P.L. 566 — Public Law 83-566 (August 4, 1954), Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954. See watershed and flood prevention operations.

PACA — Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.

Packer concentration — The degree to which a few large firms dominate total sales within segments of the meat packing industry, which, some farmers and other critics contend, can cause or at least contribute to lower prices for their animals. Market control by five large packers in the early 1900s led to passage of the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921. Concentration declined after that, but has increased sharply in more recent years. For example, the four largest firms accounted for 80% of the steer and heifer slaughter in 1997, compared with 36% in 1980. Four-firm concentration in hog slaughter increased to 54% in 1997 compared with 34% in 1980, according to USDA. Numerous government-sponsored studies and investigations have been inconclusive on the relationship in recent years between concentration and prices.

Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 — P.L. 67-51 (August 15, 1921) remains, in amended form, the basic authority for USDA to regulate marketing practices in the livestock, poultry, and meat industries. The law was enacted to prevent unfair, deceptive, and monopolistic trade practices, focusing on livestock terminal and auction markets, livestock marketing agencies, dealers, meat packers, and live poultry dealers. The law also includes provisions to ensure that livestock and poultry producers are promptly paid when they sell their animals.

Paid diversion — A program, repealed by the FAIR Act of 1996, under which farmers were paid to voluntarily take acreage out of production. The diverted land was devoted to approved conservation practices. Unlike acreage reduction and set-aside programs, participation in a paid diversion program was not normally a condition of eligibility for other support program benefits.

Paid lunch (or breakfast, supper, or snack) — Refers to a federally reimbursed meal (or snack) bought by a child who does not qualify for a free or reduced price meal. Also often referred to as a "full-price" lunch, or a Section 4 lunch. See free lunch.

Palmer Drought Index — A measure of the severity of prolonged periods (months or years) of abnormal dryness or wetness over large regions, published periodically by the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility. The Palmer Index has long been used by the agriculture community to anticipate the potential effects of weather on crop development and yield.

Parity price — A measurement of the purchasing power of a unit of a particular commodity. Originally, parity was the price per bushel, bale, pound, or hundredweight that would be necessary for a unit of a commodity today to buy the same quantity of other goods (from a standard list) that the commodity could have purchased in the 1910-14 base period. Under permanent law, prices of some commodities would be supported at 50 to 90% of parity through direct government purchases or nonrecourse loans. In 1948, the parity price formula was revised to make parity prices dependent on the relationship of farm and nonfarm prices during the most recent 10-year period for nonbasic commodities. Basic commodities, including wheat, corn, rice, peanuts, and cotton use the higher of the historical or the new formula.

Parity ratio — The ratio of the prices received index, 1910-14=100, to the prices paid index on a 1910-14=100 base (called the parity index). The parity ratio is a measure of relative price relationships. It is not a measure of farm income, of farmers’ total purchasing power, or of farmers’ economic welfare. The well-being of the farm community depends upon a number of factors other than price relationships, such as changes in production efficiency and technology, quantities of farm products sold, and supplementary income (including income from off-farm jobs and federal farm programs). Over time the parity ratio has declined due to greater efficiency gains in agriculture. Compared to a parity ratio of 100 in the 1910-14 time period, the 1998 annual parity ratio was 42.

Particulates — The Environmental Protection Agency has set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulates. One, in effect since 1987, regulates particles smaller than 10 microns in diameter (PM₁₀); the other, promulgated in 1997, would regulate particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM_2.5) — but court challenges are delaying its implementation. These are of interest to agriculture because dust from tillage and smoke from burning field residues may contribute to pollutant levels. Whether controls might be imposed on agricultural activities depends largely on how each state chooses to meet the standards, however.

Partners for Wildlife — A voluntary partnership program administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service to provide financial and technical assistance to private landowners who wish to protect or restore wetlands. This program has been widely used by rural landowners, including farmers.

Partners in Quality — An AMS documented quality assurance system for fresh produce packing houses. Those that incorporate the program’s rigorous quality standards and requirements (monitored by periodic unannounced AMS audits) into their ongoing daily operations may not have to undergo the traditional, more costly, and less flexible end-of-the-line inspection that AMS conducts before awarding a quality grade to the company’s products, according to the agency.

Pastureland — Land used primarily for the production of domesticated forage plants for livestock (in contrast to rangeland, where vegetation is naturally-occurring and is dominated by grasses and perhaps shrubs). Rotation pasture or cropland under winter cover crops is not included in this definition. The 1992 national resources inventory recorded 126 million acres of pastureland, 9% of all nonfederal rural lands.

Pathogen; pathogenic — Pathogens are infectious or toxin forming microorganisms causing disease. A food borne pathogen is a microorganism that causes illness through the ingestion of food.

Payment-in-kind (PIK) — In general, a payment made in the form of CCC-owned commodities (or title to them) in lieu of cash. This form of payment was widely used during the 1980s for paid diversion, deficiency payments, and export subsidy payments as a means of disposing of or avoiding the acquisition of commodity inventories. PIK certificates entitled the holder to a specific quantity of commodities.

Payment limitation — The maximum annual amount of commodity program benefits a person can receive by law. Persons are defined under payment limitation regulations, established by USDA, to be individuals, members of joint operations, or entities such as limited partnerships, corporations, associations, trusts, and estates that are actively engaged in farming. The three entity rule limits the number of farms from which a person can receive program payments. The FAIR Act of 1996 sets payment limits at $40,000 per person per fiscal year on production flexibility contracts (down from $50,000 on target price deficiency payments). The limits of $75,000/person/year with respect to marketing assistance loan gains and loan deficiency payments for crops of contract commodities or oilseeds is maintained.

Payment quantity — The quantity of production eligible for production flexibility contract payments under the FAIR Act of 1996. Payment quantity is calculated as the farm’s program yield (per acre) multiplied by 85% of the farm’s contract acreage (but subject to payment limitations).

Payment rate — Generally, the amount paid per unit of production (i.e., bushel, pound, hundredweight) to each participating farmer for eligible production under commodity income and price support programs.

Payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) — A program administered by the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior to compensate counties for the tax-exempt status of federal lands; the fixed payments per entitlement acre (on most but not all federal lands) are adjusted for low county populations and for other revenue-sharing payments (e.g., Forest Service county payments) in a complicated formula.

Payments to States — See Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program.

P&S — A shorthand reference either to the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, or to the branch of GIPSA that administers the Act.

PBIS — Performance Based Inspection System.

PC — Prior converted wetland.

PCA — Production Credit Association.

PCC — Prior converted cropland.

PDP — Pesticide data program.
 

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Peace clause — Term used to refer to Article 13 of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture which exempts certain policies from challenges in the World Trade Organization so long as countries are meeting their commitments under the agreement.

Peanut poundage quota — A peanut price support program supply control mechanism authorized by the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to regulate the marketing of peanuts consumed domestically for food when production becomes excessive. The FAIR Act of 1996 requires that (for the 1996-2002 crops) the poundage quota be set equal to projected food demand and related uses (but not including seed use). A related provision allocates a separate temporary (annual) quota to all peanut producers, based on the amount of seed peanuts planted on each farm. The national quota is allocated among states based on a historical share, and then divided among farms based on production history. Owners (via inheritance or purchase) of farm quota may sell peanuts produced against their quota, or sell, lease and transfer their quota to other producers. The FAIR Act of 1996 permits the sale, lease, and transfer of a farm quota across county lines up to specified limited percentages of a county’s total of all farm quotas. Quota owners in certain counties, depending on the size of the state or county quota, have unlimited rights to transfer their farm quota within the state. Government entities and out-of-state quota owners cannot hold quotas after the 1997 crop. Peanuts marketed outside the quota limits must be crushed for nonedible uses or exported and are called additional peanuts.

Peanut price support program — The federal program that supports the farm price of peanuts by offering price support loans to peanut growers and by placing limits on the amount of peanuts allowed to be sold for domestic food use. Farmers may sell peanuts produced in excess of marketing limits (referred to as the peanut poundage quota — one example of a marketing quota), primarily for export and crushing into peanut oil and meal. Two nonrecourse loan levels are available to producers, depending on the end use and destination of the peanuts sold. Peanuts marketed for food use in the United States (quota peanuts) are eligible for a higher loan reflecting the historical price premium associated with selling into the high-value domestic market. The FAIR Act of 1996 freezes the quota loan rate for the 1996-2002 crops at $610 per ton. All other peanuts (called additional peanuts) are eligible for a lower level of support ($175/ton for the 1999 crop) to ensure that the Commodity Credit Corporation does not incur any losses on its peanut loan operations. The 1996 Act also requires that the national peanut poundage quota be set at an amount equal to projected "domestic edible" (food) and related uses (excluding seed). For the 1999 crop, the national quota is set at 1.18 million short tons. Other provisions are designed to make the peanut support program operate as a no cost program.

Percolation — The movement of water downward and radially through subsurface soil layers, usually continuing downward to groundwater. The rate at which soils permit percolation is a measure of the vulnerability of groundwaters to contamination by surface waters as well as a determinant in the siting of septic fields.

Performance Based Inspection System (PBIS) — A computer-based system used by USDA’s meat and poultry inspection agency, the Food Safety and Inspection Service. The system organizes inspection requirements, schedules inspection activities, and maintains records of findings for meat and poultry processing operations under federal inspection. PBIS has been at issue because consumer advocates and some inspectors have contended that it is not flexible and "second-guesses" inspectors’ more reliable experience and judgment. USDA views it as an objective tool for inspection that enhances rather than undermines inspectors’ roles.

Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) of 1930 — P.L. 71-325 (June 10, 1930), as amended, regulates the buying and selling of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables to prevent unfair trading practices and to assure that sellers will be paid promptly. Both produce sellers and buyers must pay fees for a license in order to do business, and these license fees are the source of funding for a trust program that resolves disputes and protects sellers from non-payment when buyers become bankrupt. Amendments to the Act in 1995 (P.L. 104-48) include a 3-year phase out of the annual license fees for retailers and grocery wholesaler-dealers to be replaced by one-time fee.

Perishable commodities — Farm goods that prior to processing cannot be stored for a substantial period of time without excessive loss through deterioration or spoilage. Examples of perishable commodities are fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry. Most of the commodities purchased by the Agricultural Marketing Service under Section 32 authority are perishable items.

Permanent law — Legislation that would be in force in the absence of all temporary or short-term laws (e.g., farm bills). The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, the Agricultural Act of 1949, and the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act of 1948 serve as the basic laws authorizing the major commodity programs. Technically, each new farm bill (including the FAIR Act of 1996) amends the permanent law for a specified period. The FAIR Act of 1996 also repealed some provisions of permanent law and suspended other provisions through 2002. Many programs and activities of USDA are authorized by permanent laws that are periodically amended.

Permanent vegetative cover — Trees, or perennial grasses, legumes, or shrubs with an expected life span of at least 5 years. Permanent cover is required on cropland entered into the Conservation Reserve Program.

Permitted acreage — The acreage on which a farm program participant is permitted to grow a program crop after satisfying acreage reduction requirements. For example, when a 10% acreage reduction program is in effect for wheat, a farmer with a 100-acre wheat base may grow wheat on 90 acres, the permitted acres. Limits on production are eliminated by the FAIR Act of 1996 through the year 2002.

Persistent pesticides — Pesticides that do not readily break down in the environment. Becoming long-lived components of the ecosystem, these chemicals may have enduring effects at low concentrations or may bioaccumulate, posing hazards to higher predators.

Person — An entity defined by USDA as being eligible to receive federal farm program benefits, subject to annual payment limitation constraints. A "person" may be an individual farmer, an individual member of a joint operation, a corporation, a joint stock company, an association, a limited partnership, a trust, an estate, or a charitable organization. A husband and wife are considered one person for payment limitation purposes. A joint operation is not a person; neither is a cooperative association of producers that markets commodities for producers.

Personal Responsibility & Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 — P.L. 104-193 (September 22, 1996) was labeled as a major "welfare reform" initiative. In addition to provisions making major changes to federal cash welfare, medicaid, work, and child care development programs, this law revised the food stamp program and several commodity distribution programs (notably the emergency food assistance program and the soup kitchen food bank program).

Pest — An animal or plant that is directly or indirectly detrimental to human interests, causing harm or reducing the quality and value of a harvestable crop or other resource. Weeds, termites, rats, and mildew are examples of pests.

Pest resistance management (PRM) plans — To protect the continued use of biopesticides, the Environmental Protection Agency is requiring companies developing transgenic crops (see genetic engineering) to submit and implement pest resistance management (PRM) plans as a requirement of product registration. If they are exposed to a toxin excessively, most insect populations can develop resistance, making pest control products less effective. With new biopesticide technologies comes the concern that pests will rapidly develop resistance to natural insecticides. A resistance management plan is intended to sustain the useful life of transgenic technology.

Pest scouting — Inspecting a field for pests, including insects, weeds, and pathogens. Pest scouting is a basic component of integrated pest management programs. It is used to determine whether pest populations are at levels that warrant control intervention and also may help to determine the most appropriate method of control.

Pesticide — A substance used to kill, control, repel, or mitigate any pest. Insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, herbicides, and germicides are all pesticides. Environmental Protection Agency regulates pesticides under authority of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). In addition, under FIFRA, a substance used as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant is defined as a pesticide and regulated accordingly. All pesticides must be registered and carry a label approved by EPA.

Pesticide Data Program (PDP) — A program initiated in 1991 by the Agricultural Marketing Service to collect pesticide residue data on selected food commodities, primarily fruits and vegetables. PDP data are used by the Environmental Protection Agency to support its dietary risk assessment process and pesticide registration process, by the Food and Drug Administration to refine sampling for enforcement of tolerances, by the Foreign Agricultural Service, to support export of U.S. commodities in a competitive global market, by the Economic Research Service to evaluate pesticide alternatives, and by the public sector to address food safety issues.

Pesticide Recordkeeping Program (PRP) — Authorized by the FACT Act of 1990, the program requires that private pesticide applicators keep records of the pesticides they use in agricultural production and that the records be surveyed to provide a database on restricted-use pesticides.

PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PFC — Production flexibility contract.

Pfiesteria piscicida — A microbe that has been linked to massive fish kills in Maryland, Delaware and North Carolina. Some scientists believe pfiesteria’s growth is fostered by nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from air pollution, cities, suburbs, sewage plants and farms. Both nitrogen and phosphorus are concentrated in chicken manure, which is spread liberally on farmland as fertilizer in watersheds adjoining the affected rivers. While there is no proven direct connection, the farm community is involved in efforts to identify the causal linkages and remedy the problem.

pH — An expression of the intensity of the basic or acidic condition of a liquid or of soil; the logarithmic scale ranges from 0 to 14, where 0 is the most acid, 7 is neutral, and above 7 is alkaline. Natural waters usually have a pH between 6.5 and 8.5. Plants have differing tolerances for acidity and alkalinity.

Phosphorus — An essential nutrient for plants and animals that is commonly applied to crops as a phosphate fertilizer. Phosphorus can contribute to the eutrophication of lakes and other water bodies. Sources of excess phosphorus include sewage and agricultural runoff.

Phytoremediation — The systematic use of plants to treat environmental contamination. It is being investigated as a potential low-cost technology to help meet environmental regulations. For example, it has been discovered that young seedlings of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) grown in aerated water are very effective at removing toxic metals from water.

Phytosanitary — See sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS).

PIK — Payment-in-kind.

PILT — Payments in lieu of taxes.

PIN — Pesticide information network.

Plant hardiness zones — The USDA has divided North America into 11 hardiness zones based on average annual minimum temperatures. Horticulturalists and nurseries rate plants by their hardiness; the hardiness zone maps can then be used to determine the likely survivability of particular plant species and varieties according to one’s local growing area.

Plant quarantine — A technique for insuring disease (and pest) free plants by isolating them during a period while performing tests for latent diseases. Often used when importing new cultivars.

Plant Quarantine Act — Originally enacted in 1912, this Act gives the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service authority to regulate the importation and interstate movement of nursery stock and other plants that may carry pests and diseases that are harmful to agriculture. This authority is particularly important to the agency’s ability to prevent or limit the spread of harmful invasive species within or to a state or region of the United States.

Plant-pesticide — As proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (November 23, 1994), plant-pesticides are all substances responsible for pest resistance in plants, as well as the genes needed for production of these substances. EPA has further proposed that plant-pesticide traits introduced into plants using recombinant DNA techniques should be registered under legal requirements of FIFRA and FFDCA. Exempt from tolerance requirements would be those defense substances and genes evolved naturally or transferred to the plant by traditional plant breeding methods.

Plant regulator — A chemical that affects the physiological behavior of plants, for example through accelerating or retarding the rate of growth or maturation of produce. Typically the definition of plant regulator excludes nutrients. Plant regulators must be registered as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 — P.L. 91-577 (December 24, 1970) was enacted to provide patent-like protection for new non-hybrid seed varieties. The ultimate goal was to create an incentive for public and private research on new commercial plant varieties by making it possible for scientists to benefit financially from developing them. The Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) Amendments of 1994 ( P.L. 103-349, October 6, 1994) made the law consistent with the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) of March 19, 1991, to which the United States is a signatory. In February 1999, the 1994 PVPA amendments formally were accepted by UPOV as being in conformance with the International Convention. USDA rather than the Patent and Trademark Office administers the law.

PLD — Paid land diversion. See paid diversion.

PMA — Produce Marketing Association.

PMO — Pasturized Milk Ordinance.

Point — A measure of price change equal to 1/100 of one cent in most futures contracts traded in decimal units. In grains, it is one cent; in T-bonds, it is one percent of par.

Point source pollution — Pollutants that are discharged or emitted from discrete "point" sources, such as pipes and smokestacks. Both the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act focus control requirements on point sources and both require permits for major sources of discharges from point sources. While much agricultural pollution is nonpoint source, some agricultural activities are affected: for example, feedlots of over 1000 animal units are considered point sources requiring permits under the Clean Water Act. However, irrigation return flows, although considered point sources, are expressly exempted from the permit requirement.

Pollution — Alteration of the environment, as through the introduction of hazardous or detrimental substances, heat, or noise whose nature, location, or quantity produces adverse health or environmental effects. Under Section 502 of the Clean Water Act, for example, pollution means the man-made or man-induced alteration of the physical, biological, chemical, and radiological integrity of water.

Pork bellies — One of the major cuts of the hog carcass that, when cured, becomes bacon. Futures contracts for pork bellies are traded in the futures market.

Posted county price (PCP) — This price is calculated for wheat and feed grains for each county by the Farm Service Agency. The PCP reflects changes in prices in major terminal grain markets (of which there are 18 in the country), corrected for the cost of transporting grain from the county to the terminal. It is utilized under the marketing loan repayment provisions and loan deficiency payment provisions of the wheat and feed grains commodity programs. Rice and cotton use an adjusted world price as the proxy for local market prices.

Postharvest — Refers to activities in the food and fiber sector that occur after agricultural products are sold from, or leave, the farm or ranch. In total, about 75% of the retail cost of the market basket of foods is added in postharvest activities.

Postmortem inspection — As used in the meat and poultry inspection program, the phrase refers to the inspection that Food Safety Inspection Service inspectors are required to conduct of all animal carcasses immediately after they are killed.

Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957 — P.L. 85-172 (August 28, 1957), as amended by the Wholesome Poultry Products Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-492, August 18, 1968), requires USDA to inspect all "domesticated birds" when slaughtered and processed into products for human consumption. The USDA has defined, by regulation, domesticated birds as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and guineas. The primary goals of the law are to prevent adulterated or misbranded poultry and products from being sold as food, and to ensure that poultry and poultry products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. These requirements also apply to products produced and sold within states as well as to imports, which must be inspected under equivalent foreign standards.

Poundage quota — A quantitative limit on the amount of a commodity that can be marketed (also called a marketing quota) under the provisions of a permanent law. Once a common feature of price support programs, this supply control mechanism now only restricts the production and/or sale of tobacco and peanuts.

Poverty guidelines — These are monthly or annual income amounts that are used to help determine eligibility for a number of federal food assistance and other programs. They are derived from the income poverty thresholds used by the Census Bureau in counting the number of poor persons, differ by household size, are adjusted upward for Alaska and Hawaii, are published by the Department of Health and Human Services early each spring, and are updated annually for overall inflation. For example, 130% of the income poverty guidelines is the limit for food stamp and free school lunch income eligibility. Sometimes referred to as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) poverty guidelines.

Poverty thresholds — For statistical purposes (e.g., counting the poor population), the Census Bureau uses a set of annual income levels — the poverty thresholds — slightly different than the federal poverty guidelines. As with the poverty guidelines, they represent a federal government estimate of the point below which a household of a given size has cash income insufficient to meet minimal food and other basic needs. They were developed in the 1960s, based largely on estimates of the minimal cost of food needs, to measure changes in the poor population. The thresholds form the basis for calculating the poverty guidelines, and, like them differ by household size and are adjusted annually for overall inflation. But, they do not include different levels for Alaska and Hawaii, and include separate levels for small elderly households.
 

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PPB — Parts per billion.

PPI — Prices Paid Index.

PPI — Producer Price Index.

PPIA — Poultry Products Inspection Act.

PPM — Parts per million.

PPT — Parts per trillion.

Prairie potholes — A type of wetland that is at the center of a shallow depression characteristic of glaciated areas in the Upper Midwest (North Dakota especially). Many potholes are wet during only a portion of the year, usually early spring. They provide important nesting habitat for migratory waterfowl, and were designated as a national priority area by the Secretary of Agriculture under the Conservation Reserve Program.

Precision farming — Farmers use global positioning (GPS) technology involving satellites and sensors on the ground and intensive information management tools to understand variations in resource conditions within fields. They use this information to more precisely apply fertilizers and other inputs and to more accurately predict crop yields.

Preferential trade agreements — Agreements among a group of countries to extend special trading advantages, usually tariff rates that are lower than most-favored nation rates. The U.S.’s Caribbean Basin Initiative and the EU’s Lome Convention which provides preferential access for exports of former EU member countries’ colonies in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean are examples of preferential trade agreements.

Preharvest — Refers to activities on the farm or ranch that occur before crop or livestock products are sold. "Preharvest food safety activities," for example, is a term often used to describe USDA’s efforts, through research and cooperative work, to foster changes in on-farm production that can reduce public health risks in live animals before they are sent to slaughter.

Preproduction expenses — Expenses incurred prior to the period when a farm activity begins producing, primarily raising orchard trees or breeding animals.

Prevented planting acreage — Land on which a farmer intended to plant a program crop or insurable crop, but was unable to because of drought, flood, or other natural disaster. Used in the calculation of disaster payments and crop insurance indemnity payments.

PRIA — Public Rangelands Improvement Act.

Price elasticity of demand — The relationship between the change in the price of a commodity and the corresponding change in the quantity that is sold. If a small change in the price is accompanied by a relatively large change in the quantity sold, demand is said to be elastic (responsive to price changes). But if a large change in the price is accompanied by a small change in the quantity sold, demand is said to be inelastic. The demand for many farm products is relatively price inelastic. As a result of low price elasticity of demand, shifts in supply can have large impacts on prices. For example, the presence of surpluses results in disproportionately large price declines, and conversely shortages result in large price increases. For these reasons, agriculture often is described as an inherently unstable industry.

Price index — Current price expressed as a proportion to the same price in an earlier time period, commonly called the base period. Monthly price indexes computed by the National Agricultural Statistics Service are the index of prices received by farmers and the index of prices paid by farmers for commodities and services, interest, taxes, and farm wage rates. The ratio of these two indexes is referred to as the parity ratio.

Price support — Programs operated by USDA that are intended to raise farm prices when supply exceeds demand and prices are unacceptably low. Support usually is achieved through nonrecourse loans, payments, and purchases. Some commodities are designated in the law to receive mandatory support; others may be supported at the discretion of USDA. Over time, policy changes have shifted toward farm income support and away from commodity price support.

Prices paid index — An index that measures changes in the prices paid for goods and services used in crop and livestock production and family living. The production component of the index accounts for over 65% of the total, and family living expenses represented by the CPI-U account for less than 20% of the index. The remaining components are interest charges on farm real estate and non-real estate debt, taxes payable on farm real estate, and wage rates paid to hired farm labor. NASS currently publishes the index on a 1990-92=100 base. Used in calculating the federal grazing fee, among other purposes. The index of prices paid on a 1910-14=100 base is called the parity index and is used in calculating the parity ratio.

Prices received index — An index that measures changes in the prices received for crops and livestock. NASS currently publishes the index on a 1990-92=100 base. A ratio of the prices received index to the prices paid index on the 1990-92 base that is greater than 100% indicates that farm commodity prices have increased at a faster rate than farm input prices. When the ratio is less than 100%, farm input prices are increasing a more rapid pace than farm commodity prices. The prices received index and the prices paid index are used to calculate the parity ratio.

Prime farmland — Land that is best suited to and available for the production of food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops. It can be cropland, pastureland, rangeland, forestland, or other land. It has the soil quality, growing season, and moisture needed to produce high yields of crops each year economically, if managed according to acceptable farm practices. Prime farmland produces the highest yields with minimal expenditure of energy and economic resources and does so with the least damage to the environment. Of the 334 million acres of prime farmland, 216 million are in cropland use, according to the 1992 national resources inventory. See unique farmland.

Prior appropriations — The system of water allocation used primarily in the arid western United States, where water is scarce. Under this system, earlier claims have priority over later claims, and claims are associated with specific volumes of water. Rights to water can be lost if they are not used.

Prior converted wetland — Under the swampbuster program, these are wetlands that were converted to cropland before swampbuster was enacted on December 23, 1985, and meet wetland criteria for saturated soils or water-loving plants. Under swampbuster, there are no restrictions on either drainage maintenance or additional drainage on prior converted wetlands, which are estimated to total more than 50 million acres.

Privacy (information) — The right to control the disclosure of personal information; often referred to as confidentiality, but more accurately might be called data protection. Many landowners, including farmers, have grown concerned that information about the condition of their land could adversely affect market and other values.

Private grazing land lease rate index — See forage value index.

Private voluntary organization (PVO) — A nongovernmental, nonprofit organization that provides economic and social assistance to people in need, often in foreign countries. PVOs play an important role, along with cooperatives, in distributing U.S. food aid and implementing development projects under P.L. 480 Title II.

PRN — Pesticide registration notice.

Producer subsidy equivalent (PSE) — A measure of the value of monetary transfers to agricultural producers resulting from agricultural policies in a given year. It includes both transfers from consumers of agricultural products (through domestic market price supports) and transfers from taxpayers (through budgetary or tax expenditures). See consumer subsidy equivalent (CSE).

Production contract — These contracts specify who supplies the production inputs, the quality and quantity of the commodity to be produced, and the compensation for the producer. Under some livestock production contracts, the farmer is paid to provide housing and care for the animals until they are ready for market, but the contractor actually owns the animals. In 1997, according to the USDA, about 70% of the value of poultry production was under production contracts, 33% of hogs, and 14% of cattle. See marketing contract.

Production Credit Association (PCA) — Farm Credit System institutions that have direct lending authority to make short and intermediate term loans to eligible retail customers.

Production expenses — Measures the aggregate business cost of farming. The two main components are current farm operating expenses and overhead costs. Farm production expenses are accounted for differently in calculating farm income measures. Only production expenses paid in cash are deducted from gross farm income to derive net cash farm income. Gross farm income and net farm income include both cash and noncash production expenses. Non-cash expenses include such overhead costs as charges for depreciation and other capital consumption associated with farm buildings and other structures, motor vehicles, farm machinery and equipment, and expenses associated with farm operator dwellings.

Production flexibility contract — A 7-year contract covering crop years 1996-2002, authorized by the FAIR Act of 1996 between the CCC and farmers, which makes fixed income support payments in place of the previous variable target price deficiency payments. Farmers are given production flexibility and diversification options on their contract acres not previously allowed on base acres. Each farm’s total payment is the payment rate times the payment quantity for participating base acres. In exchange for annual fixed payments, the owner or operator must agree to comply with the applicable conservation plan for the farm, the wetland protection requirements currently in law, and the constraints on growing fruits and vegetables on contract acres. Land enrolled in a contract must be maintained in an agricultural or related activity. The law states that not more than $35.6 billion will be paid over the 7-year period, in declining annual amounts from $5.3 billion in FY1996 to $4.0 billion in FY in 2002. The annual payments are allocated among commodities similar to historical deficiency payments, with 53.6% going to feed grains, 26.3% for wheat, 11.6% for upland cotton, and 8.5% for rice.

Productivity — A measure of technical efficiency, typically expressed as the added output for an additional unit of input or the average output per unit of input, i.e., labor, land, capital productivity.

Program crops — Crops eligible for deficiency payments under commodity program provisions that ended in 1995. These were wheat, feed grains, cotton, and rice. These same crops are now called contract commodities because they are eligible for production flexibility contract payments. Other commodities receiving price support include extra long staple cotton, soybeans and other oilseeds, tobacco, peanuts, sugar, and milk.

Program yield — The farm commodity yield of record, determined, in general, by averaging the yield of a particular commodity for the past 5 years, dropping the high and low years. This yield was used in calculating deficiency payments under prior laws, for example, and for calculating contract payments for production flexibility contracts under the FAIR Act of 1996. Program yields remained frozen at their 1985 levels from that date forward.

Projected yield — The number of bushels (or pounds or hundredweight) per acre that, based on current weather estimates and other factors, USDA analysts estimate farmers will harvest.

Promotion program — Any program by an approved commodity promotion board or marketing order, including paid advertising, to present a favorable image of an agricultural commodity to the public to stimulate sales and improve the competitive position of the commodity in the domestic marketplace. Funds are collected through a mandatory check-off on marketings to finance the promotion activities.

Prorate — A quantity provision in a fruit or vegetable marketing order that is intended to even out weekly shipments (or shipments for some other specified periods of time); it aims to prevent too much of the regulated commodity from entering the commercial market at the same time and thereby depressing prices.

PRV — The pseudorabies virus.

PSA — Packers and Stockyards Act.

PSE — Producer subsidy equivalent.

Pseudorabies — A disease of swine that can cause severe economic losses due to reproductive problems and fatal infection of other domestic livestock. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service began a voluntary, cooperative federal-state-industry pseudorabies eradication program in 1989 with a target completion date at the end of 2000. APHIS accelerated the program in January 1999 as part of a USDA-wide effort to combat historically low market prices for hogs by reducing the size of the U.S. herd. The program includes herd testing and surveillance, and it pays producers a fair market value for their hogs if they decide to euthanize an infected herd.

Public elevators — Grain elevators in which bulk storage of grain is provided for the public for a fee. Grain of the same grade but owned by different persons is usually mixed or commingled as opposed to storing it "identity preserved." Some elevators are approved by exchanges as "regular" for delivery on futures contracts.

Public lands — As defined in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, public lands are any land and interest in land outside of Alaska owned by the United States and administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management. In common usage, public lands may refer to all federal land no matter what agency has responsibility for its management or may refer even to state- and local municipality-owned lands.

Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (PRIA) — P.L. 95-514 (October 25, 1978) defines the current grazing fee formula and establishes rangeland monitoring and inventory procedures for Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service rangelands. The National Grasslands are exempt from PRIA.

Puerto Rico Block Grant — A federal nutrition assistance grant program provided in lieu of the regular food stamp program in Puerto Rico.

Purchase of development rights (PDR) — The acquisition of property development rights through voluntary sale by the landowner to a government agency or land trust. The government agency or land trust acquiring development rights typically restricts future uses of the land to farming or open space.

Purchaser road credits — Credits granted to purchasers of timber in the national forests in exchange for the construction of permanent roads specified in the timber sale contract. The amount of the credits is the Forest Service’s estimate of construction costs, and the credits can be used to pay for timber harvested. Occasionally, when stumpage prices are at or near the base rates, some or all of the credits cannot be used, and are then termed ineffective road credits. The authority to grant credits was terminated in the FY1999 appropriations act (P.L. 105-277, October 21, 1998).

Put option — An option contract to sell a futures contract at an agreed price and time at any time until the expiration of the option. A put option is purchased to protect against a fall in price. The buyer pays a premium to the seller of this option. The buyer has the right to sell the futures contract or enter into a short position in the futures market if the option is exercised. See call option.

PVO — Private voluntary organization.

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