W:

Walking down: The now-prohibited practice of attempting to make grain flow within or out from a grain storage facility. The practice was banned for exposing facility employees to an ever-increasing risk of engulfment as grain is eroded from underneath the surface layer.

WAMLAP: Wool and Mohair Market Loss Assistance Program

WAOB: World Agriculture Outlook Board

Warehouse capacity: The maximum quantity of an agricultural product that a warehouse will accommodate when stored in a manner customary to the warehouse as determined by the Farm Service Agency.

Warehouse inspection: Under the authority of the U.S. Warehouse Act, the Farm Service Agency examines federally licensed warehouses and state-licensed and nonlicensed warehouses storing Commodity Credit Corporation-owned commodities or producer-owned commodities pledged as loan collateral to the CCC to ensure against losses of stored commodities and compliance with CCC storage agreements.

Warehouse operator(s): (1) See Warehouseman; warehousemen. (2) A person who engages in the business of or conducts a sale of tobacco at public auction.

Warehouse receipt(s): A receipt issued by a warehouseman providing evidence of title to stored goods (especially commodities), and thus validating the existence of collateral that may be pledged to secure a loan. Negotiable warehouse receipts are documents of title. A warehouse receipt may be used to transfer ownership of the goods or commodities it represents. Warehouse receipts include the name of the warehouse and where it is located, the date delivery of grain was made, the quality and quantity of the grain delivered, and what storage charges apply. Federally licensed warehouses and many state-licensed warehouses must provide warehouse receipts upon delivery. A warehouse receipt is recognized for delivery purposes by a commodity futures exchange.

Warehouse storage: See Approved warehouse storage.

Warehouse storage charges: See Storage charges; storage costs.

Warehouse(s): Under federal statutes, a building, structure, or other protected enclosure in which agricultural products are stored or handled for interstate or foreign commerce. See Approved warehouse storage, and Public warehouse(s).

Warehouseman; warehousemen: Under federal statutes, a person lawfully engaged in the business of storing or handling agricultural products.

Warehousing activities and practices: Any legal, operational, managerial, or financial duty that a warehouse operator has regarding an agricultural product.

Warm germination test: The testing of seeds under ideal conditions to determine the percentage of seeds that will produce seedlings. The test uses a set number of seeds placed in optimal moisture and heat conditions and measures the resulting seedlings that emerge after seven days. See Seed germination test.

Warm-season grass(es): Grasses that undergo major growth during the spring, summer, or fall, and that are usually dormant in winter. See Cool-season grass(es).

Warrant: An issuer-based product that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (in the case of a call) or to sell (in the case of a put) a commodity at a set price during a specified period.

Wash pen: A corral, pen, or holding area with a solid floor and washing devices for cleaning cows prior to milking or showing.

Waste treatment lagoon: An impoundment made by excavation or earth fill for biological treatment of wastewater.

Waste utilization: The use of agricultural waste or other waste on land in an environmentally acceptable manner while maintaining or improving soil and plant resources.

Wastelage: A fermentation product produced by blending animal waste with a fermentable product and storing to ensile. When properly ensiled, wastelage is free of salmonella-type microorganisms and parasitic nematodes, free of noxious odors, palatable to livestock, and economically competitive as an animal feed. In addition, conversion of animal waste to wastelage eliminates concern of water pollution.

Wastewater: A combination of liquid and water-carried pollutants from homes, businesses, industries, or farms; a mixture of water and dissolved or suspended solids. Typically, wastewater contains 98 to 99 percent water and one to two percent waste.

Wasting asset: (1) An exhaustible natural resource. (2) An asset with an expected useful life of less than 50 years. (3) A long-option position that will decline in value, other things being equal, with the passage of time.

Water 2000: Launched in 1994, this Rural Utilities Service initiative targeted resources to the estimated 2.5 million people who had some of the nation’s most serious drinking water availability, dependability, and quality problems, including one million ruralAmericans who have no access to drinking water in their homes. The program was not retained by the George W. Bush Administration.

Water and Environmental Programs (WEP): Rural Utilities Service program providing loans, grants, and loan guarantees for drinking water, sanitary sewer, solid waste, and storm drainage facilities in rural areas and cities and towns of 10,000 or less. Public bodies, nonprofit organizations, and federally recognized Indian tribes may qualify for assistance. WEP also makes grants to nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance and training to assist rural communities with their water, wastewater, and solid waste problems. See Water and Waste Disposal grant(s), Water and Waste Disposal loan(s) (direct), Water and Waste Disposal loan(s) (guaranteed), and Water and Waste Technical Assistance and Training grant(s).

Water and Sewer grant(s): See Water and Waste Disposal grant(s).

Water and Waste Disposal grant(s): Rural Utilities Service grant funds available to public, quasi-public, and nonprofit associations to reduce water and waste disposal costs to a reasonable level for rural users in the most financially needy communities. Grants may not exceed 75 percent of the eligible development costs of the project. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 6002) provided for grants for capitalizing revolving funds to provide financing for predevelopment costs and small, short-term capital costs, and extended grant authority through FY2007. See Water and Waste Technical Assistance and Training grant(s).

Water and Waste Disposal loan(s) (direct): These loans are available to develop water and waste disposal (including solid waste disposal and storm drainage) systems in rural areas and towns with a population of 10,000 or less. Eligible entities are public groups, Indian tribes, and nonprofit corporations. Applicants must be unable to obtain sufficient credit elsewhere at reasonable rates and terms. Loan repayment terms are for not less than 40 years or the life of the facility, whichever is less.

Water and Waste Disposal loan(s) (guaranteed): Similar to the water and waste disposal direct loans, with the exception that loans involving tax-exempt obligations and loans involving water and waste disposal grants may not be guaranteed. Normally, guarantees will not exceed 80 percent; although in exceptional circumstances, the guarantee can be as high as 90 percent. The interest rate is negotiable between the borrower and the lender.

Water and Waste Facility Grants for Native American Tribes: The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 6010) authorizes $50 million per year in grants and $30 million per year in loans to benefit Indian tribes in constructing water and waste facilities.

Water and Waste Technical Assistance and Training grant(s): Funds are available for private nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance and training on a wide range of issues relating to the delivery of water and waste disposal service to rural residents. Under the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, not less than one percent nor more than three percent of water and waste disposal grant funds appropriated each year shall be available for this program.

Water bank: A mechanism for holding water for eventual use. A water bank may include the use of surface water reservoirs, underground storage facilities, or a combination of these mechanisms.

Water Bank Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-559): An Act that authorized and directed the USDA to formulate and carry out a continuous program to prevent the serious loss of wetlands and to preserve, restore, and improve such lands. See Water Bank Program (WBP).

Water Bank Program (WBP): Operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service under authority of the Water Bank Act of 1970, as amended. The program was available to farmers or ranchers having specified types of wetlands along major migratory waterfowl flyways in designated counties. Farmers and ranchers entered into ten-year agreements in exchange for annual payments. The program was designed to preserve and improve wildlife habitat; preserve and improve wetlands; conserve surface waters; reduce runoff, soil erosion, and stream sedimentation; contribute to flood control, better water quality, and improve subsurface moisture; and accomplish related conservation and environmental objectives. No new funds were provided forFY1997, and participants holding expiring contracts were offered participation in the Wetlands Reserve Program, if qualified.

Water beans: Irrigated soybeans.

Water cover: Flooding of land by water, either to develop or restore shallow water areas for wildlife or wetlands or as a result of a natural disaster. Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 2101), for the Conservation Reserve Program, water cover does not include ponds for the purpose of watering livestock, irrigating crops, or raising fish for commercial purposes.

Water management: The application of practices to obtain added benefits from precipitation, water, or water flow in any of a number of areas such as irrigation, drainage, wildlife and recreation, water supply, watershed management, and water storage in soil for crop production.

Water management (element): For purposes of developing an area plan under the Resource Conservation and Development Program, the conservation, use, and quality of water, including irrigation and rural water supplies; the mitigation of floods and high water tables; the repair and improvement of reservoirs; the improvement of agricultural water management; and the improvement of water quality.

Water of the United States: Under the Clean Water Act of 1972, navigable waters, tributaries to navigable waters, interstate waters, the oceans out to 200 miles, and intrastate waters that are used (a) by interstate travelers for recreation or other purposes, (b) as a source of fish or shellfish sold in interstate commerce, or (c) for industrial purposes by industries engaged in interstate commerce.

Water Quality (program): Smith-Lever 3(d) program that provides information concerning the impacts of agriculture on water quality. Monies are provided for demonstration projects, Hydrologic Unit Area projects, and other initiatives. See Smith-Lever 3(d) (funds).

Water Quality Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-4): Enacted over a Presidential veto on February 4, 1987. The Act further amended the Clean Water Act of 1972 by focusing greater attention on toxic contaminants, nonpoint source pollution, increased state and local responsibility, and changes in aid from grants to revolving loan programs. The Act authorized measures directing states to develop and implement nonpoint source pollution management programs (Section 319). States were encouraged to pursue groundwater protection activities as part of their overall nonpoint source pollution control efforts. Federal financial assistance was authorized to support demonstration projects and actual control activities. See Clean Water Act of 1977.

Water Quality Incentives Program (WQIP): In 1990, the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act set up a new Agricultural Water Quality Protection Program, generally called the Water Quality Incentives Program. WQIP was a voluntary program that aimed to enroll ten million acresof farmland under agricultural water protection plans by the end of 1995. Incentive payments of up to $3,500 per year could be provided to producers to adopt water-quality improvement practices (i.e., efficient use of crop nutrients and pesticides, and insurance of safe storage, mixing, and handling of agricultural chemicals and animal wastes) on cropland acres near wellheads, in areas inhabited by threatened species or endangered species, or where agricultural production posed a threat to underground or surface-water quality. Cost-sharing funds were also available, with priority given to producers who improved wildlife habitat. With passage of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 334), the WQIP was combined into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, along with the Great Plains Conservation Program, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control program, and the Agricultural Conservation Program, to be administered by theNatural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency. See Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Water reclamation: See Reclamation.

Water recycling: See Reclamation, and Tailwater recovery irrigation system.

Water table: The upper limit of the soil or underlying rock material that is wholly saturated with water.

Water weevil: A major insect pest of rice. Water weevil larvae feed on the roots of rice plants.

Water withdrawal: Water removed from the ground or diverted from a surface water source for use.

Water-holding capacity: The ability of a soil and crop system to hold water in the root zone.

Watershed and Flood Prevention (Operations) Program: See P.L. 566, and Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954.

Watershed plans; Plans to coordinate investigation of the physical, environmental, social, and economic conditions specific to a watershed. The plans display the benefits and opportunities for conservation, development, and management of land, water, and related resources.

Watershed protection: A combination of complementary practices of land treatment and structural works to maintain or improve total yield, quality, stability of flow of surface and subsurface water, and to prevent damage and loss due to excessive and uncontrolledrunoff, flooding, salination, and siltation.

Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-566) (16 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1009): Signed into law August 4, 1954, and amended in 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 2002. The Natural Resources Conservation Service administers watershed projects for the USDA under this Act. These projects help urban and rural communities, tribal governments, and other federal agencies protect, improve, and develop the water and land resources of watersheds of up to 250,000 acres. Benefits include reduced erosion, siltation, and flooding; improved water quality; increased water supply; recharge of groundwater reservoirs; and improved fish and wildlife resources. Also P.L. 566.

Watershed Rehabilitation Program: A program authorized by the Grain Standards and Warehouse Improvement Act of 2000 (Sec. 313) to provide cost-sharing for the rehabilitation of aging small watershed structures. Local communities have constructed more than 11,000 small flood control dams in 47 states since 1948, with assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Small watershed projects provide flood control, municipal and irrigation water supply, recreation, erosion control, water quality improvement, wetland development, and wildlife habitat enhancement on more than 130 million acres across the country. Many of these dams are approaching the end of their designed life. Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 2505) both mandatory and discretionary funding for the program was authorized.

Watershed(s): (1) The total land area, regardless of size, above a given point on a waterway that contributes runoff water to the flow at that point. (2) A major subdivision of a drainage basin. The U.S. is generally divided into 18 major drainage areas and 160 principal river drainage basins containing some 12,700 smaller watersheds.

Waterway: A natural or artificially constructed course for the concentrated flow of water.

Waterway(s): A natural or artificially constructed course for the concentrated flow of water.

Wattle(s) (cattle): A type of cattle ownership identification mark. Wattles are used in colder climates where longer winter hair growth makes brand recognition difficult. This form of identification is made by surgically separating both layers of skin from the connective tissue on the neck or the jaw by pinching up a quantity of skin and cutting it. When the cut is healed, a hanging flap is left with an approximate distance of two to four inches. See Freeze brand(ing).

Waxy rice: Also Glutinous rice. See Sweet rice.

Waybill (WB): A document issued by a carrier that contains the same information as a bill of lading, but unlike the latter, does not represent a contract between the shipper and the carrier or a document of the title to the goods. It is generally a document used for tracking items sent for distribution or for transfer between warehouses.

WB: Waybill

WBP: Water Bank Program

Weak hands: When used in connection with delivery of commodities on futures contracts, the party probably does not intend to retain ownership of the commodity; when used in connection with futures positions, positions held by small speculators.

Wean litter (swine): The total number of pigs weaned from a breeding female during one lactation. See Birth litter (swine), and Nurse litter (swine).

Wean(ed)(ing): To move animals to food other than the mother’s milk.

Weaned pig(s): A weaned pig (the separation of a suckling pig from the breeding female) that is removed from the farrowing unit, but that has yet to be placed in a nursery; the principle product of a breeding herd.

Weaner: See Shoat.

Weathering: The physical and chemical breakdown of bedrock and regolith. Water reacts with minerals in soils and rocks, releasing nutrient elements. When nutrients are released, they can be adsorbed by soil, used by plants, or removed in runoff.

Weaving: The process of interlacing two yarns of similar materials so that they cross each other at right angles to produce a woven fabric.

Weed management entity: An entity established for the purpose of controlling or eradicating harmful, invasive weeds and increasing public knowledge and education concerning the need to control or eradicate harmful, invasive weeds.

Weed mapping: A weed management tool requiring the surveying of fields each fall and recording on a field map the weed species and the general population levels present. Species present in the fall will be the predominant problems during the following year, thus allowing producers to better plan herbicide application.

Weed(s): Any plant that is unwanted and grows or spreads aggressively. See Exotic weed(s), Invasive weed(s), and Noxious weed(s).

Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin: A National Agricultural Statistics Service report that contains weekly national agricultural weather summaries including the weather’s effect on crops, and summaries and farm progress for 44 states and the New England area. This report includes any corrections to the Crop Progress data released the previous day. See Crop Production – Annual Summary, and Crop Production – Monthly.

Weight ticket: See Scale ticket.

Weighted average quantity (sugar): The quantity of an allocation of the beet allotment made to a beet sugar processor for the crop year that allotments are in effect. Before adjustments, the processor’s share equals 25 percent of beet sugar produced by the processor in 1998, plus 35 percent of the same in 1999, plus 40 percent of the same in 2000.

Weights, measures, and conversion factors: Standard weights: gallon of milk = 8.6 pounds bushel of Virginia peanuts = 17 pounds bushel of Runners peanuts = 21 pounds bushel of Spanish peanuts = 25 pounds bushel of sunflowerseed = 28 pounds bushel of oats and cottonseed = 32 pounds bushel of malt = 34 pounds bushel of safflowerseed = 40 pounds bushel of rice = 45 pounds bushel of barley (grain) = 48 pounds bushel of rapeseed and canola = 50 pounds bushel of mustard seed = 54 pounds bushel of corn, grain sorghum, flaxseed, or rye = 56 pounds bushel of wheat or soybeans = 60 pounds bale of cotton (net) = 480 pounds bale of cotton (gross) = 500 pounds hogshead of Maryland tobacco = 775 pounds hogshead of Flue-cured tobacco = 950 pounds hogshead of Burley tobacco = 975 pounds hogshead of Air-cured (dark) tobacco = 1,150 pounds hogshead of Fire-cured tobacco = 1,500 pounds As an example, to convert bushels of wheat to metric tons of 2,204 pounds each, divide 2,204 by the above bushel weights. For example, 2,204 ÷ 60 = 36.7 bushels of wheat in one metric ton. Given the number of bushels of wheat, divide this figure by 36.7 to get the number of metric tons. For example, if the U.S. wheat crop is approximately 2.5 billion bushels, this is equivalent to approximately 68 million metric tons (2.5 billion bushels ÷ 36.7 = 68.12 million metric tons). To convert metric tons to bushels, multiply tons by the number of bushels in each ton. For example, if the wheat crop in India is reported to be 50 million metric tons, this is equivalent to approximately 1.835 billion bushels (50 million metric tons x 36.7 = 1.835 billion bushels).

Wellhead protection area (WHPA): The surface and subsurface area surrounding a water well, through which contaminants are reasonably likely to move toward and reach such water well.

Wellhead Protection Program (WHPP): A pollution prevention and management program used to protect underground-based sources of drinking water. The national WHPP was established in 1986 by the Safe Drinking Water Act. The law specified that certain program activities, such as delineation, contaminant source inventory, and source management, be incorporated into state wellhead protection programs, which are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency prior to implementation. While the authorization for the program applies only to states, a number of tribes are implementing the program as well.

Wellhead(s): The physical structure, facility, or device at the land surface from or through which groundwater flows or is pumped from subsurface, water-bearing formations.

WEP: Water and Environmental Programs

WEQ: Wind erosion equation

West Nile virus (WNV): A potentially deadly exotic disease of horses, humans, and wild birds. No cases of WNV infection have ever been found in any commercial poultry in the U.S.

Wet meadows: Wetlands vegetated with grasses, sedges, and showy flowering plants, but with the absence of woody plants. Standing water is present only after heavy rains. Wet meadows serve as buffers between uplands and waterways where their dense vegetation trap sediments and take up nutrients, retain floodwaters, and provide wildlife habitat.

Wet mill(ed)(ing): A milling process for corn in which the kernel is steeped in water, with or without sulfur dioxide, to soften the kernel in order to facilitate the separation of the various component parts. The process begins with shelled yellow dent corn that has been removed from the cob during harvesting. The corn is cleaned and steeped then milled, breaking the germ loose. Mechanical and solvent processes during germ separation extract oil from the germ. The corn leaves the germ separator in a water suspension for further grinding to release starch and gluten from the kernel fiber. The starch and gluten slurry is piped to starch separators. The fiber, steepwater, and germ residue are sold as animal feed. The extracted gluten meal is used as poultry feed and in pet food. Starch is collected and washed to produce a high-quality starch. Starch is either dried and then marketed, modified into specialty starches, or converted into corn syrups and other sweeteners.

Wet solids: Condensed milk, skim milk, or whey, as distinguished from dry solids in the form of nonfat dry milk or dried whey powder.

Wether: A castrated male sheep.

Wetland banking: A term used to describe actions required to be taken on the part of developers to mitigate and replace the loss of wetlands. Through various federal and state regulations governing land use on wetlands, when impacts to wetlands cannot be avoided or minimized wetlands must be replaced. The replacement process allows for the creation or restoration of any number of wetlands to provide replacement credit for future wetlands impacts.

Wetland creation:  wetland that has been created on a site location that historically was not a wetland, or is a wetland but the site will be converted to a wetland with a different hydrology, vegetation type, or function than naturally occurred on the site.

Wetland delineation: The determination of wetland status on both agricultural and nonagricultural lands. For agricultural lands, the Natural Resources Conservation Service is the lead federal agency responsible for determining wetland status under both swampbuster and Section 404. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead federal agency responsible for determining wetland status on nonagricultural lands for those not participating in USDA programs. See Isolated waters, Section 404, and Swampbuster.

Wetland determination: Also Certified wetland determination. See Wetland delineation.

Wetland enhancement: The modification or rehabilitation of an existing or degraded wetland where specific functions or values are modified for the purpose of meeting specific project objectives.

Wetland Enrollment Pilot Program: Also Pilot Program for Enrollment of Wetland and Buffer Acreage in the Conservation Reserve. See Farmable Wetland Pilot Project (FWP).

Wetland mitigation: Those actions taken to avoid, minimize, or deter the need to adversely impact existing wetlands and similar habitats. Wetland mitigation deals in three fundamental areas: (a) avoidance – a comprehensive evaluation to find the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative; (b) minimization – if adverse actions are unavoidable, then steps must be taken to insure that such adverse effects are minimized to every extent possible; and (c) compensatory mitigation – adding new areas to the existing wetland inventory. See Wetland banking, and Mitigation; mitigate.

Wetland restoration: Rehabilitation of a drained or degraded wetland, where the soils, hydrology, vegetative community, and biological habitat are returned to the natural condition to the extent practicable.

Wetland(s): Generally, land that is characterized by an abundance of moisture and that is inundated by surface or groundwater often enough to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. See Hydrophytic vegetation.

Wetland(s) (COE and EPA): The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency have adopted a regulatory definition for administering the Section 404 permit program of the Clean Water Act of 1972. Under these regulations, wetlands are those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Wetland(s) (NRCS): The Natural Resources Conservation Service definition is used for identifying wetlands on agricultural land in assessing producer eligibility for USDA program benefits under the swampbuster provision of the Food Security Act of 1985. As amended in 1990, the Food Security Act states that a wetland, except when considered a converted wetland, is land that (a) has a predominance of hydric soil; (b) is inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions; and (c) under normal circumstances, does support a prevalence of such vegetation. For purposes of the Food Security Act, as amended, and any other act, the term wetland does not include lands in Alaska identified as having high potential for agricultural development which have a predominance of permafrost soils.

Wetland(s) (USFWS): The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service defines wetlands as lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems, where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow water. For purposes of this classification,wetlands must have one or more of the following three attributes: (a) at least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes; (b) the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soils; and (c) the substrate is nonsoil and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some time during the growing season of each year.

Wetland(s) conservation: (1) Wetlands protection. The principle USDA programs for wetland conservation are swampbuster, the Wetlands Reserve Program, and the Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program. (2) The Food Security Act of 1985 swampbuster provision discouraged the alteration of wetlands for agricultural purposes. Producers who drained, dredged, filled, leveled, or otherwise altered wetlands to make possible the production of an agricultural commodity after November 28, 1990, or who planted an agricultural commodity on a wetland that was converted after December 23, 1985, lost eligibility for most USDA program benefits. The provisions were further amended by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 and theFederal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 2002) reauthorized the provision and amended the program to prohibit the USDA from delegating the ability to make compliance determinations to any person or entity.

Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP): Authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 (Sec. 1237), as amended by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 333) and the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 2201). A program to take wetlands out of production for a period of 30 years or more. Priority is given to enrolling wetlands that enhance wildlife habitat. The USDA purchases easements from willing owners of land that can be restored to a wetland. The USDA also provides cost-share assistance to restore these wetlands. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, determines land eligibility and prepares a Wetland Reserve Plan of Operation that will restore and protect the wetlands. Producers enrolling in the program must agree to implement an approved wetlands restoration and protection plan, and grant either a permanent easement or a 30-year easement, or enter into a restoration cost-share agreement. In return, participating producers will receive payments over a 5- to 30-year period. The USDA has an enrollment cap of 2,275,000 acres of which, to the maximum extent practicable, the USDA will enroll 250,000 acres in each calendar year. The USDA is no longer instructed to make equal use of permanent easements, 30-year easements, and restoration cost-share agreements. The WRP is part of the new Comprehensive Conservation Enhancement Program that replaced the Environmental Conservation Acreage Reserve Program. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 reauthorized the WRP as a mandatory program under the Commodity Credit Corporation (subject to available appropriations) through FY2007.

Wettable powders (WP): Concentrated dusts impregnated with an insecticide concentrate. While the water from a WP mixture will penetrate porous materials, the powder usually does not. Most of the insecticide is left on the surface where it can be picked up by a passing insect.

WH & B: Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act

Wheat and Feed Grain Export Certificate Programs: Two discretionary programs for the 1986-90 crop years designed to encourage exports of wheat and feed grains from private stocks. Under the Cash Export Certificate Program and the Export Marketing Certificate Program, the USDA could have issued wheat and feed grain export certificates to all eligible producers. The programs were not implemented.

Wheat classes: The eight classes of wheat are durum wheat, hard red spring wheat, hard red winter wheat, soft red winter wheat, hard white wheat, soft white wheat, unclassed wheat, and mixed wheat.

Wheat germ: The seed embryo of wheat. Oil can be extracted from whole or rolled wheat germ by use of solvents. Flaked or ground wheat germ is used in baking goods, dietetic preparations, feed supplements, and pharmaceutical preparations.

Wheat middlings: Fine particles of wheat bran, shorts, germ, and flour recovered from milling wheat grain.

Wheeling: One utility transmitting electric power over its lines on behalf of a second utility. Wholesale wheeling is used to indicate bulk transactions in the wholesale market, whereas retail wheeling allows power producers direct access to retail customers. This term is often used colloquially to mean transmission.

Whey: (1) The water and solids of milk that remain in cheese-making after the curd is removed. It contains about 93.3 percent water; 6.5 percent lactose, protein, minerals, enzymes, and water-soluble vitamins; and 0.2 percent fat. There are two general types of whey: acid and sweet. Acid whey is produced from cheeses such as cottage and cream. Sweet whey is from cheeses such as cheddar and mozzarella. (2) A classification of cheeses such as ricotta made predominantly from the whey. See Dry whey.

Whey protein concentrate (WPC): A product resulting from the ultra-filtration of raw liquid whey and the subsequent evaporation and spray drying to a powder. The protein content typically ranges from 34 percent to less than 90 percent. When the protein concentration exceeds 90 percent, the product is known as a whey protein isolate (WPI). Whey protein concentrate is a source of milk protein in feeds, milk replacers, and pet foods and can be used as an alternative to nonfat dried milk.

Whey protein isolate: See Whey protein concentrate (WPC).

Whey protein(s): One of two major groups of protein present in milk.

WHIP: Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

White corn: Corn that is white-kerneled and contains not more than two percent of corn of other colors. White kernels of corn with a slight tinge of light straw or pink color are considered white corn. See Corn classes.

White meat(s): Generally, poultry and seafood. These meats are much paler in color than red meats. However, pork and veal are more white than red, and often are classified as white meats. See Red meat(s).

White wheat: Triticum aestivum, a common wheat, or Triticum compactum, a club wheat; fall or spring seeded, soft or hard, low-protein wheat used principally for pastry flours and shredded and puffed breakfast foods. It accounts for most of the U.S. club wheat acreage.

Whiteflies: Small, winged insects that feed exclusively on leaves, and are especially destructive to cotton, citrus, and greenhouse plants.

Whole eggs: Eggs that contain both the yolk (yellow portion) and albumen (white or clear portion).

Whole farm unit(s): For crop insurance purposes, the unit must be composed of two or more crops planted in the county. All crops must be included and no one crop can constitute more than 75 percent of the total liability in the whole farm unit. All crops in the unit must be insured under the same plan or insurance and with the same insurance provider. See Basic unit(s), Enterprise unit(s), Insurance unit(s), Optional unit(s), and Whole-farm insurance.

Whole kernel: Grain with one-quarter or less of the kernel removed.

Whole-farm insurance: An approach to insurance in which the guarantee would be based on the revenue from the producer’s entire operation or a subset of designated commodities so as to provide a more comprehensive approach to managing whole-farm risk than the current crop-by-crop approach. See Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).

Whole-farm planning: A conservation, family-oriented approach to farm management with the goal of allowing producers to manage biologically complex farming systems in a profitable manner. Using management system theories used by other businesses, it encourages producers to set explicit goals for their operation; carefully examine and assess all the resources (cultural, financial, and natural) available for meeting their goals; develop short- and long-term plans to meet their goals; make decisions on a daily basis that support their goals; and monitor their progress toward meeting goals.

Whole-Herd Buyout Program: See Milk Production Termination Program.

Whole-tree harvesting: A harvesting method in which the whole tree above the stump is removed.

Wholesale cuts: See Primal cuts.

Wholesale price index: The measure of average changes in prices of commodities sold in primary U.S. markets. “Wholesale” refers to sales in large quantities by producers, not to prices received by wholesalers, jobbers, or distributors. In agriculture, it is the average price received by producers for their farm commodities at the first point of sale after the commodity leaves the farm.

Wholesome Meat Act of 1967 (P.L. 90-201) (21 U.S.C. §§ 601 et seq.): Signed into law December 15, 1967. The Act amended the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 by requiring inspection, by either the states or the federal government, of slaughter plants operating in intrastate commerce. See Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, and Processed Products Inspection Improvement Act of 1986.

WHPA: Wellhead protection area

WHPP:” Wellhead Protection Program

WIC: Women, Infants, and Children program

WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program: See Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

WIC Program: See Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.

Wide-spectrum: In terms of pesticides, products lethal to a wide variety of plants, insects, or other targeted pests.

WIFE: Women Involved in Farm Economics

Wild crop: Any plant or portion of a plant that is collected or harvested from a site that is not maintained under cultivation or other agricultural management.

Wild fish: Naturally-born or hatchery-raised fish and shellfish harvested in the wild, including fillets, steaks, nuggets, and any other flesh from a wild fish or shellfish, but not including netpen or other farm-raised fish.

Wild fish: Naturally born or hatchery-raised fish and shellfish harvested in the wild.

Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act (WH&B) (P.L. 92-195): Signed into law December 15, 1971. The Act requires the protection, management, and control of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on public lands at population levels that assure a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship. Bureau of Land Management management of wild horses and burros is conducted at the minimum feasible level to treat the animals as a wild species and not as livestock. Management focuses on monitoring, removal of excess animals, preparing animals for adoption, adoption, and compliance.

Wild rice: The grain of an aquatic grass native to North America; not a true rice. It is dark brown and has a nutty flavor.

Wildcat acres: See Non-program acres.

Wildland: Non-urban lands having natural cover not intensively managed and manipulated.

Wildland-urban interface: The geographic area where urban structures, primarily dwelling places, are built in the immediate proximity to naturally occurring flammable fuels, thus enhancing the risk associated with wildfires and forest fires.

Wildlife corridors: Habitat linkages that connect suitable wildlife habitat areas in a region otherwise fragmented by rugged terrain, changes in vegetation, or human disturbance so as to provide access to mates, food, and water; allow the dispersal of individuals away from high population density areas; and facilitate the exchange of genetic traits between populations.

Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP): Established under the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Sec. 387) and amended by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Sec. 2502). The USDA cost-sharing program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service to encourage the development of habitat for upland and wetland wildlife, threatened species and endangered species, fish, and other types of wildlife. WHIP is a voluntary, two-year program with the USDA providing cost-share assistance totaling 75 percent of the contract cost. Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, the USDA may use up to 15 percent of WHIP funds in any fiscal year to augment the regular cost-share funds on lands enrolled for at least 15 years.

Wildlife Services (WS): The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service unit, formerly known as Animal Damage Control, that reduces wildlife damage due to agriculture, aquaculture, and natural resources; minimizes potential wildlife threats to human health and safety; and protects threatened species and endangered species. WS cooperates with foreign governments, international organizations, and other government and private organizations with respect to animal, reptile, and bird damage, and nuisancecontrol.

William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998 (P.L.105-336): Signed into law October 31, 1998. The Act made changes to all the child nutrition programs, made a number of improvements to the Commodity Distribution Program, and reauthorized the program through September 30, 2003.

Winchester bushel: A cylinder with a diameter of 18.5 inches and a height of eight inches. The official unit of the U.S. defined as 2150.42 cubic inches or 77.62701 pounds of water. Also Level bushel, or Struck bushel.

Wind erosion: See Erosion.

Wind erosion equation (WEQ): An equation used to predict wind erosion, based on climate, soil erodibility, unsheltered field distance, and vegetative cover.

Windbreak(s): See Farmstead windbreak, Field windbreak, and Livestock windbreak.

Windrow: Harvested grain pulled together into rows and left to dry.

Winnow(ing): Generally, the removal of grain chaff by blowing it with air.

Winter Doctrine: See Federal reserved water.

Winter wheat: Wheat that is sown in the fall, lies dormant in the winter, and is harvested the following spring or summer.

Wireworms: Insect larvae of small- to medium-sized beetles. The larvae feed primarily on germinating seeds and roots.

Withholding times: The amount of time (hours, days, or number of milkings) before milk or meat may be sold from an animal treated with drugs.

WNV: West Nile virus

Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE): Organized in 1976 as a grass-roots organization representing professional women in agriculture. Its mission is to promote economic prosperity in agriculture.

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program: First created in 1972 under the authority of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and currently operating under the authority of the Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act of 1994. A program designed to improve the health of nutritionally at-risk, low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women; infants; and children up to their fifth birthday. WIC combines direct commodity distributions with nutrition education and referrals to health services. Participants must meet income, residency, and risk assessment eligibility requirements. Local WIC agencies provide participants with either vouchers redeemable for specified foods at participating retail food stores or for a food package prepared according to federal guidelines. Also Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Wood pulp: Fiber from wood with varying degrees of purification that is used for the production of paper, paper board, and chemical products.

Wood residue(s): Sawdust, chips, bark, and shavings.

Woodland(s): Includes natural or planted woodlots or timber tract, cutover and deforested land with young growth that have or will have value for wood products, land planted for Christmas tree production, and pastured woodland.

Woody; woody plant(s); woody crop(s): Plants with stems and limbs containing lignin, the chief noncarbohydrate constituent of wood, and a polymer that functions as a natural binder and support for the cellulose fibers.

Wool Act: See National Wool Act of 1954.

Wool and Mohair Market Loss Assistance Program (WAMLAP and WAMLAP II): Section 204(d) of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 provided for payments to domestic wool and mohair producers who produced and sheared wool or mohair from January 1, 1999, through December 31, 1999. The program was extended to producers who suffered economic loss due to low prices in the 2000 marketing year.

Wool grease: A natural oil covering the wool fibers sheared off sheep; when purified the resulting lanolin is mixed into cosmetics.

Wool production sequence: See Production sequence (wool).

Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 (P.L. 76-850) (15 U.S.C. §§ 68 et seq.): Signed into law October 14, 1940. The Act, as amended, requires that all wool products bear a label indicating the percentage of the total wool fiber weight of the wool product, recycled wool, each fiber other than wool, and the aggregate of all other fibers of the product. Also, the label must identify the manufacturer and include the country where the wool product was processed or manufactured.

Wool top; A strand of longer wool fibers that have been straightened, made parallel, and separated from the shorter fibers by combing.

Wool(s): Traditionally, the fibers covering the skin of a sheep. According to the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939, the term includes the fleece of a sheep, angora goat, undercoat of a cashmere goat, and specialty fibers of alpaca, llama, vicuna, and guanaco. The undercoat of mammals other than the sheep, goat, or camel families are referred to as fur.

Woolen spinning system: A system in which fiber is carded two or three times but not combed, and goes directly from cards to the spinning process. Generally, wool used for this system is shorter with better felting qualities. With this system it is possible to use wools of different types, lengths, and character together in blends. See Worsted spinning system.

Worker protection standards (WPD): Environmental Protection Agency standards for agricultural employers requiring them to maintain daily records of all chemicals applied to farm fields, including brand name and active ingredients and the method and rate of application. The employer must provide training and protective clothing for workers if they apply farm chemicals. The worker must also know what to do in an emergency, and the name, telephone number, and address of the nearest emergency medical facility. Workers must be restricted from entering treated farm fields for a prescribed period of time, and treated fields must be posted.

Working Capital Fund: An account under Title I, Agricultural Programs, of agricultural appropriations. It was created for certain central services in the USDA including duplicating and other visual information services; art and graphics; video services; supply; the centralized accounting system; the centralized automated data processing system for payroll, personnel, and related services; voucher payments services; data processing; and telecommunications systems.

Working land conservation programs: Conservation programs under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 that support the adoption and maintenance of structural practices and land management practices on agricultural land including cropland, grazing land, and in some cases, forest land. Such programs include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Security Program, and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.

World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB): A USDA agency created in 1977 to provide timely and improved forecasts of domestic and international agricultural production and trade. The agency oversees commodity estimates committees made up of members from different USDA agencies who reconcile estimates and arrive at the official USDA outlook for crop and livestock production, demand, prices, and stocks.

World Bank: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, commonly referred to as the World Bank, is an intergovernmental financial institution located in Washington, D.C. Its objectives are to help raise productivity and incomes and reduce poverty in developing countries. Established in 1945, it loans financial resources to credit-worthy developing countries. It raises most of its funds by selling bonds in the world’s major capital markets. The World Bank earns a profit that is plowed back into its capital.

World Food Programme (WFP): Since 1963, the UN agency operating in 82 countries and specializing in food assistance and logistics for emergencies and the feeding of refugees and internally displaced persons.

World market price: See Adjusted world price (AWP), and Prevailing world market price.

World price(s): (1) See Adjusted world price (AWP), and Prevailing world market price. (2) The Free on Board (F.O.B.) price of an exported agricultural commodity, with specific characteristics, at the principal port of deportation of a major exporting country or area. See Border price.

World Trade Organization (WTO): Established January 1, 1995, as a result of the Uruguay Round. The legal and institutional foundation of the worldwide multilateral trading system. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and provides the contractual obligations that guide how governments implement trade policy. The WTO provides the framework in which trade relations are negotiated and disputes adjudicated. The WTO differs from GATT in that it is a permanent commitment among its signatories, with rules that apply to trade in services and intellectual property as well as goods. An amended version of GATT is an integral part of the WTO Agreement.

World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement: See World Trade Organization (WTO).

Worldwide Farmer-to-Farmer Initiative (WW-FTF): See John Ogonowski Farmer-to-Farmer Program (FTF).

Worsted spinning system: A system of yarn production designed for medium or longer wools and other fibers. The suitable fiber lengths vary from 2.5 to 7 inches. The process includes opening, blending, cleaning, and carding, followed by combing, drawing, and spinning. These yarns are compact, smooth, and more even and stronger than similar yarns spun using the woolen spinning system.

WP: Wettable powders

WPC: Whey protein concentrate

WPD: Worker protection standards

WQIP: Water Quality Incentives Program

Write-down; writedown: See Debt write-down.

Writer: One who sells an option. A writer obligates himself to deliver the underlying futures position to the option purchaser should he decide to exercise his right to the underlying futures contract position. Option writers are subject to margin calls, because they may have to produce the long or short futures position. A call writer must supply a long futures position upon exercise, and thus receive a short futures position. A put writer must supply a short futures position upon exercise, and thus receive a long futures position.

WRP: Wetlands Reserve Program

WS: Wildlife Services

WTO: See World Trade Organization (WTO).

WW-FTF: Worldwide Farmer-to-Farmer Initiative