V:

Value of production: Generally as applied to crops, the multiplying of production by the estimated season average price received by producers for that part of production actually sold. For fruits and vegetables, quantities not harvested due to low prices or other factors are not included in the calculations.

Value-added (agricultural) (product(s)): (1) Increasing the value of a good by further processing. Examples of value-added products include soybean meal and oil, frozen vegetables for retail consumption, and processed meats. (2) Under the Value-added Agricultural Product Marketing Development grants program, any agricultural commodity or product that (a) has undergone a change in physical state, (b) was produced in a manner that enhances the value of the agricultural commodity or product (as demonstrated through a business plan that shows the enhanced value), or (c) is physically segregated in a manner that results in the enhancement of the value of the agricultural commodity or product, and as a result, the customer base for the agricultural commodity or product has been expanded and a greater portion of the revenue derived from the marketing, processing, or physical segregation of the agricultural commodity or product is available to the producer of the commodity or product.

Value-added Agricultural Product Marketing Development (grants) (program): Authorized in the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (Title II, Sec. 231) and amended by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 6401). The program encourages independent producers of agricultural commodities and products of agricultural commodities to further refine such products to increase their value to the end user of the product.

Value-added agriculture: A process of increasing the economic value and consumer appeal of an agricultural commodity. It is a production and marketing strategy that requires a better understanding of the rapidly changing food industry and food safety issues,alternative crops, and diversified skills, producer-owned cooperatives, and marketing savvy.

Value-added intermediate (agricultural products): For the BICO report, commodities such as wheat flour, vegetable oils, and hides and skins that receive some processing, but are generally not ready for final consumption. Wheat flour is further processed into noodles and bakery products, while vegetable oils are an ingredient in many processed foods. Slaughter animals are value-added intermediate products because they are range fed then finished with mixed feeds, corn, and oilseed meal before they are processed further into meatcuts. See BICO report.

Value-added tax (VAT): Taxes collected at each designated stage of production or marketing. Raw material costs used from earlier stages are subtracted from each subsequent selling price, and the tax is applied only to the value added. For example, the cost of wheat from a producer is subtracted from the miller’s selling price in calculating the miller’s value added. The European Union levies a tax on the amount by which processors or merchants increase the value of items they purchase. The EU charges a tax equivalent to the value added to imports and rebates value-added taxes on exports.

Value-based pricing: See Pricing grid(s).

Vapor drift: See Pesticide drift.

Variable (import) levy(ies): The difference between the price of a foreign product at the port and the official price at which competitive imports can be sold. Such levies are effectively a variable tax on imports or a variable subsidy to exports. Variable levies are used by theEuropean Union and Switzerland.

Variable costs: (1) The portion of total cash production costs used for inputs needed to produce a specific yield of a specific crop. Variable costs typically include fertilizers, seed, pesticides, hired labor, fuel, repairs, and animal feed and drugs. (2) Costs that vary in the aggregate with a change in output of a farm. In the short run, there are both fixed and variable costs; in the long run, all costs are variable.

Variable stocking: The practice of allowing a variable number of animals on a fixed area of land during the time when grazing is allowed.

Variable-rate application technology: See Precision farming; precision agriculture.

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD): A variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease believed to be caused by eating contaminated beef products from BSE-affected cattle. The variant form in the United Kingdom predoninantly affected younger persons and had atypical clinical features, including prominent psychiatric or sensory symptoms early in the course of the illness, delayed onset of neurologic abnormalities, duration of illness of at least 6 months, and a diffusely abnormal non-diagnostic electroencephalogram.

Variety release: The release for public consumption of crop seeds as either public varieties, nonexclusive branded varieties, or licensed exclusive varieties. Releases may be made through public institutions, nonprofit foundations, or private companies ormarketing agencies.

Variety(ies): A group of strains or a single strain that can be differentiated from another group by its structural or functional characteristics.

Varroa mite: An external parasite that sucks blood out of developing and adult bees, thereby weakening or killing honeybees. No contamination of honey occurs.

Vascular wilt: Viral or bacterial disease that deprives the plant of water and nutrients by blocking the passage through conductive tissue, thus causing the plant to droop, wilt, and die.

VAT: Value-added tax

vCJD: Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Veal: Meat from a calf that weighs about 150 pounds. Those that are mainly milk-fed usually are less than three months old. The difference between veal and baby beef is based on the color of their meat, which is determined almost entirely by diet. Veal is pale pink and contains more cholesterol than beef.

Vector: A pathogen-carrying insect or animal.

Vegetable matter: (1) Any material of plant origin found in wool fleece, such as burrs, stickers, chaff, and seed heads. (2) Organic material such as plants and algae.

Vegetative controls: Nonpoint source pollution control practices that involve plants (vegetative cover) to reduce erosion and minimize the loss of pollutants.

Vegetative cover: Trees, perennial grasses, legumes, or shrubs with an expected life span of five years or more. See Permanent vegetative cover.

Vegetative practice: A conservation practice that primarily involves the establishment or planting of a site-specific vegetative cover to conserve, protect from degradation, or improve soil, water, or related natural resources in the most cost-effective manner.

Verification trial(s): A public exhibition of the implementation of research-based Extension recommendations in an actual field-scale farming environment for crops. Program goals are (a) to optimize potential for profits, (b) to develop an on-farm database for use in economic analyses and computer-assisted management programs, (c) to aid researchers in identifying areas of production that require further study, (d) to improve or refine existing recommendations, (e) to increase the expertise of County Extension Agents in the specified commodity, and (f) to utilize and incorporate data and findings from the program into Extension educational programs at the county and state levels.

Vernal pool(s): Typically, very small ephemeral water bodies (no inlets and outlets), usually forming in shallow depressions, that exist in the spring and fall and are home to small insect, plant, and animal life.

Vertical cooperation: A marketing concept that theoretically allows independent producers to retain a substantial degree of ownership independence while achieving the perceived ability to meet consumer wants and needs and cost savings provided by vertical integration.

Vertical coordination: See Vertical cooperation.

Vertical integration; vertically integrated: A form of market control under which a single organization controls, via ownership or contractual agreement, two or more adjacent stages of production, processing, or marketing of a commodity. For example, the modern, vertically integrated poultry firm consists of breeder flocks, hatcheries, feed milling and delivery, grow out, assembly, processing plants, further processing plants, and delivery to buyers. Ancillary services, such as building and equipment supplies, fuel, and financing, are often affiliated with the operation.

Vertical integration; vertically integrated; vertical: A form of market control under which a single organization controls, via ownership or contractual agreement, two or more adjacent stages of production, processing, or marketing of a commodity. For example, the modern, vertically integrated poultry firm consists of breeder flocks, hatcheries, feed milling and delivery, grow out, assembly, processing plants, further processing plants, and delivery to buyers. Ancillary services, such as building and equipment supplies, fuel, and financing, are often affiliated with the operation. See Factory farm and Stable-to-table.

Very large family farm(s): Family farms with sales of $500,000 or more.

Vesicular stomatitis: A viral disease of cattle, swine, sheep, goats, and horses, with symptoms similar to foot-and-mouth disease. Trade in infected animals is restricted.

Vetch: A legume used primarily as a groundcover or as a green manure crop.

Veterinary biologics (biologicals): See Biological products.

Veterinary Services (VS): An Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service unit that protects the health of the nation’s livestock and poultry resources by regulating the entry of imported animals and animal products. VS will take emergency action against foreign animal diseases, and with the states, operate eradication programs for domestic animal diseases. VS provides health certification for exported animals and animal products. VS also conducts diagnostic tests and issues licenses for veterinary biological products and manufacturers.

Veterinary Training Program: The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 10504) gives the USDA discretionary authority to establish a program to maintain a sufficient number of federal and state veterinarians who are well trained in recognition and diagnosis of endemic and exotic animal diseases.

Vigor: (1) See Heterosis. (2) For plants, active, healthy, well-balanced growth. (3) For seeds, the capacity for natural growth and survival.

Vinifera: Grapevine species of European origin. Members of this species are known for their ability to produce the finest grapes for wine. Also Vitis Vinifera.

Virgin timber: Timber from an original forest that has not been previously disturbed or influenced by human activity.

Virologist: One who studies viruses.

Virulence: Capacity of a pathogen or insect to incite a disease or injury to the host.

Virus-Serum-Toxin Act of 1913 (21 U.S.C. §§ 151-159): Signed into law March 4, 1913, and amended by Sec.1768 of the Food Security Act of 1985 and the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act of 1988. The Act prohibits the preparation and sale of worthless or harmful products for domestic animals and establishes licensing and import requirements. See Biological products.

Viticulture: The science and practice of growing grapes.

Vitis Vinifera: See Vinifera.

Vitreous: Translucent.

Voluntary program: A program that allows producers to choose whether to participate without loss of market access. The cornerstone of current federal programs is that they are voluntary.

Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program: A voluntary, cooperative effort among producers, allied industry representatives, accredited veterinarians, state animal health officials, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The program provides participating producers with the opportunity to protect their sheep from scrapie and to enhance the marketability of their animals through certifying their origin in scrapie-free flocks. In addition, APHIS regulations restrict the interstate movement of sheep from scrapie-infected and source flocks.

Volunteer plant(s): (1) A fruit, vegetable, or crop that springs up as a result of an unintentionally included seed or a previous year’s planting. Also Rogue (plants). (2) Use of volunteer pilot slaughtering plants by the Food Safety and Inspection Service to test whether new government slaughter inspection procedures, applied in conjunction with plant Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System controls, can improve food safety and increase consumer protection.

Vomitoxin(s): A toxin produced by mold that grows on poor-quality grain (wheat, corn, or grain by-product). Also Deoxynivalenol or DON. See Fusarium.

VS: Veterinary Services