Acronyms Flashcards
ACEP (NRCS)
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) protects the agricultural viability and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses which negatively affect agricultural uses and conservation values, protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible grazing land, and protecting and restoring and enhancing wetlands on eligible land.
AFO
Animal Feeding Operations
AWEP
Agricultural Water Enhancement Program - The Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) under USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is a voluntary conservation initiative that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to implement agricultural water enhancement activities on agricultural land to conserve surface and ground water and improve water quality. As part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), AWEP operates through program contracts with producers to plan and implement conservation practices in project areas established through partnership agreements.
CAFO
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation - An animal feeding operation (AFO) is a facility where animals are confined or stabled and fed for 45 days or more in a 12-month period and crops, forage or other vegetative ground cover is not sustained over at least 50% of the confinement area. A concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) is an AFO that confines more than 1,000 animal units. Animal units are based on the weight of the animal.
1,000 animal unit equals:
1,000 beef cows
700 dairy cows
2,500 swine (pigs)
100,000 chicken boilers
EQIP
Environmental Quality Incentive Program - EQIP provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers and forest landowners to address natural resource concerns, such as:
Improved water and air quality;
Conserved ground and surface water;
Increased soil health ;
Reduced soil erosion and sedimentation;
Improved or created wildlife habitat; and
Mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility.
How It Works
NRCS works one-on-one with producers to develop a conservation plan that outlines conservation practices and activities to help solve on-farm resource issues. Producers implement practices and activities in their conservation plan that can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving their agricultural operations. EQIP helps producers make conservation work for them. Financial assistance for practices may be available through EQIP. Some producers may also qualify for advance payment.
E-FOTG
Electronic Field Office Technical Guide - Technical guides are the primary scientific references for NRCS. They contain technical information about the conservation of soil, water, air, and related plant and animal resources.
Technical guides used in each field office are localized so that they apply specifically to the geographic area for which they are prepared. These documents are referred to as Field Office Technical Guides (FOTGs).
FAPRI
Food and agriculture policy research institute (at UM-C) - The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri (FAPRI-MU) provides objective analysis of markets and policies.
FOIA
Freedom of Information Act (allows for a request for release of information) - The basic function of the Freedom of Information Act is to ensure informed citizens, vital to the functioning of a democratic society.
FOSA
NRCS Field Office Service Area
HUC
Hydrologic Unit Code- Have you ever listened to a presentation where the speaker displays a watershed boundary map and mentions that it is an 8-digit HUC or 12-digit HUC map? Ever wonder what they were talking about?
HUC is the acronym for Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC). It is a hierarchical land area classification system created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that is based on surface hydrologic features in a standard, uniform geographical framework. As first implemented, the United States was divided and sub-divided into successively smaller hydrologic units consisting of 4 levels: regions, subregions, accounting units and cataloging units; with each unit identified by a unique numeric hydrologic unit code consisting of two-to-eight digits based on the level of classification (Seaber et al. 1987). Each hydrologic boundary is determined from topography and represents a drainage divide between the various levels of units.
MOCREP
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program in Missouri
MOPERM
Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund (liability insurance) During the early 1980’s, public entities throughout Missouri experienced large liability premium increases. Some were unable to obtain any liability insurance or were offered extremely limited coverage. In response to the liability insurance crisis, public entity lobbying groups, such as the Missouri Municipal League and Missouri Association of Counties, supported creation of the Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund by the Missouri General Assembly.
In 2001 and 2002, commercial property carriers dealt with poor investment returns and catastrophic natural disaster losses by raising property pricing and severely limiting coverage for public entities. MOPERM was in a unique position to provide an affordable property alternative. In April 2003, coverages offered by MOPERM were expanded to include Real and Business Personal Property, Equipment Breakdown and Crime.
MoSWIMS
Missouri Soil and Water Information Management System
NAIP
National Agriculture Imagery Program - The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) GeoHub site provides a place for users to search, discover, and visualize NAIP imagery.
The NAIP imagery program acquires aerial imagery during the agricultural growing seasons in the United States. A primary goal of the NAIP program is to make digital ortho photography available to governmental agencies and the public within a year of acquisition.
NAIP is administered through the USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation Business Center (FPAC-BC) Geospatial Enterprise Operations (GEO) Branch. This “leaf-on” imagery is used as a base layer for GIS programs in the Farm Service Agency’s County Service Centers, and is used to maintain the Common Land Unit (CLU) boundaries.
RUSLE
Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation - RUSLE estimates the annual soil loss that is due to erosion through a factor-based approach using as input variables: rainfall (R), soil erodibility (K), length slope (LS), cover management (C), and conservation practices (P).
