M:

M-W: Minnesota-Wisconsin Price

M100: Neat methanol (100%) used as a motor fuel in dedicated methanol vehicles.

M85: A blend of 85% methanol and 15% unleaded regular gasoline; used as a motor fuel.

MA: Mixed alcohols

Maastrict Treaty: See 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European Union Agreement (Maastricht Treaty).

Macronutrient(s): A vital element required by plants, in proportionately larger amounts, for healthy plant growth. Macronutrients include nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and phosphorus (P), as well as Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and Sulfur (S). SeeMicronutrient(s).

Mad cow disease: See Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

Madigan Award: See Edward R. Madigan Agricultural Export Excellence Award.

Mailbox price (dairy): The net price received by dairy producers for milk including all payments received for milk sold and deducting the cost associated with marketing the milk.

Mainland allotments (sugar): See Sugar (marketing) allotment(s).

Mainland state(s): Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1403), for purposes of the flexible marketing allotments for sugar, all sugarcane-producing states except for the offshore states of Hawaii and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Sugar (marketing) allotment(s).

Major crops: Include almonds, apples, barley, canola, carrots, corn (field and sweet), cotton, grapes, hay (alfalfa and other), lettuce, oats, oranges, peanuts, pecans, popcorn, rice, rye, snapbeans, grain sorghum, soybeans, sugarcane, sugarbeets, tobacco, tomatoes, sunflowers, and wheat. See Minor crops.

Major land resource area (MLRA): A geographic area, usually several thousand acres in extent, that is characterized by a particular pattern of soils, climate, water resources, land uses, and type of farming.

Major sugar countries: Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1401(c)(4)(B)), countries of the European Union and the ten foreign countries not covered by the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture that the USDA determines produce the greatest quantities of sugar.

Make allowance: In determining the Class III price and Class IV price, the USDA uses a monthly survey of the wholesale price and determines the farm value of the milk that went into the manufacturing of the cheese and butter (the weighted average of the most recent California Department of Food and Agriculture study and the Rural Business Cooperative Service study). Before determining the farm value, the formula subtracts from the wholesale price of cheese or butter a make allowance that represents the cost to processors for converting the milk into cheese or butter. There is an inverse relationship between the make allowance and the Class III price and Class IV price; that is, the higher the make allowance is set, the lower the minimum Class III price or Class IV price paid to producers. Since the higher of the Class III or Class IV price is also used as the base price for Class I milk, it might also mean lower prices for Class I milk.

Making Continuing Appropriations for the Fiscal Year 1987, and for Other Purposes (P.L. 99-591): Signed into law October 30, 1986. The law, in addition to providing funding for federal programs, modified the Food Security Act of 1985 by limiting program payments to $50,000 per person for deficiency payments and paid land diversion payments, and included honey, resource adjustment (excluding land diversion), disaster, and Findley payments under a $250,000 payment limitation.

Malt: A grain, usually barley, that has been germinated through a soaking process and then dried. Malt is used in brewing and distilling, and as a nutrient additive.

Man day: Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, any day one worker works for at least one hour.

Managed account: See Discretionary account.

Managed grazing: The division of pasture into smaller paddocks, often using portable fencing so that one paddock can be grazed for a time while the remaining paddocks rest and recover. Also rotational grazing, grass-based farming, management-intensive grazing, and prescribed grazing.

Managed harvest (timber): The estimated volume of timber on commercial forest land that could be cut annually for the next ten years while improving tree stocking and bringing about a more even distribution of age classes. The annual managed harvest is considered separate from harvest cuttings and thinnings, and is determined by computer using an area control system that specifies the number of acres to be cut annually.

Managed production: Vertical agricultural system utilizing advances in science and technology to maximize quantity, quality, and safety. See Factory farm.

Management-intensive grazing: See Managed grazing.

Mandatory entry: Under previous farm bill authority, the USDA had to make Farmer-Owned Reserve (FOR) loans available to producers of wheat and feedgrains if the average market price for the respective crops of wheat or corn, during an applicable 90-day period, was less than 120 percent of the current loan rate and stocks-to-use levels (37.5 percent for wheat and 22.5 percent for corn) were above the threshold amount. The FOR was suspended by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996.

Mandatory grant(s): A grant that a federal agency is required by statue to award if the recipients meet the eligibility and compliance requirements. The amount of the award is usually determined by measuring need based on such factors as population, per capita income, and various program-specific factors. These grants are typically awarded to state governments and sometimes to other entities. They include open-ended grants, close-ended grants, and block grants. See Grant(s).

Mandatory identification: State and/or federal identification requirements that define which livestock must be identified according to established protocols.

Mandatory inspection (grain): See Grain inspection.

Mandatory program(s): A program that requires all producers to participate if they wish to produce and market a designated commodity without prohibitive penalty. The U.S. tobacco program and peanut program are examples of mandatory programs.

Mandatory spending: Funding provided by permanent law rather than annual appropriations. The level of spending can be changed with respect to the eligibility criteria or the payment formula, but annual action is not necessary to ensure the continuation of spending. Also Direct spending. See Discretionary spending.

Mandatory spending (agriculture): Approximately three-fourths of total USDA spending is classified as mandatory, which by definition occurs outside the control of annual appropriations. Eligibility for mandatory programs is usually written into authorizing law, and any individual or entity that meets the eligibility requirements is theoretically entitled to the benefits authorized by the law. Currently accounting for the vast majority of USDA mandatory spending are the Food Stamp Program (nearly one-half of total USDA mandatory spending), child nutrition programs, the farm commodity price-support programs and income support programs, the Federal Crop Insurance program, and the Conservation Reserve Program. See Entitlement(s).

Mandatory supply control(s): A program that would prohibit producers from producing or selling more than specified amounts of certain commodities without penalty. All producers of any controlled commodity would be required to participate, with fines or other legal penalties used to enforce restrictions.

Manufactured class: Under milk marketing orders, Class II, Class III, and Class IV products.

Manufactured dairy product(s): Products that include butter; natural or processed cheese; manufacturing milk or manufacturing cream; dried, frozen, evaporated, stabilized or condensed milk products; frozen desserts; dry whey; and dry buttermilk. Also Manufactured milk products. See Dairy products (eligible), Manufacturing (grade) milk; manufactured dairy product(s), and Storable manufactured dairy products.

Manufactured milk products: See Manufactured dairy product(s).

Manufacturing (grade) milk: Grade B milk or the Grade A milk assigned to Class II, Class III, and Class IV, or otherwise used in the production of manufactured milk products. See Dairy products (eligible), Manufactured dairy product(s), and Storable manufactured dairy products.

Manure storage facility: A permanent structure or facility, or portion of a structure or facility, utilized for the primary purpose of containing raw or untreated manure.

MAP: Market Access Program

Marbling: The intermingling of white flecks of fat within the meat muscle (lean). The greater the amount of marbling, the higher the grade because marbling makes meat more tender, flavorful, and juicy. Although consumers equate marbling with palatabilityand tenderness, increasing concerns regarding animal fat in the diet have caused consumers to place greater weight on the perceived health benefit from fat reduction than on assurances of tenderness or palatability. Consequently, consumers now demand minimal visual fat, while still desiring a palatable product. Also intramuscular fat.

Mare: A female horse that is older than four years of age.

Marek’s disease: A cancer disease of poultry.

Margin: In a cooperative, monies in excess of net operating costs.

Margin (deposit); In commodity options or futures trading, earnest money deposited with a brokerage firm when a position is taken in the options and futures market. Margins generally run about 10 percent of contract value and must be maintained at a specified minimum level while the trade or hedge exists. See Clearing margin(s), and Customer margin(s).

Margin call(s):m In commodity options or futures trading, a call for additional margin from a clearinghouse to a clearing member or from a brokerage firm to a customer when funds in a futures or hedging account fall below levels required by a brokerage firm.Margin minimums are set by the exchanges. However, a brokerage firm can set them above the minimum.

Mariculture: Marine (ocean) aquaculture; farming the sea for plant and animal crops that are valuable as food or for industrial processes.

Marine leg: A steeply inclined conveyor belt with scoops bolted on it that is used to scoop grain out of a barge and elevate it. See Belt(s), Leg, Sampler, and Tripper.

Mark: See Marking, and Official inspection legend.

Market access: The extent to which a country permits imports. A variety of tariff and nontariff trade barriers can be used to limit the entry of foreign products.

Market Access Program (MAP)l: A program authorized by the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (Sec. 203) and formerly known as the Market Promotion Program. The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 renamed this nonprice promotion program andauthorized spending of up to $90 million annually through FY2002. The FAIR Act prohibited the provision of direct branded product assistance to foreign companies promoting foreign-produced products or to companies not recognized by the Small Business Administration as small businesses (with the exception of cooperatives, associations of agricultural producers, and nonprofit trade associations). Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 3103), the authorized spending level was gradually increased up to $200 million per year by FY2006 and FY2007. Also, for funding in excess of the FY2001 level, equal consideration will be given to both organizations that have participated and those that have not participated in the past and to activities in both emerging markets and markets other than emerging markets. The program uses funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation and is administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service. Market promotion programs are not subject to Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture restrictions. See Market Promotion Program (MPP).

Market administrator (milk): The administrator of each federal milk marketing order. The duties performed by the market administrator are specified in each order. These duties include computing and publishing class and uniform prices as well as other required prices andbutterfat differentials, verifying handler reports and payments, preparing statistics and information concerning operations under the order, keeping records and books that clearly reflect the transactions provided for in the order, and disseminating this information to the public. The market administrator also receives and investigates any complaints of violations of the order.

Market agency(ies): Under provisions of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, any person engaged in the business of (a) buying or selling livestock in commerce on a commission basis, or (b) furnishing stockyard services.

Market allocation: A quantity provision in a fruit and vegetable marketing order specifying the maximum quantity that can be sold for a given use or market. See Allocation.

Market basket of farm foods: The average quantities of U.S. farm foods purchased annually per household in a given period. The retail cost of these foods is used as a basis for computing an index of retail prices for domestically produced farm foods. Excluded are fishery products, imported foods, and meals eaten away from home.

Market Development and Expansion program: A Forest Service program under the Economic Action Programs initiative that helps develop new markets for forest-based goods and services.

Market Development Cooperator Program: See Foreign Market Development Program (Cooperator Program) (FMD) (FMDCP).

Market economy: The national economy of a country that relies heavily upon market forces to determine levels of production, consumption, investment, and savings without government intervention.

Market gain: See Market loan repayment (provision) (MLR).

Market hog(s): See Butcher hog(s).

Market livestock: Livestock that will not be used for breeding purposes.

Market loan repayment (provision) (MLR): See Marketing loan repayment (provision) (MLR).

Market loss (assistance) payments: See Marketing loss (assistance) payments.

Market News (Service): The Agricultural Marketing Service provides current, unbiased price and sales information to assist in the orderly marketing and distribution of farm commodities. Reports include information on prices, volume, quality, condition, and other market data on farm products in specific markets and marketing areas. Reports cover both domestic and international markets. The data is disseminated within hours of collection via the internet and made available through electronic means, in printed reports, by telephone recordings, and through the news media.

Market order: In commodity futures trading, an immediate order to buy or sell a futures contract. See Stop order, Stop-limit order, and Time-limit order.

Market price(s): The amount received or paid for a unit of a commodity. Most market prices for U.S. agricultural commodities are quoted in pounds, bushels, dozens, quarts, gallons, tons, or hundredweight. Other countries use different measures including grams, kilograms, liters, and long tons. See Weights, measures, and conversion factors.

Market Promotion Program (MPP): An export promotion program authorized by the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (Sec. 203) and first established as the Targeted Export Assistance (TEA) Program under the Food Security Act of 1985. It was reauthorized in the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 and renamed the Market Promotion Program. The MPP was designed to encourage development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial farm export markets. Unlike TEA, the MPP did not restrict assistance to U.S. producer groups or regional organizations whose exports had been adversely affected by a foreign government’s policies, although these cases received the highest priority. The program promoted exports of specific U.S.commodities or products in specific markets. Under the program, eligible participants received generic commodity certificates in payment for promotional activities approved by the USDA. The program was reauthorized again in the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 and renamed the Market Access Program.

Market risk: The perils that affect the prices received for a farm’s production, and the prices paid for the inputs used in producing farm commodities.

Market service association (bargaining association): A service-type bargaining association that generally is involved with providing market supply and demand data to its members on a timely basis. This type bargaining association is more accurately described as the forerunner to a full-fledged bargaining association. The service organization does not engage in direct bargaining with buyers, but will maintain contacts with the trade to keep up to date with marketing and buying activities.

Market share: A proportion of the total sales or business in a given market.

Market shed: The area where the producers are located who supply a given city or metropolitan area with practically all the milk used for table purposes.

Market support tools: Activities of a research and promotion order or a marketing order that attempt to influence demand through improving both the buyers’ and sellers’ knowledge of a product’s availability and uses.

Market viability grants: See Farm Viability Program.

Market(s): (1) To dispose of commodities in raw or processed form, by voluntary or involuntary sale, barter, exchange, gift inter vivos, or by feeding to poultry or livestock. (2) A place for the establishment of price for commodities bought and sold. (3) The potential universe of buyers and customers. (4) The bringing together of buyers and sellers. (5) Under the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999, the sale or disposition of swine, pork, or pork products in commerce. See Marketing.

Market-oriented farm policy: See Free market.

Marketing: The process of conceiving, planning, and executing the pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.

Marketing agreement(s) and order(s): See Federal marketing order(s) and agreement(s).

Marketing agreements: See Federal marketing order(s) and agreement(s).

Marketing allotment(s) (sugar): See Sugar (marketing) allotment(s).

Marketing and Regulatory Programs: The USDA mission area that includes the Agricultural Marketing Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

Marketing area: The geographic territory covered by a federal milk marketing order in which the handling of milk is subject to the terms of a marketing order. The area is clearly specified in the marketing order. Milk dealers conducting business in the area are subject to regulation.

Marketing assessment(s): See Assessment(s) program(s), Peanut marketing assessment(s), and Sugar marketing assessment(s).

Marketing assistance loan(s): See Nonrecourse loan(s).

Marketing associations (cotton): Traditionally, farmer-owned organizations that sell cotton produced by the member producers to mills overseas.

Marketing associations (peanuts): Under the former peanut program, three regional marketing associations administered the program acting as agents for the USDA. The associations kept records of quota and additional peanuts marketing, arranged warehousing for Commodity Credit Corporation loan peanuts, and operated the price-support loan program. Each regional marketing association sold and disposed of acquired quota peanuts at not less than specified price levels and of acquired additional peanuts at market prices. To get the support price, a producer placed peanuts in storage arranged by the regional marketing association. Once completed, the producer no longer had control over the peanuts; they were part of a pool controlled by the marketing association and the CCC. The regional marketing associations operated independently although they shared in each others’ losses. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 eliminated the peanut quota system. Producers can receive nonrecourse marketing assistance loans or loan deficiency payments through either an approved marketing association or directly from the Farm Service Agency. See Cooperative Marketing Association Program (CMA).

Marketing associations (tobacco): See Price stabilization cooperative(s).

Marketing board: (1) A major form of government involvement in commodity marketing in some countries such as Canada and Australia. These boards generally handle all export sales for the commodity. They may administer provisions to guarantee producers a minimum price each year based on the cost of production, or provide an initial minimum price with supplemental payments later based on export sales. Boards may oversee a two-price plan in which domestic prices differ from the export price. Canada and Australia use marketing boards for selected grains, and Australia operates a wool marketing board. (2) A central government authority that directs the marketing of a commodity. Export management is the most frequently performed function. Producers give up their right to the commodity at harvest; all storage and marketing functions are managed by the government authority. Producers receive an advance on commodities delivered or stored on the farm, with subsequent payments being made as marketing is completed. All producers receive the same price, adjusted for location and quality differences. Marketing boards have traditionally been used in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia but never in the U.S.

Marketing cards (peanuts): See Marketing cards (tobacco), Peanut commodity card, and Smart cards (peanuts).

Marketing cards (tobacco): A card that identifies the farm, producer, and pounds available to sell. The marketing card is brought to the warehouse and presented prior to auction. Each sales invoice is imprinted with the card at the time the tobacco is weighed. The Farm Service Agency marks tobacco crop marketing cards when advancing loan funds or subordinating crop liens for the purpose of financing the production of the crops. See Marketing cards (peanuts).

Marketing certificates: Certificates that have been issued by the USDA as part of a price-support program. These may be redeemed for cash or commodities, depending on the specific provisions of the program. Such certificates may be generic or for a specific commodity. See Generic commodity certificate(s).

Marketing contract(s): Verbal or written agreements between a contractor and a producer establishing a price formula in advance of the product being delivered. Under marketing contracts, the contractee (producer) retains ownership of the product and has a large degree of decision-making control over the production process, but has a known market and price. The majority of marketing contracts involve fruit and vegetable production. See Contract farming, and Production contract(s).

Marketing loan gain(s) (MLG): Any portion of the interest and principal of a marketing assistance loan that does not have to be repaid because of market loan repayment provisions. The portion of a loan, if any, that is waived when a loan is repaid (at the posted county price oradjusted world price instead of the loan rate) is referred to as a marketing loan gain for the producer.

Marketing loan program: A program first authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 that allowed producers to repay nonrecourse loans at less than the announced loan rates whenever the world price for the commodity was less than the loan rate. Under the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, marketing loan programs were mandatory for soybeans and other oilseeds, upland cotton, and rice, and discretionary for wheat and feed grains. For example, a rice producer could place a hundredweight of rice under loan and receive the nonrecourse loan rate of $6.50. If the world price, adjusted to the farm level, was less than $6.50 per hundredweight (i.e., $5.00), then the producer could satisfy the terms of the loan and regain clear title to the crop by repaying $5.00 to the Commodity Credit Corporation. Marketing loans protect producer returns while modifying the price-supporting function of the nonrecourse loan program, if such function should be a deterrent to exports. Marketing loan provisions under the new market loan repayment program were maintained in the Federal Agriculture Improvements and Reform Act of 1996 for wheat, feedgrains, soybeans, cotton, and rice, and in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 for covered commodities and peanuts, wool, mohair, honey, small chickpeas, lentils, and dry peas. See Adjusted world price (AWP), Marketing loan repayment (provision) (MLR), and Posted county price (PCP).

Marketing loan repayment (provision) (MLR): Under the Federal Agriculture Improvements and Reform Act of 1996, the provision available for loan-eligible commodities except extra-long staple cotton; the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 maintained eligibility for covered commodities and extended coverage to peanuts, wool, mohair, honey, small chickpeas, lentils, and dry peas. Under certain circumstances, nonrecourse loans may be repaid by a producer at less than the principal, accrued interest, and other charges. Market loan repayment provisions are designed to prevent the forfeiture of loan collateral. To be eligible for the MLR, the nonrecourse loan must not have matured. Market loan repayment provisions are active when the applicable alternative loan repayment rate is less than the nonrecourse loan principal plus interest and other charges (and in the case of upland cotton, the per unit storage costs for a given outstanding loan). When using commodity certificates purchased from Farm Service Agency at the market price to repay a loan, the marketing loan gain does not count against the $75,000 per person payment limitation. Also Market loan repayment (provision) (MLR). See Actual loan repayment rate, Adjusted world price (AWP), Alternative (loan) repayment rate, Applicable alternative loan repayment rate, Nonrecourse loan(s), and Posted county price (PCP).

Marketing loan repayment rate: See Adjusted world market price (AWP), Marketing loan repayment (provision) (MLR), and Posted county price (PCP).

Marketing loan(s): A loan that may be repaid at a level below the rate at which the nonrecourse loan was made. Under previous farm bills, marketing loans were mandatory for upland cotton and rice, and discretionary for wheat, feed grains, and soybeans.Marketing loan provisions were maintained in the Federal Agriculture Improvements and Reform Act of 1996 for wheat, feedgrains, soybeans, cotton, and rice, and in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 for covered commodities and peanuts, wool, mohair, honey, small chickpeas, lentils, and dry peas. See Marketing loan program, and Marketing loan repayment (provision) (MLR).

Marketing loss (assistance) payments: From 1998 until passage of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Congress passed annual emergency farm legislation that allocated marketing loss assistance payments for program crops. The payments were paid using the same payment formula that was used for regular Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA) payments. Payments were first provided in the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, FY1999, and made to producers for marketing losses experienced in 1998. Producers eligible for 1998 production flexibility contract payments were issued the marketing loss assistance payments in proportion to the amount of production flexibility contracts received in FY1998. A separate person could not receive more than $19,888. Similar additional payments were made to holders of 1999 production flexibility contracts, under provisions of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000. Also, passage of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 provided additional payments to holders of 2000 production flexibility contracts, at the same rate as was paid for the 2000 AMTA payments. See Dairy Market Loss Assistance Program (DMLA).

Marketing order(s): See Federal marketing order(s) and agreement(s).

Marketing Orders and Agreements: An account under Title I, Agricultural Programs, of agricultural appropriations. See Section 32.

Marketing quota(s): (1) Generally, quotas authorized by the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to regulate the marketing of some commodities when supplies are or could become excessive. A quota normally represents the quantity the USDA estimates to be required for domestic use, exports, and adequate carryover stocks during the year. Marketing quotas are binding upon all producers if two-thirds or more of the producers holding allotments for the production of a crop vote for quotas in a referendum. Marketing quotas are usually put into effect through acreage allotments or specific limits on marketing. Producers who plant more of a commodity than their farm acreage allotments or market more than their quota are subject to marketing penalties on the “excess,” and are ineligible for government price-support loans. Quota provisions have been suspended for wheat, feed grains, and upland cotton since the 1960s; rice quotas were abolished in 1981. Poundage quotas were used for domestically consumed peanuts, but not for exported peanuts, until the peanut price-support program was significantly altered with passage of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. Marketing quotas are also used for major types of tobacco. The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 mandated marketing quotas for sugar and crystalline fructose when sugar imports for U.S. consumption are less than 1.25 million short tons (raw value). This authority was suspended in the Federal Agriculture Improvements and Reform Act of 1996. (2) A marketing quota sets the maximum amount of a commodity that a producer can sell without incurring a penalty. Used most consistently in policy for tobacco, this kind of mandatory quota usually requires some substantial majority approval vote by producers.

Marketing season: See Crop year(s).

Marketing Services: See Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

Marketing spread: The difference between the price the producer received for a commodity and the price paid by the consumer for an equivalent amount of the same commodity. This farm-retail spread includes charges for assembling, storing, processing, transporting, and distributing the products.

Marketing type (bargaining association): A bargaining association whose principal identifying characteristic is that it takes title to the production of its members and negotiates the prices and terms of sale. Such a bargaining association may operate one or more pools, divert products to alternate uses, and average out returns to the members of the pool.

Marketing year(s): The 12-month period beginning around harvest time, during which a crop is harvested and marketed. The marketing year for wheat, barley, oats, canola, rapeseed, and flaxseed is from June 1 to May 31; for corn, grain sorghum, sunflower seed, safflower, mustard seed, and soybeans, September 1 to August 31; for cotton, peanuts, and rice, August 1 to July 31; for flue-cured tobacco, July 1 to June 30; and for burley tobacco, October 1 to September 30. See Crop year(s).

Marketwide pool(ing): All milk marketing orders operate marketwide pools for determining producer prices. Under marketwide pooling, the entire value of the milk used in all classes is divided by the total milk deliveries to determine the weighted average or blend price for the market. The blend price is the minimum price that must be paid to each producer under the order. The location at which the milk was received by the handler also affects the price. Thus, each producer shares proportionately in the returns produced by all milk uses in the market. Cooperatives may combine the proceeds of its members from different markets and pay a reblended price to members. This price may be different than the price received by individual producers.

Marking: Each inspected and passed animal carcass, half-carcass, or quarter-carcass must be identified by a federal mark of inspection or a state mark of inspection. A product with a state mark of inspection is limited to commerce within the state where it was inspected and marked. State-inspected product shall not be transported across state lines. Another type of mark is one for exotic animals that have been inspected and approved for human food. See Official inspection legend.

Maryland tobacco: A light, air-cured tobacco, similar to burley tobacco, used in cigarette blends.

Mast: Fruits and seed of shrubs, woody vines, trees, cacti, and other non-herbaceous vegetation, available for animal consumption.

Master Settlement Agreement (MSA): See Tobacco settlement.

Mastitis: A bacterial infection of a cow’s udders. See Somatic cell(s) (dairy), and Somatic cell count (SCC).

Material harm: In cases of unfair trade practices, a finding by the International Trade Commission that the injury or threat of injury caused to domestic industries in output, sales, imports, capacity utilization, profits, cash flow, employment, and wages is not inconsequential, immaterial, or unimportant.

Material Transfer Agreements (MTA): A special type of contract, routinely used by biotechnology industry and academic researchers, to facilitate the sharing of biological research material for mutual gain. MTAs define the rights and obligations of all parties, including third parties, involved in a transfer of biological material.

Mature dairy animal: A dairy cow that has reached the level of maturity to be milked on a daily basis.

Mature timber: A stand of trees that has attained an age or size that satisfies the primary economic goal for which it was managed.

Maturity; mature(d): (1) All nonrecourse loans for wheat, feed grain, rice, and oilseed crops shall be due, or mature upon demand by the Commodity Credit Corporation, and not later than the last day of the ninth calendar month following the month in which the security agreement for the loan was signed. Upland cotton and extra-long staple cotton loans previously matured in ten calendar months, beginning on the first day of the month in which the security agreement for the loan was signed, but theFarm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1203) reduced the loan term to nine months. Peanut loans mature on April 30 following the year in which the peanuts were harvested. Sugar loans are for nine months, but all loans will mature by the end of the fiscal year in which the loans were made. However, under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1401(d)(2), a supplemental loan may be made in the case of a loan first made within the last three months of the fiscal year. Loan collateral pledged on a loan cannot be forfeited to the CCC in lieu of repayment until after the loan maturity date. (2) An estimation of the chronological age of the animal or carcass by assessing the physiological stages of maturity of bone and muscle characteristics.

Maximum deficiency payments: Under former programs, the amount of difference between the target price and the effective loan rate for each program crop. See Counter-cyclical payment(s) (CCP).

Maximum economic yield: See Yield (economic maximum).

Maximum flex acres (acreage); maximum flexible acres (acreage) (MFA): Under former programs, the sum of the normal flex acres and the optional flex acres.

Maximum payment acres: Under former programs, the maximum number of acres on a farm that are eligible to receive deficiency payments. Maximum payment acres are the farm’s crop acreage base less the acreage reduction program acres, the paid land diversion acres, and the normal flex acres.

Maximum permitted acres: Under former programs, the maximum percentage of a crop acreage base that may be planted to a program crop and still be eligible for program benefits. Permitted acres are calculated by subtracting the acreage reduction program and normal flex acres from the crop acreage base.

Maximum protection level: A value set for each crop in each county where Group Risk Plan (GRP) insurance is available. This value is the maximum protection level available under GRP and Group Risk Income Plan insurance. See Protection level.

Maximum tolerated dose (MTD): The maximum amount of a chemical that can be fed to an experimental animal without incurring extreme health consequences, such as death, while continuing to produce some measurable toxic effect.

MBT: Methyl Bromide Transition Program

MC: Moisture content

McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program: A new Foreign Agricultural Service food aid program authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 3107) to use commodities, financial assistance, and technical assistance to carry out preschool and school food for education programs and maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs in foreign countries.

McIntire-Stennis (Cooperative Forestry Research Program) (funds) (Act of October 10, 1962, P.L. 87-788; 16 U.S.C. §§ 582a, et seq.): Under this Act, cooperative forestry research formula funds are allocated to selected agricultural experiment stations on a formula basis for forestry and related resources research and development at institutions offering graduate training in the sciences basic to forestry or having a forestry school. Funds are apportioned to the eligible states based on the (a) volume of timber cut from growing stock in the state, (b) the area of non-federal commercial forest land in the state, and (c) the amount of non-federal funds expended in the state for forestry research. A 100 percent non-federal match is required. See Cooperative forestry research.

McIntire-Stennis (funds): Cooperative forestry research formula funds available to selected agricultural experiment stations. See Cooperative forestry research.

McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act of 1928 (P.L. 70-466): Signed into law May 22, 1928. The Act directed the USDA to make a comprehensive survey of the present and prospective requirements for timber and other forest products in the U.S., of timber supplies, and of such other facts as may be necessary, in the determination of ways and means, to balance the timber budget of the U.S.

Meandering line: (1) Survey line at the high-water mark on navigable lakes and streams. (2) The line at which continuous vegetation ends and sandy or muddy shore begins.

Means test(ing): Restricts program eligibility based on a person’s gross revenues, net income, or some other indicator of wealth. It is primarily concerned with the payment limitation on income support payments.

Meat: (1) Tissue of the animal body that is used for food. (2) The components of meat animals, including muscle, fat, connective tissue, and bones. (3) Muscle tissue composed of protein, water, and fat. (4) The conversion of muscle through rigor mortis. (5) Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the part of the muscle of any cattle, sheep, swine, equine (horses or mules), or goats which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, diaphrahm, heart, or esophagus, with or without the accompanying and overlying fat, and the portions of bone (in bone-in product such as T-bone or porterhouse steak), skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels which normally accompany the muscle tissue and that are separated from it in the process of dressing of the carcass. Under the FMIA, meat does not include the muscle found in the lips, snout, or ears. Also, meat may not include significant portions of bone, including hard bone and related components, such as bone marrow, or any amount of brain, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, or dorsal root ganglia.

Meat and poultry inspection: The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Poultry Products Inspection Act require all meat and poultry to be federally inspected. The Food Safety and Inspection Service is the USDA agency that inspects meat and poultry. More than 7,500 FSIS food inspectors and veterinarians carry out the inspection laws in some 6,200 privately owned meat and poultry plants around the country, ensuring that all domestically produced meat and poultry sold in interstate or foreign commerce is safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. One or more federal inspectors are “on the line” during all hours a plant is operating. Meat and poultry sold only within a state may be inspected under an FSIS-approved state inspection program equal to the federal program. If a state is unable to operate its own inspection program, the FSIS assumes responsibility for this inspection. Inspections are chiefly in meat and poultry packing and processing plants. To ensure the wholesomeness of imported meat and poultry products, the FSIS reviews and monitors foreign inspection systems to ensure that they are equal to the U.S. system.

Meat broker: Under 12 U.S.C.§ 601, any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of buying or selling carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat, or meat food products of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, on commission or otherwise negotiating purchases or sales of such articles other than for his own account or as an employee of another person, firm, or corporation.

Meat byproducts: The edible parts of a livestock carcass, other than the meat. This includes fat, bone, lips, snouts, ears, and edible organs.

Meat food product(s): (1) Under provisions of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, all edible products and byproducts of the slaughtering and meat-packing industry. (2) A food containing meat or meat byproducts as ingredients. Exemptions include sandwiches, pepperoni rolls, bagel dogs, cheese balls, bread containing small pieces of meat as flavoring, products containing less than three percent raw or two percent cooked meat, and products containing less than 30 percent fat as the only livestock ingredient. (3) Under 12 U.S.C. § 601, any product capable of use as human food that is made wholly or in part from any meat or other portion of the carcass of any cattle, sheep, swine, or goats (and including food products of equines), excepting products that contain meat or other portions of such carcasses only in a relatively small proportion or historically have not been considered by consumers as products of the meat food industry, and that are exempted from definition as a meat food product by the USDA.

Meat import law: A U.S. law, enacted in 1964 and amended in 1979, that provided for the imposition of import quotas if imports of certain meat products exceeded the trigger level. This limit was calculated from a formula based on domestic import quota meat production and cow-beef production. The law applied to fresh, chilled, and frozen meat of cattle, sheep (except lamb), and goats, as well as certain prepared and preserved beef and veal products.

Meat traceability: The comprehensive concept of tracking the movement of identifiable meat products through the marketing chain – from source animal, through growth and feeding, slaughter, processing, and distribution, to the point of sale or consumption (or backwards from the consumer to the source animal).

Mechanical harvester: (1) A machine that automatically strips the leaves from the tobacco stalk by rotating spiraled rubber wipers attached to a movable head. These machines are used primarily for harvesting flue-cured tobacco. (2) Specialized machinery used for harvesting tree fruit and nuts that shakes the fruit or nuts onto a catching frame. (3) Specialized machinery used for harvesting vegetables and root crops such as potatoes and beets. Root crops are harvested by machines that take the root out of the ground, clean it, and cut the top off the plant. (4) See Bale(d) hay, and Baling (hay). (5) See Combine(s). (6) See Picker; picker system; picker harvester (cotton), Pick(ed)(ing), and Stripper cotton; stripper system; stripper harvester.

Mechanical tenderization: The process of physically breaking up the muscle fiber structure. This can be achieved by needle or blade tenderizing. Needle tenderizing is the process of pressing several thick needles through the meat cut. As the needles pass through the muscle, they will break up the fiber structure. The use of a tenderizer machine is the most common method of tenderization currently used. See Chemical tenderization.

Mechanically separated meat: A meat food product that is a paste-like and batter-like product produced by forcing bones with attached meat under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the meat tissue. Unlike AMR systems in which bone and bone product are not pruposefully incorporated in the final meat product, MS systems are designed to purposefully incorporate significant amounts of bone and bone components in the resulting meat food products. The USDA will prohibit use of mechanically separated meat in human food.

Mechanically separated poultry: A paste-like and batter-like poultry product, produced by forcing bones, with attached edible tissue, through a sieve or similar device under high pressure to separate bone from the edible tissue. Mechanically separated poultry has been used inpoultry products since 1969.

Mediation: The voluntary resolution of problem loans, marketing contracts, and other disagreements or conflicts between borrowers and lenders, or parties to marketing contracts or other contracts with state and federal agencies, by means of a trained, neutral, third party serving as a mediator. Such mediator has no authoritative decision-making power. See Certified mediation program, and State mediation grants.

Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly): A fruit-destroying pest. It has infested over 200 species of plants worldwide. Native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, this fly is now found in Africa, southern Europe, Central and South America, western Australia, the Hawaiian Islands, and periodically in California, Texas, and Florida.

Medium CAFO: An animal feeding operation with a man-made ditch or pipe that carries manure or wastewater from the operation to surface water, or with animals that come into contact with surface water running through the area where the animals are confined, and with at least 200 mature dairy cows; or 300 veal calves; or 300 beef cattle or heifers; or 150 horses; or 750 swine (each 55 lbs or more); or 3,000 sheep or lambs; or 3,000 swine (each under 55 lbs); or 16,500 turkeys; or 10,000 ducks (other than with a liquid manure handling system); or 1,500 ducks (with a liquid manure handling system); or 9,000 chickens (with a liquid manure handling system); or 37,500 chickens, except laying hens (other than with a liquid manure handling system); or 25,000 laying hens (other than with a liquid manure handling system). See Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), Designated CAFO, and Large CAFO.

Medium grain (rice): Rice that is a little shorter and plumper than long grain rice. After cooking, the grains are moister and more tender and have a greater tendency to cling together than long grain.

Mega-reg: A USDA regulation, first published in July 1996, requiring poultry processing plants with 500 or more employees to implement (a) adoption of standard operating procedures for sanitation, (b) generic E. coli testing, (c) development and implementation of a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System, and (d) salmonella detection performance standards.

Melaleuca: An exotic weed tree, introduced into south Florida in the 1930s,that now threatens wetland areas of Lake Okeechobee, Everglades National Park, and Big Cypress National Preserve. The melaleuca tree reduces wildlife and native vegetation, pumps large quantities of water into the air via evapotranspiration, and is a navigational and fire hazard.

Member schedule: The list of commitments (market access, domestic support, and export subsidies) undertaken by each participant in the Uruguay Round negotiations.

Merchant Marine Act of 1920: See Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920).

Merchant(s) (cotton): Traditionally, private firms that buy cotton in the U.S. and sell to overseas mills and users. Merchant transactions include buying and selling actual cotton from producers and mills, and using the futures market to limit risk in their physical positions.

MERCOSUR: The Common Market of the Southern Cone (also known as the Treaty of Asunción); a customs union created on March 26, 1991, between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Mesquite: A leguminous shrub native to the western U.S. that fixes soil nitrogen, has commercial uses, and provides nectar for honeybees. However, mesquite on rangeland can out-compete more nutritious forages costing the U.S. grazing industry up to $500 million annually.

Metabolites: The broken-down chemical products that result when a pesticide passes through a biological system. Methane: An odorless, colorless, flammable, and explosive greenhouse gas, associated with global warming, that is produced through anaerobic decomposition of waste in landfills and animal wastes, animal digestion, production and distribution of natural gas and oil, coal production, and incomplete fossil fuel combustion.

Methane: An odorless, colorless, flammable, and explosive greenhouse gas associated with global warming, that is produced through anaerobic decomposition of waste in landfills and animal wastes, animal digestion, production and distribution of natural gas and oil, coal production, and incomplete fossil fuel combustion.

Methanol: An alcohol that can be used as an alternative fuel or as a gasoline additive. It is less volatile than gasoline; when blended with gasoline, it lowers carbon monoxide emissions but increases hydrocarbon emissions. Used as pure fuel, its emissions are less ozone-forming than those from gasoline.

Methyl bromide: An odorless, colorless gas widely used as a broad spectrum fumigant to control insects, fungi, bacteria, and nematodes on harvested commodities, in buildings, and in agricultural soil. It is one of the five most-used pesticides in the U.S. Methyl bromide is believed to deplete the ozone layer, and production in the U.S. is to be banned by 2005. Under terms of the Montreal Protocol, adopted by the U.S. as part of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, developed countries agreed to reduce consumption by 25 percent in 1999, 50 percent in 2001, 70 percent in 2003, and 100 percent in 2005 from 1991 consumption levels. Developing countries agreed to a 20 percent reduction by 2005 and a 100 percent reduction by 2015 from the average 1995-98 consumption levels. For many current uses, no alternative to methyl bromide exists. The Environmental Protection Agency adopted a final rule January 1, 2003, to provide methyl bromide users in the U.S. with an exemption to the phaseout of methyl bromide for quarantine applications and pre-shipment applications.

Methyl Bromide Transitions Program (MBT): A CSREES Integrated Activities IPM program designed to support the discovery and implementation of practical pest management alternatives for commodities affected by the methyl bromide phase-out. The program focus is on short-term projects developing management technologies, integrated and systems approaches, and extension delivery programs for methyl bromide alternatives that support commodities at risk. These activities will involve basic research and applied research designed to deliver and demonstrate the practicality and economic feasibility of new technologies and will be conducted at research facilities, extension centers and grower demonstration plots. See Crops at Risk (CAR), IPM Section 406 Program; Integrated Activities; Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program; Organic Transitions (ORG); and Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program (RAMP).

Methyl ester: See Biodiesel.

Metric ton(s): 2,204.6 pounds; 1,000 kilograms.

Metropolitan statistical area (MSA): A county or group of contiguous counties that contain at least one city of 50,000 inhabitants or more, or twin cities with a combined population of at least 50,000. In addition, contiguous counties are included in an MSA if they are socially and economically integrated with a central city.

MFA: Maximum flex(ible) acres(age)

MFA: Multi-fiber Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles

MFN: Most favored nation

Mickey Leland Food for Peace Act (P.L. 101-624): Signed into law November 28, 1990. The short title given to Subtitle A of Title XV of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, which amended the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. The title was given in memory of Representative Mickey Leland who died in 1989 on a humanitarian mission to Ethiopia.

Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowship: A fellowship program authorized by the Congressional Hunger Fellows Act of 2002 to address international hunger and other humanitarian needs. See Bill Emerson Hunger Fellowship.

Mickey Leland Memorial Domestic Hunger Relief Act (P.L. 101-624): Signed into law November 28, 1990. The short title given to Title XVII, Food Stamp and Related Provisions, of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990. The title was given in memory of Representative Mickey Leland who died in 1989 on a humanitarian mission to Ethiopia.

Microbe(s); microbial: Microorganisms including algae, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

Microbial pesticides: Microorganisms that kill, inhibit, or out-compete pests including insects and other microorganisms. The most widely used microbial pesticide is Bt. See Biopesticide(s).

Microclimate: Climate within a specific area in a larger area.

Microenterprise: Under the rural electronic commerce extension program, a commercial enterprise that has five or fewer employees, one or more of whom own the enterprise.

Microirrigation system: An irrigation system that wets only a discrete portion of the soil surface in the vicinity of the plant by means of applicators (orifices, emitters, porous tubing, and perforated pipe) operated under low pressure. The applicators can be placed on or below the surface of the ground or can be suspended from supports.

Micron: A unit of measurement that equals 1/25,000 of an inch, used in assessing the diameter of a fiber.

Micronaire: The fineness and maturity of cotton fibers. Fineness and maturity are highly correlated within the same cotton variety. Fiber fineness affects yarn appearance, yarn uniformity, and yarn strength.

Micronutrient fortification pilot program: A pilot program, established by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 222), which was reauthorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 3013) through 2007. See Micronutrient fortification program(s).

Micronutrient fortification program(s): Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) programs, authorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 3013) through FY2007, to assist developing countries in correcting micronutrient dietary deficiencies among segments of the populations of the countries, and encourage the development of technologies for the fortification of whole grains and other commodities that are readily transferable to developing countries. The Act called upon the FAS to assure adequate micronutrient levels in the fortified commodities and to standardize procedures used to test and monitor for compliance. Additionally, the Act called upon the FAS to improve shelf-life, bioavailibility, and safety of food aid commodities.

Micronutrient(s): An element required in proportionately smaller amounts by plants but is still important for healthy plant growth. Micronutrients include Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B), and Molybdenum (Mo). See Macronutrient(s).

Microorganisms: Yeasts, molds, bacteria, and viruses, including but not limited to, species having public health significance. Occasionally in regulations the Food and Drug Administration uses “microbial” instead of using a phrase containing the word “microorganism”.

Middle meats: The rib and loin of a beef carcass. These primal cuts generally yield the highest-priced beef cuts.

Middle-income country(ies): (1) Countries in which the standard of living is higher than in low-income countries, people have access to more goods and services, yet many people still cannot meet their basic needs. There are currently nearly 70 middle-income countries with a combined population of nearly 3 billion. (2) Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 3014), a country that has developed economically to the point that it does not receive bilateral development assistance from the U.S. See High-income country(ies), and Low-income country(ies).

Migrant agricultural worker(s): See Migrant farmworker(s).

Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) (P.L. 97-470) (29 U.S.C. §§ 1801, et seq.): Signed into law January 14, 1983, and amended in 1986 and 1995. An Act designed to provide migrant agricultural workers and seasonal agricultural workers with protections concerning pay, working conditions, and work-related conditions; to require farm labor contractors to register with the U.S. Department of Labor; and to assure necessary protections for farmworkers, agricultural associations, and agricultural employers.

Migrant farmworker(s): A person who travels across state or county boundaries to do agricultural work of a seasonal or other temporary nature, and who is required to be absent overnight from his or her permanent place of residence. Exceptions are immediate family members of an agricultural employer or a farm labor contractor and temporary foreign workers.

Migratory Bird Rule: The 1986 federal rule (51 Fed. Reg. 41217) asserting the basis for federal jurisdiction over intrastate, isolated waters of the U.S. and their connection to interstate commerce. The rule stated that federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Actextended to those intrastate waters that (a) are or could be used as habitat by birds protected by Migratory Bird Treaties; or (b) are or could be used as habitat by other migratory birds which cross state lines; or (c) are or could be used ashabitat for endangered species; or (d) are used to irrigate crops sold in interstate commerce. See Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

MILC: Milk Income Loss Contract program

Milk assessments: (1) Deductions from dairy producers’ milk checks formerly used to finance a special federal government supply-reduction program. See Milk Production Termination Program. (2) See Dairy Promotion and Research Program.

Milk distributing plant: A plant processing and distributing milk and milk products other than products made from manufacturing milk.

Milk diversion program: A program adopted in 1983 by which milk producers could receive direct payments by agreeing to reduce production in their herds between January 1, 1984, and March 31, 1985.

Milk equivalent: The amount of fluid milk represented by a quantity of dairy products. It is most often used to aggregate stocks, trade, or removals of various dairy products on a common basis. The milk equivalent of one pound of butter is 21.1 pounds of milk; one pound of cheese equals ten pounds of milk; and one pound of ice cream is the equivalent of 15 pounds of milk.

Milk Income Loss Contract program (MILC): Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1502), whenever the monthly fluid milk price in Boston falls below $16.94 per hundredweight, all eligible producers nationwide will receive a payment equal to 45 percent of the difference between $16.94 and the lower Boston price. See Counter-cyclical payment(s) (CCP).

Milk marketed for commercial use: All cows’ milk that is disposed of in raw or processed form by voluntary or involuntary sale, barter or exchange, or by gift.

Milk marketing order(s): Federal or state programs that cover most of the fluid milk marketed in the U.S. Each milk marketing order includes (a) a classified price plan, (b) a system of minimum prices, (c) terms of the order, and (d) provisions for administering the order. Milk marketing orders regulate handlers who sell milk and manufactured dairy products within an order region by requiring handlers to pay not less than the established minimum price for Grade A milk purchased from producers, depending on how the milk is used. The federal government may also support the prices of certain manufactured dairy products, such as butter and cheese, through purchase and storage programs. Federal milk marketing orders are permanently authorized and do not require periodic reauthorization. Milk marketing orders are not mandatory; producers must request an order and approve it through a referendum. The Federal Agriculture Improvements and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 143) required the reduction of the number of federal milk marketing orders to no more than 14 and no less than 10. The USDA consolidated the existing 31 milk marketing order areas into 11 milk marketing order areas. It also added some previously unregulated areas (counties) into the new milk marketing order areas. In further reforms, the USDA established four classes of milk use to be pooled under the new orders. Each class will have a skim milk price and a butterfat price calculated from the prices of dairy products. See California milk marketing order, and Minimum pricing (dairy).

Milk price-support program: See Dairy price-support program (DPSP).

Milk Production Termination Program: A program, often called the Dairy Termination Program or the Whole-Herd Buyout Program, authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985. The program was designed to reduce milk production. Producers whose bids were accepted by the USDA agreed to slaughter or export all female dairy cattle, have no interest in milk production or dairy cattle for five years, and not use their facilities for those purposes during that time. The program was in effect from April 1, 1986, through September 30, 1987. During that period, 1.6 million dairy cows were removed from production. The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 included a specific provision prohibiting the adoption of such a program.

Milk protein concentrate (MPC): Skim milk that has been concentrated by ultra-filtration (removing some of the lactose, ash, and other solids, but retaining most of the milk proteins) and dried to a powder. MPC and ultra-filtered milk are virtually identical in composition.

Milk protein(s): The principal proteins are casein (about 80 percent) and the whey proteins, used in assessing the diameter of a fiber and lactoglobulin.

Milk shed: The geographic region in which milk is produced for a specified milk-marketing area.

Milk soil: See Milkstone.

Milk solid(s): See Total milk solids (TMS).

Milk solids-not-fat: See Solids-not-fat (SNF).

Milkfat: See Butterfat.

Milking barn: See Barn (milking).

Milking parlor: See Barn (milking).

Milkstone: The residue that remains on equipment, utensils, or containers used for handling milk.

Mill residue: Wood and bark residues produced in processing logs into lumber, plywood, and paper. Mixed alcohols (MA): A mixture of alcohols produced from carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases in a catalytic syngas process (Fisher-Tropschconversion); an alternative fuel.

Mill(ed)(ing): (1) The process, machine, or facility used to grind or prepare grain for food use. (2) A saw mill that produces lumber. See Board mill. (3) See Textile mill(s). (4) See Millfeed, and Pellet mill. (5) See Dry mill(ed)(ing), Roller mill, and Wet mill(ed)(ing).

Milled rice: (1) After milling is complete and the hulls, bran layers, and germ are removed. (2) Whole or broken kernels of rice from which the hulls and at least the outer bran layers have been removed, and that contain no more than 10 percent of seeds,paddy kernels, or foreign material, either singly or combined.

Miller(s): One who grinds and prepares grain for food or feed uses.

Millet: A small grain which originated with the domestication of wild African grasses and subsequently were taken to China and India. Millet tolerates arid conditions and possesses a small, highly nutritious grain that stores well. It is used as a food,livestock feed, and in traditional beer brewing.

Millfeed: Any of the byproducts of the milling industry used in feeding livestock.

Milling quality: The measure of the ability of wheat to produce a high yield of flour with required characteristic by a predetermined milling method.

Milling yield (rice): Rice production consisting of head rice, second heads, screenings, and brewers rice as defined by the official U.S. grading standards.

Milo: (1) See Grain sorghum. (2) My boss, Dr. Milo J. Shult, Vice President for Agriculture, University of Arkansas System.

Mini-column: A somewhat more sophisticated version of the bright greenish yellow fluorescence (BGYF) procedure, most commonly used for commodities if an absolute value is not required. False negative or false positive results may occur.

Mini-contracts: In futures trading, contracts that have smaller quantity requirements than standard contracts. As an example, corn and soybean contracts on the Mid-American Exchange call for 1,000 bushels or 1/5 of the Chicago Board of Trade contracts.

Mini-farming: See Biointensive gardening.

Minibus: An appropriations measure that includes a few regular appropriations bills. See Omnibus.

Minimal beneficial interest: For payment limitation purposes, a beneficial interest in any entity that is less than 10 percent of all beneficial interests in such entity combined. It is not considered a substantial beneficial interest unless the USDA determines, on a case-by-case basis, that a smaller percentage should apply to one or more beneficial interests to ensure against circumventing the regulations. See Substantial beneficial interest.

Minimal effect(s): Under swampbuster regulations, a person is exempt from ineligibility provisions for a swampbuster violation if the USDA determines that the violation will have a minimal impact on wetland values; the violation has been mitigated by the restoration of a converted wetland or the creation of new wetland values; the wetland was converted after December 23, 1985, but before November 28, 1990, and the loss of wetland value has been mitigated; or the action was permitted under Section 404and the loss of wetland value has been mitigated. See Converted wetland(s, and Swampbuster.

Minimum access (tariff quotas): Under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, products covered by the tariffication process shall still have current market access opportunities and have established minimum access tariff quotas (at reduced tariff rates) where the current access is less than five percent of domestic consumption.

Minimum import price (MIP): A measure used by the European Union. Imports priced at less than the MIP are charged a tax equal to the difference, or may be subject to quantitative restrictions.

Minimum price contracts: Grain marketing contracts that allow producers to insure a minimum price for commodities to be delivered in the future but with a feature to allow the producer to receive additional money if the market should rise. The buyer uses commodity options to protect against a possible price rise in the future.

Minimum pricing (dairy): Each milk marketing order sets minimum prices for the various use-classes. Federal milk marketing orders now use product-based pricing. The market value of cheese, butter, whey, and nonfat powder are used to calculate a minimum value for the producers’ milk used to make those products. Such prices are established for milk of 3.5 percent butterfat content, and adjustments are made for milk that has a butterfat test different from that specified. Some orders also adjust for the solids-not-fat or protein content of the milk. Since some milk marketing order areas get milk from wide geographic areas, prices also are adjusted to reflect values at different locations. The orders provide that producers be paid a uniform or average price. In most orders, this uniform price is calculated by combining and averaging class values for all handlers through market wide pooling provisions. See Equalization pool.

Minimum till(age): The least tillage necessary to grow a successful crop. Crop residues serve as mulches on the soil surface.

Ministerial Conference: The highest World Trade Organization authority; it meets every two years.

Minnesota-Wisconsin (M-W) price: A monthly average price, per hundredweight, paid by plants for manufacturing-grade milk in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as estimated by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Minor (animal) species: Generally refers to animals other than cattle, horses, swine, chickens, turkeys, dogs, and cats. This is an important concept when considering approval of minor-use animal drugs.

Minor crops: See Minor-use crops, Specialty (high-value) crops, and Unique crops.

Minor oilseeds: Flaxseed, oil-type sunflowerseed, other-type sunflowerseed, canola, rapeseed, safflowerseed, and mustard seed.

Minor vegetables: See Specialty vegetables.

Minor-use: With respect to pesticides, if the incremental cost of registering the pesticide for a site is greater or equal to the gross revenue for a year of sales on that specific site, it will qualify as a minor-use. See Minor-use pesticides.

Minor-use and minor species (MUMS): See Minor species, Minor-use animal drugs, and Minor-use animal drugs program.

Minor-use animal drugs: Drugs used in minor animal species or major animal species for a disease or condition that occurs infrequently or in limited geographic areas.

Minor-use animal drugs program: A program designed to address the shortage of minor-use animal drugs by funding and overseeing the efficacy, animal safety, and human food safety research and environmental assessment required to generate the necessary data for Food and Drug Administration approval. The scope of the program includes animals of agricultural importance and generally excludes companion animals. The program is coordinated with animal producers, drug manufacturers, the Center for Veterinary Medicine, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and other government agencies, universities, state agricultural experiment stations, and veterinary schools.

Minor-use crops: With respect to pesticides, agricultural production, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and ornamentals, that is grown on very limited acreage (total U.S. acreage for the crop is less than 300,000 acres), or that produces relatively little revenue for the manufacturer of pesticides used on those crops.

Minor-use pesticides: Pesticides registered for use on minor specialty crops or for use against minor pests. Approximately 70 percent of all pesticide products are for minor-use crops.

MIP: Minimum Import Price (EC)

Misbranded (foods): Food with labeling that is false, is offered for sale under the name of another food, is an undisclosed imitation, is in a misleading container, bears labeling that doesn’t disclose the name and place of business of the manufacturer or packer, or bears labeling that doesn’t disclose the quantity of the product.

Mismatched funds: For a credit institution, providing to a customer a fixed rate loan with funds obtained by the institution at a variable rate. The institution is assuming an interest rate risk. See Upside down.

Mission area(s): Groupings of USDA agencies and programs that have common functions, responsibilities, or deliverables. The USDA mission areas are (a) Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service, (b) Food Safety, (c) Natural Resources & Environment, (d) Rural Development, (e) Food, Nutrition, & Consumer Services, (f) Marketing & Regulatory Programs, and (g) Research, Education, & Economics.

Mission-linked research: Research on specifically identified agricultural problems which, through a continuum of efforts, provides information and technology that may be transferred to users and may relate to a product, practice, or process.

Mississippi Christmas tree: The avoidance of payment limitations by structuring farming operations to create as many eligible entities as possible to maximize program benefits.

Mites: From the same order as ticks; some mites injure plants, are parasitic upon animals and man, or are carriers of disease. These include the brown mite, European red mite, harvest mite, red citrus mite, poultry mite, and tracheae mite.

Miticides: Pesticides that kill mites feeding on plants and animals.

Mitigation ordinance: An ordinance or state law that requires developers of agricultural land to protect an equivalent quantity of land with similar characteristics in the same political jurisdiction. In some cases, developers may satisfy the mitigation requirement by paying a fee.

Mitigation; mitigate; mitigating: Measures taken for the purpose of avoiding, minimizing, reducing, or rectifying identified, adverse environmental impacts. See Wetland banking, and Wetland mitigation.

Mixed (milled) rice: Milled rice that contains more than 25 percent whole kernels and more than 10 percent other types not including brokens.

Mixed corn: Corn that does not meet the color requirements for either of the classes, yellow corn or white corn, and includes white-capped yellow corn.

Mixed cropping: Growing two or more crops simultaneously in the same field without rows. See Double-crop(ping)(ped), Intercropping, Ratoon crop(ping), Relay cropping, and Sequential cropping.

Mixed grain: A mixture of grain species that are sown and harvested together such as the mixture of wheat and rye known as meslin.

Mixed grazing: Grazing by two or more species of grazing animals on the same land unit, not necessarily at the same time, but within the same grazing season.

Mixed pigs: Male (barrows or intact pigs) and female (gilts) pigs commingled.

Mixed ration: A feed combination of hay, corn, barley, field grasses, cottonseed, and bakery or grocery byproducts.

Mixed rough rice: Contains more than 25 percent whole kernels, and after milling, contains more than 10 percent other types of rice. Mixed soybeans: Soybeans that do not meet the requirements of the class yellow soybeans. See Soybean classes.

Mixed soybeans: Soybeans that do not meet the requirements of the class yellow soybeans. See Soybean classes.

Mixed wheat: Any mixture of wheat consisting of less than 90 percent of one class and more than 10 percent of one other class, or a combination of classes that meets the definition of wheat.

Mixed wood forest: A forest with softwood and hardwood trees.

MLG: Marketing loan gain(s)

MLR: Market loan repayment (provision)

MLR: Marketing loan repayment (provision)

MLRA: Major land resource area

MNC: Multinational corporation(s)

Mob grazing:  In the management of a grazing unit, grazing by a relatively large number of animals at a high stocking density for a short time period.

Modern biotechnology: The (a) application of in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant DNA and direct injection of nucleic acid, into cells or organelles, or (b) fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family, that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection.

Module builder: A machine for the creation of standardized ricks of cotton. This allows producers to efficiently store and transport large volumes of cotton to the gin at any time at highway speeds using a minimum of labor and equipment.

Module(s) (cotton): Units of compacted harvested cotton, typically 13 to 15 bales, covered with water resistant tarps for protection against the weather. A module is stored in the field or on the gin yard until it is ginned. Over 95 percent of all harvested cotton is formed into modules. The use of modules speeds up the harvesting operation because producers are not dependent upon cotton trailer availability nor gin capacity.

Mohair: Angora goat hair that is similar in composition to wool but smoother and thinner. Mohair has strong fibers that are durable and take dyes well.

Mohair recourse loan program: Authorized by the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000, eligible producers could obtain 12-month recourse loans, at $2 per pound, on mohair stored in warehouses if such loans were requested on or before September 30, 2000. Loans matured upon demand but no later than the last day of the twelfth month following the month in which the note and security agreement were approved. All loans had to be repaid, and mohair could not be delivered to the Commodity Credit Corporation in satisfaction of the loan obligation.

Moisture content: The amount of water present in a material such as grain, wood, or soil. Generally expressed as a percentage of material’s total weight.

Moisture content (MC): (1) The amount of water contained in a mass of material such as grain, wood, or soil. Generally expressed as a percentage of material’s total weight. (2) The weight of the water contained in wood, usually expressed as a percentage of weight, either oven-dry or as received; expressed as a percentage, the amount of moisture contained in the wood as parts by weight of water to 100 parts of wood substance. (3) For materials that change in volume with moisture content, the mass of moisture per unit dry mass of the specimen. (4) Expressed as a percentage of the weight of a moist specimen, the original weight comprising the dry substance plus any moisture present. (5) The amount of water lost from soil upon drying to a constant weight, expressed as the weight per unit of dry soil or as the volume of water per unit bulk volume of the soil.

Moisture content, dry basis: Moisture content expressed as a percentage of the weight after drying.

Moisture content, wet basis: Moisture content expressed as a percentage of the weight of material as-received.

Molasses: A thick syrup that is a byproduct of processing sugar-beets or sugarcane or of refining raw cane sugar.

Molluscicides: Pesticides that kill snails and slugs.

Molt(ed)(ing): (1) A process during which hens stop laying and shed their feathers. Molting occurs naturally every 12 months or may be artificially induced. (2) Changes from the immature to mature stage among various insect groups.

Monetary policy: Policies carried out by the Federal Reserve Board to influence the supply of money and the rate of interest.

Monetization: The selling of agricultural commodities to obtain foreign currency for use in U.S. assistance programs. Under the nonemergency programs of Title II, P.L. 480, a private voluntary organization may sell up to 15 percent of commodities donated for local currencies for development activities within the recipient country. See Third-country monetization.

Monitor: A court-appointed person to oversee the carrying out of the Pigford v. Veneman consent decree. The Monitor’s duties include (a) attempting to resolve any problems brought to the Monitor’s attention by class members; (b) requesting that theFacilitator, Adjudicator, or Arbitrator reexamine a decision on a claim; and (c) making written reports to the court and the parties about implementation of the consent decree.

Monoculture: Raising crops of a single species, generally even-aged.

Monounsaturated; monounsaturated fatty acid(s): See Fatty acid(s).

Moratorium: A postponement in payment of interest and principal on debts owned by producers, particularly those with financial problems.

Mormon cricket: An insect pest in the western states. These insects attack all types of field crops, fruits, trees, and especially wheat and alfalfa.

Morrill Act of 1862: See 1st Morrill Act (1862).

Morrill Act of 1890: See 2nd Morrill Act (1890).

Mosaic: A virus causing green and yellow mottling on plant leaves that affects both the quality and quantity of production. Common mosaic diseases are the tobacco mosaic, tomato mosaic, cucumber mosaic, watermelon mosaic, squash mosaic, turnip mosaic, bean common mosaic, bean yellow mosaic, cauliflower mosaic, soybean mosaic, alfalfa mosaic, wheat streak mosaic, maize dwarf mosaic, beet mosaic, and barley stripe mosaic.

Most probable producing ability (MPPA): An estimate of a cow’s future productivity for a trait (such as progeny weaning weight ratio) based on her past productivity. For example, a cow’s MPPA for weaning ratio is calculated from the cow’s average progeny weaning ratio, the number of her progeny with weaning records, and the repeatability of weaning weight.

Most-favored nation (MFN): An agreement between countries to extend the same trading privileges to each other that are no less favorable than those extended to any other country. Under a most-favored-nation agreement, for example, a country will extend to another country the lowest tariff rates it applies to any third country. A country is under no obligation to extend MFN treatment to another country, unless they are both World Trade Organization signatories or unless MFN is specified in a bilateral trade agreement. MFN is now known as normal trade relations. Most probable producing ability (MPPA): An estimate of a cow’s future productivity for a trait (such as progeny weaning weight ratio) based on her past productivity. For example, a cow’s MPPA for weaning ratio is calculated from the cow’s average progeny weaning ratio, the number of her progeny with weaning records, and the repeatability of weaning weight.

Mote bales: See Mote ginning.

Mote ginning: The process whereby raw motes (including leaves, trash, sticks, dirt, and immature cotton with some cottonseed) are run through the ginning process to extract the short-fiber cotton which can be baled.

Mote(s) (cotton): Short fibers attached to a piece of seed or immature cotton.

Mover: See Price mover.

Mower/conditioner: An implement that cuts hay into narrow rows where it lies in the sun and wind to dry.

MPC: Milk protein concentrate

MPCI: Multiperil crop insurance

MPP: Market Promotion Program

MPPA; Most probable producing ability

MS: Mechanically separated

MSA: Metropolitan Statistical Area

MSP: Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program

MSPA: Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act

MSW: Municipal solid waste

MTAs: Material transfer agreements

MTD: Maximum tolerated dose

MTN: Multilateral trade negotiations

Muck: A soil-like composition found in a heavily saturated environment that is mostly composed of humus.

Mulch(es)(ing): Any loose covering on the surface of the soil. Mulch may be natural, such as litter, deliberately applied, such as organic residues (e.g., cut grass, straw, foliage), or else artificial materials, such as cellophane, glass-wool, metal foil, and paper, as applied on nursery beds. It is used mainly to conserve moisture and check weed growth but also as protection from the winter climate.

Mulch-till(age): A type of conservation tillage. The soil is disturbed prior to planting; however, the tillage does not invert the soil but leaves it rough and cloddy. Tillage tools, such as chisels, field cultivators, disks, sweeps, or blades, are used. Weed control is accomplished with herbicides and/or cultivation. This practice is more common on the flatter slopes of northern production areas. See Conservation till(age).

Multi-fiber Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles (MFA): An internationally agreed derogation from the GATT rules that allows an importing signatory country to apply quantitative restrictions on textile imports when it considers them necessary to prevent market disruption, even when such restrictions would otherwise be contrary to GATT rules. The objective of the MFA is to reconcile the interests of textiles-exporting and textiles-importing countries by permitting an orderly expansion of trade while avoiding market disruption. The MFA has governed world textile trade in various forms since the 1960s. The U.S. is a signatory.

Multicultural Scholars Program: See Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program.

Multidisciplinary research: Research in which investigators from two or more disciplines, including biological, physical, chemical, and social sciences, are collaborating closely.

Multifamily rural rental guarantee loan program: Commonly known as Section 538 loans, pilot-program Rural Housing Service guaranteed loans are made to private, nonprofit corporations, consumer cooperatives, state or local public agencies, and individuals or organizations operating on a profit or limited-profit basis to provide rental or cooperative housing in rural areas for persons of low and moderate income. The guarantees shall be up to 90 percent of the loan for the for-profit sector, and 97 percent of the loan for the nonprofit sector. Rental assistance is no longer available to help defray the cost of rent paid by low-income families.

Multijurisdictional regional planning organizations grants: The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 6006) establishes a program to provide grants to multijurisdictional regional planning and development organizations to pay the federal cost share of providing assistance to local governments to improve the infrastructure, services, and business development capabilities of local governments and local economic development organizations. The program is authorized through FY2007.

Multilateral agreement(s): An international compact in which three or more parties participate. Within the World Trade Organization, all signatories are committed to abide by the included multilateral agreements. See General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) andWorld Trade Organization (WTO).

Multilateral trade negotiations (MTN): Negotiations that attempt to liberalize trade by offering a package approach to trade negotiations. MTNs allow participant nations to seek and secure advantages across a wide range of trade issues, provide “cover” from domestic political realities by allowing a balancing of concessions and benefits, allow less powerful nations to have a collective voice, and provide global reform not available in bilateral and plurilateral negotiations. Also known as trade rounds.

Multilateral trade negotiations (MTN) agreements and arrangements; A term generally applied to the nine nontariff trade barrier agreements negotiated during the Tokyo Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade negotiations. These include agreements on aircraft, antidumping, customs valuation, government procurement, import licensing, standards, and subsidies. Many were actually plurilateral agreements. In the Uruguay Round, five agreements became multilateral commitments included within the World Trade Organization Agreement and four remained plurilateral agreements. See GATT Round(s), World Trade Organization (WTO), and Plurilateral agreement(s).

Multiline: Crop seed composed of a mixture of several breeding lines of the same variety, each containing a different resistance gene to a specific pest. A single breeding line is vulnerable to crop failure when a pathogen mutates and regains virulence over the single resistance gene. In contrast, the mixing of different resistance traits in a multiline greatly reduces the probability of crop damage.

Multinational corporation(s) (MNC): A large commercial organization with affiliates operating in a number of different countries. Sometimes called transnational corporations.

Multiperil: Multiple hazards to farming such as hail, fire, drought, tornado, lightning, wind, flood, insects, plant disease, wildlife, and earthquakes.

Multiperil crop insurance (MPCI): See Actual Production History (yield) insurance (APH).

Multiple basing points: A method of regionalized milk pricing in milk marketing orders that allows more than one basing point, or surplus area, to be used. In a multiple basing points system, the marketing order used as the basing point has the smallest Class I differential. The Class I differential for other orders is then based on transportation costs to the nearest basing point, plus the minimum differential.

Multiple planting(s): (1) The planting of two crops on the same acreage during a single crop year other than in an established practice of double cropping. (2) Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 1101(a)(2)(C), land planted to a covered commodity that was also devoted to another covered commodity in the same crop year other than in an established practice of double cropping.

Multiple processor state(s) (sugar): For purposes of the allocation of the marketing allotment of sugarcane, the presence of more than one processor in any of the fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Multiple-benefit exclusion: The limitation that producers cannot receive assistance for the same loss under more than one USDA program. An exception to this rule is for emergency loans. Producers may also receive Noninsured (crop disaster) Assistance Program benefits and assistance under certain disaster and emergency assistance.

Multiple-component pricing: Under milk marketing orders, payments to milk producers are based on (a) the butterfat price times the pounds of butterfat marketed, plus (b) the protein price times the pounds of protein marketed, plus (c) other solids price times pounds of other solids marketed, plus (d) the producer price differential times the total of all milk marketed in hundredweights, plus (e) the somatic cell count adjustment times the total of all milk marketed in hundredweights. See Component pricing.

Multiple-pricing system(s): Systems under which marketing agencies sell the same product at different prevailing prices in different markets so as to maximize returns to producers.

Multiple-use land(s): Public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are not reserved, appropriated, or set aside for a specific or designated purpose. The multiple-use lands are more numerous, accounting for about 93 percent of the total lands under management. See Reserved land(s).

Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (P.L. 86-517) (16 U.S.C. §§ 528-531): Signed into law June 12, 1960, and amended in 1999. The Act declared that the purposes of the national forests include outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and fish and wildlife. The Act directs the USDA to administer national forest renewable surface resources for multiple-use and sustained yield.

Multiple-use(s) (forestry): The managing of a forested area to simultaneously provide more than one of the following resource objectives: fish and wildlife conservation, wood products, recreation, aesthetics, grazing, watershed protection, and historic or scientific values.

Multistory cropping: An agroforestry practice of planting an over story of trees or shrubs with an understory of specialty or agronomic crops or forage. Tree-to-tree distance must be wide enough to let in sufficient light to the understory crops or forage. Also known as forest farming.

Multiyear appropriation: An appropriation that remains available for spending or obligation for more than one fiscal year; the exact period of time is specified in the act making the appropriation. Some multiyear appropriations are made available for periods that do not coincide with the beginning or end of a fiscal year.

Multiyear authorization: (1) Legislation that authorizes the existence or continuation of an agency, program, or activity for more than one fiscal year. (2) Legislation that authorizes appropriations for an agency, program, or activity for more than one fiscal year.

Mummies: Pigs that are born degenerate (discolored, shriveled, or decomposed) and have died sometime during gestation.

MUMS: Minor use and minor species

Mung beans: A legume whose beans are used most commonly for the production of bean sprouts. Mung beans can also be cooked in soups or ground into flour.

Municipal solid waste (MSW): Any organic matter, including sewage, industrial, and commercial wastes, from municipal waste collection systems. Municipal waste does not include agricultural and wood wastes or residues.

Muscadine: A native American species of grape indigenous to the south Atlantic region of the U.S.

Muscle biologist: One who studies the accumulation of muscle fiber and its nutrient contents.

Muscle food(s): See Muscle meat.

Muscle meat: Skeletal muscle from the carcasses of meat animals, poultry, and fish. Such meat has a high protein content.

Muscle(s): The lean portion of meat. Often contrasted to marbling in meat.

Muscling; muscled: (1) The shape trait of live animals or carcasses due to the magnitude of muscle and bone but not fat. (2) The ratio of total muscle to bone.

Mushrooms: Marketed mushrooms include agaricus mushrooms (including the Portabello and Crimini varieties) and specialty mushrooms (including shiitake, oyster, and all other “exotics”).

Mustard seed: Oilseed whose oil is used in soaps and other industrial uses.

Mutagen: A substance or agent that causes an increase in the rate of change in genes. These mutations can be passed along as the cell reproduces, sometimes leading to defective cells or cancer.

Mutagenicity: A chemical property that causes a permanent change in the genetic structure of future generations of a living organism.

Mutton: Meat from an ovine animal older than one year.

Mutual Self-Help Housing program: Makes homes affordable by enabling future homeowners to work on homes themselves. With this investment in the home, or “sweat equity,” each homeowner pays less for his or her home. Each qualified applicant is required to complete 65 percent of the work to build his or her own home.

Mutual Self-Help Technical Assistance grants: Public and private nonprofit and local government entities that supervise groups of 10 to 12 enrollees in the Mutual Self-Help Housing program can receive grants to carry out a technical assistance program that will help low-income families build homes in rural areas by the self-help method. Funds may be used to pay salaries, rent, and office expenses of the not-for-profit entity.

Mycologist: One who studies fungi.

Mycotoxicoses: Diseases in humans and animals caused by consuming food and feed infested with mycotoxin-producing fungi.

Mycotoxin(s): Toxic substances exuded by fungi in infected feed and foods. Mycotoxins cause illness and death in humans and animals.