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The wearing away of the land surface. Unconsolidated materials, such as soil, erode more rapidly than consolidated materials, such as rock. The most common causes of erosion are wind and moving water. The susceptibility of soil to erosion is quantified by the erosion index. Water causes sheet, rill, and gully erosion.
Industry:Agriculture
The erosion (sometimes called erodibility) index is created by dividing potential erosion (from all sources except gully erosion) by the T value, which is the rate of soil erosion above which long term productivity may be adversely affected. The erodibility index is used in the conservation compliance and Conservation Reserve Programs. For example, one of the eligibility requirements for the CRP is that land have an EI greater than 8.
Industry:Agriculture
Regions of interaction between rivers and near-shore ocean waters, where tidal action and river flow mix fresh and salt water. Such areas include bays, mouths of rivers, salt marshes, and lagoons. These brackish water ecosystems shelter and feed marine life, birds, and wildlife. Estuaries typically include adjoining wetlands.
Industry:Agriculture
C2H5OH; the alcohol product of carbohydrate fermentation used in alcoholic beverages and for industrial purposes (also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol). It is blended with gasoline to make gasohol. In the 1998/99 corn marketing year, about 540 million bushels (5.5%% of the corn crop and 7.2% of domestic use) will be used to produce about 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol.
Industry:Agriculture
The single currency of the 11 countries that are members of the European Monetary Union, one of the institutions of the European Union. This new currency went into effect on January 1, 1999. The participating countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal. The exchange rates for the currencies of these 11 countries were irrevocably fixed in terms of the euro on December 31, 1998. Although the euro is now the official currency, the transition will occur in two phases. For financial transactions, the euro replaced national currencies on January 1, 1999, but for notes and coins, it will replace national currencies in 2002. Four EU members did not join the launch of the euro in January 1999: Denmark, Greece, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Industry:Agriculture
A regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome (1957), which provided for the gradual elimination of customs duties and other interregional trade barriers, a common external tariff, and gradual adoption of other integrating measures, including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and guarantees of free movement of labor and capital. Of the current 15 member countries, the original six were Belgium, France, West German, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Membership expanded to include Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom in 1973; Greece in 1981; Spain and Portugal in 1986; and Austria, Finland, and Sweden in 1995. In 1993, with establishment of the European Union (EU), the EC became the customs union component of the EU.
Industry:Agriculture
As agreed in the Maastricht Treaty, 11 European Union members began participating in the EMU on January 1, 1999. The 11 countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. The other four countries — the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece — either chose not to participate at this time, or did not meet the economic criteria. Under the EMU, the 11 countries have a common central bank (the European Central Bank), and thus a common monetary policy, similar to that of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, and a single currency, called the euro.
Industry:Agriculture
Since 1993, the term used to describe the European Community and related institutions. The entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty of European Union on November 1, 1993, introduced this change in terminology regarding the EC and many of its institutions. Originally established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and known previously as the European Economic Community and the Common Market. Originally composed of six European nations, it has expanded to 15. The EU attempts to unify and integrate member economies by establishing a customs union and common economic policies, including CAP. Member nations include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Industry:Agriculture
The process by which a body of water acquires a high concentration of plant nutrients, especially nitrates or phosphates. This nutrification promotes algae growth that, when it dies, can lead to the depletion of dissolved oxygen, killing fish and other aquatic organisms. While eutrophication is a natural, slow-aging process for a body of water, human activities can greatly accelerate the process.
Industry:Agriculture
Federal funds distributed to the 1890 land grant colleges of agriculture under a provision in the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, to support research programs. The provision became known by the names of two of its primary proponents in Congress, Representative Frank Evans of Colorado and Representative James Allen of Alabama.
Industry:Agriculture
