Acid Soil
A soil that has a pH below 6.6
Alkaline Soil
A soil that has a pH above 7.3.
Annual Plant
A plant that completes its life cycle and dies in 1 year or less.
Arid
A term applied to regions or climates where lack of sufficient moisture
severely limits growth and production of vegetation.
Available Water
The portion of water in a soil that can be absorbed by plant roots.
Biennial
A plant that lives for 2 years, producing vegetative growth the first year, usually blooming and fruiting in the second year, and then dying.
Biota
All the species of plants and animals occurring within an area or region.
Broadcast Seeding
Process of scattering seed on the surface of the soil prior to natural or artificial means of covering the seed with soil.
Browse
That part of leaf and twig growth of shrubs, woody vines, and trees available for animal consumption.
Brush Control
Reduction of unwanted woody plants through fire, chemicals, mechanical methods, or biological means to achieve desired land management goals.
Bunch Grass
A grass so-called because of its characteristic growth habit of forming a bunch.
Canopy
The vertical projection downward of the aerial portion of vegetation,
usually expressed as a percent of the ground so occupied. (2) A generic
term referring to the aerial portion of vegetation.
Co-Grazing
Grazing the current year's forage production by more than one kind of grazing animal either at the same time or at different seasons.
Conservation
The use and management of natural resources according to principles that assure their sustained productivity.
Conservation District
A public organization created under state enabling law as a special-purpose district to develop and carry out a program of soil, water, and related resource conservation, use, and development within its boundaries.
Conservation Plan
The recorded decisions of a landowner or operator, cooperating with a conservation district, on how the landowner or operator plans, within practical limits, to use his/her land according to its capability and to treat it according to its needs for mainte
Continuous Grazing
The grazing of a specific unit by livestock throughout a year or for that part of the year during which grazing is feasible
Cool-Season Plant
A plant that generally makes the major portion of its growth late in fall, in winter, and in early spring.
Cropland
Land used primarily for the production of cultivated crops.
Crop Residue
The portion of a crop remaining after harvest of seed or other primary plant parts.
Cultivated Crops
Crops grown from seed, bulbs, corms, sprigs, crowns, tubers, cuttings, and graftings and cared for by humans for harvest or landscaping.
Detritus
Fragmented particulate organic matter derived from the decomposition of debris.
Dormant
A living plant that is not actively growing aerial shoots.
Dry Matter
The amount of a feedstuff remaining after all the free moisture is evaporated out. The feedstuff is placed in a oven at a temperature of 100 to 105 �C.
Dry Meadow
A meadow dominated by grasses which is characterized by soils that become moderately dry by midsummer.
Ecology
The study of the interrelationships of organisms with their environment.
Ecosystem
Organisms together with their abiotic environment, forming an interacting system.
Emergency Crops
Crops, not part of a planned rotation, grown either because of primary crop failure.
Enviroment
The sum of all external conditions that affect an organism or community to influence its development or existence.
Erosion
Detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
Fauna
The animal life of a region. A listing of animal species of a region.
Feed
Any edible material having nutritive value when ingested.
Feed Additives
Materials other than the feeds themselves added to diets; e.g., vitamins, mineral supplements, or antibiotics.
Feral
Escaped from cultivation or domestication and existing in the wild.
First-Last Grazing
A method of using two or more groups of animals, usually with different nutritional requirements, to graze sequentially on the same area.
Flock
A group of sheep managed in fenced pastures.
Flora
The plant species of an area.
Forage
All browse and herbage that is available and acceptable to grazing animals, or that may be harvested for feeding purposes.
Forb
Any broad-leafed herbaceous plant.
Free Range
Range open to grazing regardless of ownership and without payment of fees. Not to be confused with open range.
Fungicide
Any chemical agent that kills or inhibits fungi that cause plant diseases.
Game
Wild birds, fish, and other animals hunted.
Grassland
Land on which the vegetation is dominated by grasses, grasslike plants, and/or forbs.
Graze
The consumption of standing forage by livestock or wildlife.
Grazing Management
The manipulation of grazing and browsing animals to accomplish a desired result.
Grazing Season
The time interval when animals are allowed to use a certain area.
Growing Season
That portion of the year when temperature and moisture permit plant growth.
Gully
A furrow, channel, or miniature valley, usually with steep sides, through which water commonly flows during and immediately after rains or snowmelt.
Habitat
The natural abode of a plant or animal, including all biotic, climatic, and edaphic factors affecting life.
Harvest
Removal of animal or vegetation products from an area of land.
Hay
The herbage of grasses, legumes, or comparatively fine-stemmed forbs cut and cured (dried) to preserve forage for later use as livestock feed.
Herb
Any flowering plant except those developing persistent woody stems above ground.
Herbicide
A chemical used to kill or inhibit the growth of plants.
Herbivore
An animal that subsists principally or entirely on plants or plant materials.
Herd
An assemblage of animals usually of the same species.
Legume
(1) a leguminous plant (member of the pea family), especially one grown as a crop. (2) a seed, pod, or other edible part of a leguminous plant used as food.
Lime
(1) Calcium oxide. (2) All limestone-derived materials applied to neutralize acid soils.
Livestock
Domestic animals used for the production of goods and services.
Meadow
An area of perennial herbaceous vegetation, usually grass or grasslike, used primarily for hay production.
Noxious Weed
An unwanted plant specified by Federal or State laws as being especially undesirable, troublesome, and difficult to control. It grows and spreads in places where it interferes with the growth and production of the desired crop.
Nurse Crop
A temporary crop seeded at or near the time primary plant species are seeded to provide protection and otherwise ensure establishment of the latter.
Nutrient
Any food constituent or ingredient that is required for or aids in the support of life.
Nutrient Management
Managing the amount, form, placement, and timing of plant nutrient applications to optimize plant growth, provide safe nutritious food, and minimize environmental degradation.
Open Range
Rangeland that has not been fenced into management units.
Paddock
One of the subdivisions or subunits of the entire pasture unit.
Pasture
Grazing lands comprised of introduced or domesticated native forage species that are used primarily for the production of livestock.
Perennial Plant
A plant that has a life span of 3 or more years.
Pesticide
Any chemical agent such as herbicide, fungicide, or insecticide, used for control of specific organisms.
Pond
A water impoundment made by constructing a dam or an embankment, or by excavating a pit or dugout usually to supply drinking water for livestock and or wildlife.
Prairie
An extensive tract of level or rolling land that was originally grass-covered and treeless.
Prescribed Burning
The use of fire as a tool to achieve a management objective on a predetermined area under conditions where the intensity and extent of the fire are controlled.
Prescribed Grazing
The controlled harvest of vegetation with grazing or browsing animals, managed with the intent to achieve a specified objective.
Rangeland
Land on which the historic climax plant community is predominantly grasses, grasslike plants, forbs, or shrubs.
Residue
Are materials left in an agricultural field or orchard after the crop has been harvested.
Rest Period
A period of deferment off an area included as part of a grazing system.
Riparian
Area, zone, and/or habitat adjacent to streams, lakes, or other natural free water.
Rotation Grazing
A type of grazing system and involves moving grazing animals from one pasture to another to achieve a desired management objective.
Ruminant
Even-toed, hoofed mammals that chew the cud and have a 4-chamber Stomach.
Silage
Forage preserved in a succulent condition by organic acids (lactic acid primarily) produced by partial anaerobic fermentation of sugars in the forage.
Sod
Vegetation that grows to form a mat of soil and vegetation.
Spring
Flowing water originating from an underground source.
Stocking Rate
The number of specific kinds and classes of animals grazing or utilizing a unit of land for a specific period of time.
Turnout
Act of turning livestock out on rangeland at the beginning of the grazing
season.
Vegeatative
Relating to nutritive and growth functions of plant life.
Warm-Season Plant
A plant that makes most or all its growth during the spring, summer, or fall and is usually dormant in winter.
Waterway
A way or channel for water.
Weed
(1) Any growing unwanted plant. (2) A plant having a negative value within a given management system.
Well
A water source developed by drilling vertically through soil, subsoil, and geological strata to intercept underground water storage or stream areas.
Wetlands
Areas characterized by soils that are usually saturated or ponded.
Wet Meadow
A meadow where the surface remains wet or moist throughout the growing season, usually characterized by sedges and rushes.