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Farming terms, explained plainly.
60 terms covering money, workforce, stock, livestock, compliance and the Zimbabwean context.
A
- AGRITEX
- Zimbabwe's government agricultural extension service.
- Audit log
- A record of who changed what and when.
- Available water capacity
- Water a soil can hold for plant use.
B
- Basal fertiliser
- Fertiliser applied at or before planting.
- Batch code
- A unique code identifying a traceability batch.
- Break-even
- The yield or price at which income exactly covers costs.
- Biosecurity
- Practices that reduce the spread of pests and disease.
- Body condition score
- A structured assessment of an animal’s body reserves.
- Bulk density
- Mass of dry soil per unit volume.
C
- Cash flow
- Money coming in and going out over time.
- Cost centre
- A unit costs are charged to, such as a field or herd.
- Crop cycle
- One crop on one field from planting to harvest.
- Cold chain
- Temperature-controlled handling from harvest to the buyer.
- Cover crop
- A crop grown mainly to protect or improve soil.
- Crop rotation
- A planned sequence of different crops on a field.
D
- Digital Twin
- A live digital picture of the whole farm.
- Dipping
- Treating cattle against ticks in a dip tank or by spray.
- Drip irrigation
- Water applied through emitters near plant roots.
E
- Enterprise budget
- A planned income and cost sheet for one enterprise.
- Evapotranspiration
- Water lost through soil evaporation and plant transpiration.
F
- FEFO
- First expiry, first out: use stock that expires first.
- Farm-gate price
- Price at the farm before downstream costs.
- Feed conversion ratio
- Feed consumed divided by animal product or weight gain.
- Field capacity
- Water remaining after freely draining soil has drained.
G
- GLOBALG.A.P.
- An international standard for good agricultural practice.
- GMB
- Grain Marketing Board of Zimbabwe.
- Gross margin
- Income minus variable costs for an enterprise.
- Goods received note
- A record of goods accepted at delivery.
I
- Integrated pest management
- Combining prevention, monitoring and appropriate pest controls.
L
- Low-data mode
- An app setting that reduces data use.
- Lead time
- Time between ordering and receiving goods.
- Livestock unit
- A common basis for comparing grazing demand.
M
- MRL
- Maximum residue limit: the most chemical residue allowed on produce.
N
- Natural regions
- Zimbabwe's five agro-ecological zones by rainfall.
- NSSA
- Zimbabwe's National Social Security Authority.
- NDVI
- A vegetation index calculated from near-infrared and red spectral bands.
- Net profit
- Income remaining after all applicable costs.
O
- Offline sync
- Saving records without signal and sending them later.
- Outgrower scheme
- A company contracts many farmers to grow for it.
P
- PAYE
- Pay As You Earn income tax deducted from wages.
- Pfumvudza / Intwasa
- Conservation farming using planting basins and mulch.
- Piece rate
- Pay per unit of work, such as per bag picked.
- Plant population
- Number of plants per hectare.
- Pre-harvest interval
- Days required between a spray and harvest.
- Purchase order
- An approved request to buy from a supplier.
R
- Recall
- Withdrawing a batch from sale because of a problem.
- Reorder point
- Stock level at which replenishment should be considered.
S
- Scouting
- Walking fields to check pests, disease and crop condition.
- Stocktake
- Physically counting stock to compare with records.
- Safety stock
- Extra stock held to cover uncertainty.
- Soil organic carbon
- Carbon contained in soil organic matter.
- Stock reconciliation
- Explaining the difference between counted stock and ledger balance.
T
- TIMB
- Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.
- Top dressing
- Nitrogen fertiliser applied to a growing crop.
- Traceability
- Being able to follow produce back to its field and inputs.
- Three-way match
- Comparing purchase order, receipt and invoice.
W
- Withdrawal period
- Time after treating an animal before milk or meat can be sold.
- Water use efficiency
- Output produced per unit of water used.
Y
- Yield gap
- Difference between actual yield and a suitable reference yield.
Z
- ZiG
- Zimbabwe Gold, Zimbabwe's currency.