a male kept for serving females in the herd. Can be used to describe entire male of any age.
Breeds:

• Large white
• Landrace
• Berkshire
• Welsh
• Hampshire
• Tamworth
• Wessex saddleback
• Large black
• Feral pigs – Kunikuni and “Captain Cooker”

Farrowing: The process of giving birth to a litter.
Farrowing crate: A structure to confine a sow when giving birth.
Farrowing index: Average number of litters a sow has in a year.
Gilt: Female pig of any age from birth to having her first litter.
Hog: General term for young growing pigs of both sexes. A USA term for pigs.
Litter: Name given to the offspring of a sow at birth.
Piglet: Young pig of either sex before weaning.
Porker: Pig slaughtered at about 50kg live weight (40 kg carcass) for fresh meat.
Runt: The small piglet in a litter.
Sow: Female pig that has had at least one litter.
Sucker: Young pig of either sex still sucking its dam.
Weaner: Pig removed from its dam at 3, 6, or 8 weeks of age.

Pasture Glossary

Aerobic: Chemical process that needs oxygen.
Anaerobic: Chemical process that does not need oxygen.
Annual ryegrass: Fast-establishing, winter-active ryegrass which generally persists for 9-12 months.
Argentine stem weevil (ASW): Insect which attacks ryegrass, cereals, maize.
Auricles: Claw-like projections a blade base, varying in size and hairiness. Used in identifcation.
Autumn flush: Fresh growth of pasture that grows in autumn.
Autumn-saved pasture (ASP): Pasture not grazed in autumn and saved for winter.
Awn: Bristle-like projection on seed husk.
Back fencing: Electric fence that stops stock walking on what they have grazed.
Balage: Pasture harvested and wrapped in plastic. DM% around 40%.
Baling: The mechanica process of sqeezing hay or silage into bales for storage.
Biennial: Plant that takes two years to complete life cycle.
Blade: Upper part of leaf.
Block grazing: Stock left in paddock to graze for a few days without being moved.
Break fencing: Grazing system where pasture is fed to stock in small breaks (usually daily).
Brome: Genus of dryland grass. Includes species of pasture brome, grazing brome and prairie grass.
Cellulose: Main carbohydrate of pasture plants and can be digested by ruminants.
Certification: Quality control system to ensure variety indentity and purity is maintained.
Certified seed: Seed which has a P & G (purity & germination).
Clipped seed: Seed with the awns mechanically removed to improve sowing.
Collar: Narrow zone of tissue at junction of blade and sheath.
Conditioning: Agitating pasture plants soon after mowing (or as part of cutting) to hasten wilting and drying.
Controlled grazing: System to ration pasture according to animal requirements.
Controlled grazing systems: System to ration pasture to meet stock’s needs.
Crimping: Mechanically crushing newly cut pasture plants to hasten wilting and drying.
Culm: Stem of grass in flower.
Cultivar: A named line of grass or clover within a particular species. Same as variety.
Defoliation: Removal of the leaf of a pasture plant either by machine or animal.
Digestiblility: The proportion of feed eaten that is digested so is available to the animal.
Diploid: Plant species with double the number of normal chromosomes. Most ryegrass and red clover varieties are diploid.
Direct drilling: Drilling seed directly into the soil or an established pasture,
Dry Matter: The weight of feed (e.g. Pasture) after drying and minus the water content.
Ear emergence: When the seedhead appears out of the stem of a grass plant. Same as flowering date.
Endophyte: Fungus that grows inside a plant. Can affect animal health and insect attack. Several endophytes are available in ryegrass.
Endophyte level: Percentage of seed in permanent pasture ryegrass seed containing the live endophyte fungus.
Ensilage: The process of preserving plants by compression and removal of air.
Ergovaline: Toxin produced by some ryegrass endophytes.
Feed budget: Exercise to measure if the feed on the farm is in balance with the feed needs of the stock.
Fibre: Nutritional component of plants which can be digested by ruminants.
Flowering date: The average date of ear emergence.
Forage: General term for fibrous feed such hay and straw.
Forage grass: Grass used in pastures for grazing.
Glabrous: Without hairs.
Grass species: The different botanical groups of grasses used in pastures. The most common ones are:

• Annual meadow grass Poa annua
• Barley grass Hordeum murinum
• Browntop Agrostis tenuis
• Cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata
• Couch Agropyon repens
• Creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera
• Creeping fog Holcus mollis
• Crested dogstail Cynosurur cristatus
• Crowfoot Eleusine indica
• Italian ryegrass Lolium multiflora
• Kentucky bluegrass Poa pratensis
• Kikuyu grass Pennisetum clandestinum
• Kneed foxtail Alopecurus geniculatus
• Meadow fescue Festuca pratensis
• Meadow foxtail Alopecurus pratentis
• Paspalum Paspalum dilatatum
• Perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne
• Phalaris Phalaris aquatica
• Prairie grass Bromus willdenowii
• Ratstail Sporobolus africanus
• Rough stalked meadowgrass Poa trivialis
• Summer grass Digitaria sanguinalis
• Sweet vernal Anthoxanthum odoratum
• Tall fescue Festuca arundinaceae
• Timothy Phleum pratense
• Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus

Grazing herbs: Herb species included in pastures (e.g. Chicory, plantain( that are rich in minerals and medicinal properties,
Growing point: Point in a plant near the ground from which growth occurs.
Hairs: Generally found on blade or sheath.
Haploid: Plant with half the normal number of chromosomes.
Hay: Dried pasture plants preserved as stock feed.
Haylage: Mature pasture cut and wrapped for later feeding. Usually around 40% Dry Matter.
Herbs: Plantain; Chicory
Inflorescence: Flower or seed head.
Italian ryegrass: Fast-establishing winter-active ryegrass. More persistent than annual ryegrass.
Keel: Central ridge on lower surface of blade or sheath.
Leaf sheath: Base of ryegrass tiller close to the ground.
Legume: Plant with rhizobia on its roots that fixes nitrogen from the air.

• White clover Trifolium repens
• Red clover Trifolium pratense
• Lucerne (Alfalfa) Medicago sativa
• Subterranean clover Trifolium subterraneum
• Strawberry clover Trifolium fragiferum
• Lotus major Lotus uliginosus
• Birdsfoot trefoil Lotus corniculatus

Lignin: Part of plant which provides rigidity and cannot be digested by ruminants.
Ligule: Upstanding membrane at base of blade.
Line of seed: Seed that originates from the same seed crop.
Litter: Dead material found on the surface of pastures usually in dry periods.
Lolitrem B: Toxin produced by standard endophyte that causes ryegrass staggers.
Long-rotation ryegrass: Ryegrass species intemediate between perennial and short-rotation ryegrass in growth and persistence.
ME: Metabolisable energy. Value used to measure energy in a feed, measured in megajules/kg of DM. (MJ/kgDM).
Mixed sward pasture: Pasture containing severel kinds of forage species e.g. grasses and clovers.
National Forage Variety Trials (NFVT): Co-operative system to test pasture varieties.
Node: Part of stem from which leaf arises.
Nodules: Found on roots of legumes in which rhizobia bacteria live and convert Nitrogen from the air into nitrate in the soil.
On-off grazing: Techique of grazing stock for short intervals before removal.
Overgrazing: Grazing pasture plants too low resulting in slow regrowth or pasture damage.
Oversowing: Applying new seed to an existing pasture.
Paddock: Area defined by a fence in which stock are grazed. A field.
Palatability: Term used to describe preference animals have for different plants/pastures.
Panicle: Flower head of grass with spiklets on repeatedly branched stalks.
Pasture cover: The amount of pasture on an area available for grazing measured in KgDm/ha.
Pasture growth rate: The amount of pasture on an area available for grazing measured in KgDm/ha/day.
Pasture mass: The amount of pasture on an area available for grazing measured in kgDM/ha.
Pasture pests: Pests which damage the foliage or roots of pasture plants.

• Army caterpillar Pseudaletia separata
• Black field cricket Teleogryllus commodus
• Black beetle Heteroncychus arator
• Grass grub Costelytra zealandica
• Porina moth Wiseana cervinata
• Stem weevil Hyperodes bonariensis
• Tasmanian grass grub Aphodius tasmaniae
• White fringed weevil Graphognathus leucoloma

Pasture renovation: Replacing an old pasture with new seed.
Pasture wedge: A method of expressing the feed supply on a farm, in the shape of a wedge.
Pasture weeds: (most common)

• Barley grass Hordeum murinum
• Black nightshade Solanum nigrum
• Californian thistle Cirsium arvense
• Chickweed Stellaria media
• Dandelion Taraxacum officinale
• Giant buttercup Ranunculus acer
• Inkweed Phytolacca octandra
• Milk thistle(variagated) Silybum marianum
• Nodding thistle Carduus nutans
• Pennyroyal Mentha pulegium
• Ragwort Senecio jacobaea
• Scotch thistle Cirsium lanceolatum
• Storksbill Oxalis corniculata
• Stinking mayweed Anthemis cotula
• Winged thistle Carduus tenuiflorus
• Yarrow Achillea millefolium

Peramine: Toxin produced by most ryegrass endophytes protecting plants from Argentine stem weevil.
Perennial: Plant that lives for an indefinate period and flowers at least once per year.
Permanent pasture: Long-term pasture which may last 5-10 years or longer.
Persistence: How well a plant variety survives.
Phalaris: Grass species with strong rhizomes.
Phalaris toxicity: Toxicity which can happen on phalaris-based pastures.
Photosynthesis: Process by which green plants convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen using sunlight as an energy source.
Phyto-oestrogens: Chemicals in red clover that can affect animal (usually sheep) fertility.
Plant pulling: Where grass plants are pulled out under grazing.
Plant variety rights (PVR): Intellectual property system for plants and endophytes.
Prostrate growth: Plant with low or flat growth habit.
Pugging: Trampling damage caused by livestock to pastures in wet conditions.
Pugging tolerance: Ability of plant variety to stand up to pugging
Respiration: Process in plants by which they use oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. Light is not needed. Happens during wilting.
Rhizome: Underground runner or stem.
Ribs: Ridges on upper surface of blade.
Root nodules: Small white lumps on the roots of legumes in which rhizobia bacteria live and convert nitrogen in the air to nitrate in the soil.
Root reserves: Feed supplies for the plant stored up in the roots.
Rotational grazing: Grazing system where stock are moved in a planned rotation over an area controlled by electric fences.
Rotation length: The length of time it takes for stock to graze around the farm and return to the paddock they grazed today.
Seed analysis certificate: From the national seed laboratory of New Zealand providing specifications on a seed sample.
Sheath: Lower part of leaf.
Short rotation: A grass plant which is normally productive for 1-2 seasons.
Shuffle grazing: Same as rotational grazing.
Silage: Preserved pasture or crop either in a pit or wrapped in plastic film.
Species: Same as cultivar.
Spikelet: A single unit (seed) in a grass flowering head.
Spraying out: Process of killing established pasture plants before resowing or cultivating.
Spring flush: Rapid growth of pasture in spring.
Stocking density: The number of stock on a farm expressed as number/ha or kg liveweight/ha.
Stocking rate: See stocking density.
Stolon: Surface runner or horizontal stem.
Strip grazing: Grazing a paddock in controlled strips.
Tedding: Shaking up a crop of pasture after cutting to accelerate drying.
Tetraploid: Plant with double the number of normal chromosomes.
Tiller: Vegetative shoot of a grass from growing point.
Tillering: The process of producing new shoots after grazing or cutting.
Topping: Cutting off the top of pasture plants to prevent seeding and encourage more vegetative growth.
Treated seed: Seed treated with chemicals to prevent insect and fungal attack.
Tussock: Tufted grass without stolons or rhizomes.
Tramlines: Translucent lines (grooves) on either side of vein of blade.
Wastage: Proportion of feed which is not eaten.
Variety: Same as cultivar.
Vernalisation: Cold temperature that triggers (vernalises) spring seeding in pasture species.
Wrapping: Process of preserving fresh grass to make silage or balage. Hay may also be wrapped.
Wilting: Process to encourage respiration of plants before making hay or silage.

Meat Glossary

Accelerated conditioining (AC): Electrical stimulation of a carcass after dressing to stimulate rigor mortis which reduces toughness when frozen.
Ageing: Same as conditioning.
Blast freezing: Rapid freezing of meat in a strong current of air.
Boner: Animal slaughtered for manufacturing meat.
Cannon bone: Long bone in foot of animal (metacarpals and metatarsals).
Carcass weight (CW): These vary according to definition:

• Cold CW: Weight after being chilled.
• Hot CW: Weight freshly dressed after slaughter.
• Fats-in CW: Weight including kidney and pelvic(channel) fat.
• Fats-out CW: Weight exclucing kidney and pelvic fat. Used for export.
• Shrunk CW: Weight after allowance for shrinkage between slaugher and sale.

Casings: Material stripped from intestines used for sausage skins.
Chiller: Cool room held at temperatures above freezing point.
Conditioning: Holding carcass at higher than normal temperature in a chiller to go into rigor mortis before freezing to preventing toughening.
Conformation: Shape of the carcass.
Cure: Preservation process using chemicals.
Cut-out: Proportion of saleable obtained from carcass excluding fat and other trim and bone.
Dressed carcass: Carcass after slaughter with viscera, skin and head (except pigs) removed.
Dressing percentage: Same as killing out percentage.
Eye muscle: Two muscles (Longissimus dorsi) running the length of the back each side of the spine and seen when carcass is cut into chops.
Eye muscle area: Area of the eye muscle used to predict carcass quality.
Fancy meats: Edible offal.
Fat cover: Fat over the carcass used for grading.
Fat stock: See prime stock. The term prime is now preferred to fat.
Finish: Term used to describe if animal is ready for slaughter.
Hide: Skin on cattle.
GR measurement: Tissue depth between the carcass surface and the rib, taken in the region of the 12th rib at a point 11cm from the midline.
Grading: Classification of carcasses used to reflect market requirements and for farmer payment.
Killing out percentage: Dressed carcass weight as a percentageof live weight before slaughter. Live weight may be off-pasture or fasted weight preslaughter at the works.
Lamb: Carcass from sheep under 12 months old before first two incisors have erupted.
Meat: Flesh from animals.
Muscle: Red meat from carcass of animals (or white mucle from poultry).
Muscling: Term used to describe meat content of animal.
Offal: Internal organs of animal removed during dressing.
Ox: Meat from aged steer.
Pelt: Skin of sheep.
Pluck: Meatworks term for lungs, heart, diaphragm, wind pipe(trachea) and other pieces removed from the chest cavity at slaughter.
Primal cuts: Main better quality cuts of meat from a carcass.
Tallow: Rendered fat from carcass. Hard fat.
Prime stock: Animals ready for slaughter.
Schedule: Payment system provided by meat companies for different grades of stock.
Shrinkage: Loss of carcass weight (mainly water) between slaughter and sale.
Small goods: Products from meat company made from trimmings and offal.
Trimming: Fat and meat removed in preparing wholesale and retail cuts.
Tripe: Edible offal from stomach of cattle (rumen and reticulum).
Undercut: Name for fillet steaks.
Vealer: Cattle slaughtered at a young age (up to 14 months old) for meat. It includes maiden heifers, steers and males that are not showing male characteristics.
Vel: Stomach (abomasum) of a bobby calf used to proved rennet for cheese making.
Weasand: Oesophogus or gullet.
Yield: Percentage of saleable red meat (with acceptable fat cover) from the total carcass

Horse Glossary

Bloodstock: Thoroughbred horses used for racing.
Brood mare: Mare kept for breeding.
Bronc (bronco): Wild or half tamed horse used for bucking in rodeos.
Brumby: General term for wild or feral horse.
Bucking horse: Horse guaranteed to buck when ridden in rodeos.
Collar shy: Horse that does not like a collar put over its head.
Colt: Young entire male usually less than three years old.
Draught: Horse breed or type used for pulling loads.
Endurance horse: Horse kept for long-distance travel.
Eventing horse: Horse kept for the sport of eventing (dressage, cross country and show jumping).
Filly: Female usually less than three years old.
Feral horse: Horse that has gone back to the wild from domestication.
Foal: Juvenile of either sex up to weaning (4-6 months old)
Gelding: Castrated male of any age.
Hack: General-purpose horse. Used to be a horse for hire
Hand: Height measurement of a where one hand is four inches or 100mm.
Hands high (hh): Height measurement of a horse, taken as height at the withers.
Harness: Equipment worn by a horse for control or to pull loads.
Hinny: Offspring from a Jenny (ass) mare and a horse stallion.
Horse: Mature entire male. Used as a general description for the species.
Hunter: Horse used for hunting with hounds. Strongly built, 16hh. Often thoroughbred x heavy horse (e.g. Clydesdale).
Mare: Mature female of any age.
Mule: Offspring from a mare mated to a donkey (ass) sire.
Pacer: Competitive horse which races with a pacing gait.
Pack horse: Horse kept to carry loads.
Polo pony: Horse, usually a small thoroughbred used in polo games.
Pony: Horse of any sex at 14.2hh (147.5cm) or under.
Saddle bronc: Horse kept for rodeo which is ridden with a saddle.
Saddle horse: Horse kept for riding.
Sport horse: Horse bred for horse sports, eg eventing.
Stallion: Mature entire male kept for breeding.
Teaser: Pony stallion kept for checking if mares are on heat.
Thoroughbred: Strain of horse bred specially for racing.
Trekking horse: Horse kept for long distance travel.
Trotter: Competitive horse which races with a trotting gait.
Windsucker: Horse that chews on wood and sucks in air at the same time

Goat Glossary

Angora: The fibre from an Angora or mohair goat.

Age:

• Kid - 8 temporary milk teeth in the top.
• Goatling(hogget) - centre pair start to erupt about 12 months.
• 2-tooth - centre pair should be present by 12-18 months.
• 4-tooth - second pair erupt by 21-14 months.
• 6-tooth - third pair erupt by 30-36 months.
• Full mouth - last pair erupt by 42-48 months

Billy goat: Entire male goat.


Breeds (milking):

• Saanan
• Toggenburg
• British Alpine
• Anglo Nubian

Breeds (Fibre):

• Angora (Mohair)
• Cashmere

Browse: Feeding habits of goat. They appear to be grazing casually here and there as they walk along. Also the name of feed offered.
Buck: Entire male goat of any age.
Cashmere: Fine downy fibre from a Cashmere goat or the undercoat of a feral goat.
Doe: Mature female goat.
Feral goat: Goat that has been domesticate and has now returned to the wild.
Goatling: Young goat up to about a year old.
Guard hair: The outer coat on feral goat above the fine undercoat fibres.
Kid: Young male or female goat.
Kidding: The birth process in goats.
Mohair: The fibre from a mohair or Angora goat.
Nanny goat: Mature female goat.
Weaning: Time when the kid is taken off liquid diets, or when those suckling their dams are removed.
Wether: Castrated male goat.
Tassles: The two bits of skin hanging down from the lower jaw.