Kheti ke shabd

Used in: America, Canada (and older titles in Australia and NZ)

A unit of land area: about 0.405 hectares, or 4,047 square metres. One hectare is about 2.47 acres.

Convert acres and hectares

Used in: Australia, New Zealand

Paying to graze your livestock on someone else's land for a while, usually charged per head per week.

Also called: Custom grazing or pasture lease (America, Canada)

Jaanwar ke seva

Used in: America, Canada

A grazing measure: the forage one mature cow (traditionally about 1,000 lb, with or without a calf) eats in a month. Used to set stocking rates and grazing leases.

Used in: America, Canada, Australia

Growing weaned calves on pasture or forage until they are heavy enough to go to a feedlot or be finished.

Used in: Fiji

The everyday Fijian greeting: hello, welcome, and literally "life". You will hear "Bula vinaka" (a warm hello) and "Ni sa bula" (a more formal greeting) all over Fiji.

Fiji me kheti ke guide

Used in: America, Canada

A grain measure. It is a volume, but grain is traded by a standard weight per bushel that depends on the crop - for example 60 lb for wheat and soybeans, 56 lb for corn.

Used in: Auctions everywhere

A fee, usually a percentage, that the buyer pays the auctioneer on top of the hammer price. Always check the sale terms before you bid.

Auction services

Used in: Australia

How Australian cattle and sheep prices are quoted: cents per kilogram of live weight (lwt), or of carcase weight (cwt) after dressing. Not to be confused with the American cwt (hundredweight).

Also called: $/cwt (America, Canada)

Convert livestock prices

Used in: Fiji

The sugar cane growing areas of western Viti Levu (around Ba, Lautoka, Nadi, Sigatoka and Rakiraki) and around Labasa on Vanua Levu, where most of Fiji's cane farms are.

Western Division

Used in: Fiji

A group of cutters who harvest sugar cane for a set of neighbouring farms during the crushing season, traditionally led by a sirdar who organises the work and the delivery of cane to the mill.

Also called: Harvesting crew

Used in: Australia, NZ (spelled "carcass" in America, Canada)

The weight of an animal after slaughter and dressing (hide, head, feet and organs removed).

Also called: Dressed weight, hot carcass weight

Used in: Australia, New Zealand

An on-farm auction of machinery, tools, equipment and sometimes stock - often when a farm is sold, leased out or someone retires.

Also called: Farm auction or estate sale (America, Canada)

Auction services

Used in: Fiji and the Pacific

The dried meat (kernel) of the coconut, sold to be pressed for coconut oil. Copra is an important source of cash on many of Fiji's outer islands.

Used in: Fiji, Australia

The months when the sugar mills are running and cane is cut and delivered for crushing. In Fiji it usually runs from about May to December.

This season in Fiji

Used in: America, Canada

In America and Canada, 100 lb (about 45.4 kg). US cattle prices are usually quoted in dollars per cwt. The old British hundredweight is 112 lb.

Convert $/cwt to c/kg

Used in: Fiji

Taro: a root crop grown for its starchy corm, a staple food in Fiji and an important export crop. The young leaves are cooked as rourou.

Also called: Taro (most places), kalo (Hawaii)

Used in: Everywhere

The sale of a whole herd or flock, for example when a farmer retires or changes enterprise.

Used in: Everywhere

Carcase weight divided by live weight, times 100. It varies with the animal, how full it was and how it is processed.

Also called: Yield

Used in: Everywhere

What is left of a feed once all the water is taken out. Feed needs and feed tests are usually given in dry matter, so wet feeds like silage go less far per tonne than hay or grain.

Work out a feed budget

Used in: Australia

A way to compare the feed needs of different stock: roughly what one mature, non-breeding sheep needs to keep its weight. Larger or breeding animals count as several DSE.

Also called: Stock unit (New Zealand), animal unit (America, Canada)

Used in: America, Canada

Young cattle sold to be grown out or fattened further, rather than for slaughter straight away.

Also called: Store cattle (Australia, New Zealand)

Jaanwar ke seva

Used in: Everywhere

A yard where cattle (or sheep) are fed a grain-based ration for a set number of days to finish them for market.

Used in: Everywhere

Cattle that have reached market weight and condition and are ready for processing.

Also called: Prime or fat cattle (Australia, New Zealand), fed cattle (America)

Used in: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji

Owning land outright, with no end date - as opposed to leasehold, where you hold the land for a set term.

Also called: Fee simple (America, Canada)

Real estate services

Used in: Auctions everywhere

The winning bid when the auctioneer's hammer falls - before any buyer's premium, GST, VAT or other charges.

Used in: Australia

The machine that cuts, threshes and cleans grain crops in one pass. In America "header" usually means just the front that cuts the crop.

Also called: Combine or combine harvester (America, Canada, New Zealand)

Machinery services

Used in: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji (and alongside acres in Canada)

A metric unit of land area: 10,000 square metres, or about 2.47 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Convert hectares and acres

Used in: Everywhere

A young female bovine that has not yet had a calf (some markets also use it for a cow with her first calf).

Used in: Fiji

Land owned by Fiji's indigenous landowning units. It covers most of Fiji and is generally leased (through the iTaukei Land Trust Board) rather than sold.

Real estate services

Used in: Fiji

A Fijian village. Each koro has a headman (turaga ni koro) who looks after village matters and welcomes visitors.

Visiting a village

Used in: Everywhere

Holding land or a building for a set number of years under a lease, rather than owning it outright.

Used in: Auctions everywhere

One item or group of items sold together at an auction, each with its own lot number.

Used in: Fiji

A traditional earth oven: food wrapped in leaves is cooked on hot stones in a pit, often for celebrations and church or village gatherings.

Also called: Earth oven, umu (Samoa, Tonga), hangi (New Zealand)

Used in: Fiji

A Fijian clan or landowning group within a village. Much iTaukei land is held by mataqali and leased through the iTaukei Land Trust Board.

iTaukei land

Used in: Australia, New Zealand, UK

The energy in a feed that an animal can use, usually given in megajoules per kilogram of dry matter (MJ/kg DM) on a feed test. It is used to compare feeds and to work out how much energy stock are getting.

Also called: Often compared with TDN or NE in America and Canada

Compare feed costs per MJ

Used in: New Zealand

The National Animal Identification and Tracing scheme: cattle and deer are tagged with RFID ear tags and registered, and their movements recorded.

Used in: Australia

The National Livestock Identification System: cattle carry electronic (RFID) ear tags, and sheep and goats are identified too, so animals can be traced from property to property.

Used in: Australia, New Zealand

A fenced area of a farm used for grazing or crops.

Also called: Field or pasture (America, Canada)

Used in: Australia, New Zealand

When a property or item at auction does not reach the seller's reserve price, so it is not sold under the hammer. Talks with the highest bidder often follow.

Also called: No sale / bought in

Auction services

Used in: Everywhere

The splined shaft on a tractor that drives implements like mowers, balers and pumps. Check the PTO speed (540 or 1,000 rpm) matches the implement.

Machinery services

Used in: Auctions everywhere

The lowest price the seller will accept. It is usually kept secret; if bidding does not reach it, the item is passed in.

Used in: Fiji

Young dalo (taro) leaves, cooked - often in coconut cream - as a vegetable dish.

Used in: Fiji

The customary presentation, usually of yaqona (kava) roots, made to the chief or headman when you visit a village or ask for something. Accepting the sevusevu welcomes you into the village.

Visiting a village

Used in: Everywhere

Grass or crops cut green and stored airtight (in pits, bunkers or wrapped bales) so they ferment and keep. Haylage is drier than silage; hay is dried in the paddock before baling.

Used in: Fiji

The leader of a cane cutting gang, who organises the cutters and the harvest timetable for the group's farms.

Used in: Australia, New Zealand

A large pastoral property that runs cattle or sheep, often over thousands of hectares.

Also called: Ranch (America, Canada)

Real estate services

Used in: Everywhere

A male bovine castrated when young, usually raised for beef.

Also called: Bullock (for older steers in Australia, NZ and Britain)

Used in: Everywhere

How many animals a piece of land carries over time - for example DSE per hectare in Australia or AUMs per acre in America.

Used in: Fiji

A wrap-around cloth worn by men and women in Fiji. Wearing one (covering the knees) is a respectful choice when visiting a village.

Also called: Sarong, lavalava (Samoa)

Used in: Fiji and the Pacific

An open, respectful conversation or dialogue, often used for community meetings and for talking through problems together.

Used in: Fiji

Cassava: a hardy root crop grown on farms and in home gardens all over Fiji, eaten boiled, baked or in a lovo.

Also called: Cassava, manioc, yuca

Used in: Australia, New Zealand

The hydraulic arms on the back of a tractor that lift and hold implements. Categories (1 to 4) must match between tractor and implement.

Also called: Three-point hitch (America, Canada)

Used in: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada

A metric tonne is 1,000 kg. A US "short" ton is 2,000 lb (about 907 kg) and a British "long" ton is 2,240 lb (about 1,016 kg).

Also called: Metric ton

Convert tonnes, tons and lb

Used in: Everywhere

The weight in grams of 1,000 seeds. It differs between crops, varieties and seed lots, so it is used to turn a target number of plants into a seeding rate in kg/ha.

Also called: Seed weight, 1,000-kernel weight

Work out a seeding rate

Used in: Fiji

The village headman, chosen by the village to look after its day-to-day affairs. Visitors usually ask for him first.

Used in: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji

A light vehicle with an open tray or tub at the back - the everyday farm vehicle.

Also called: Pickup or pickup truck (America, Canada)

Machinery services

Used in: Fiji

Yam: a traditional root crop with deep cultural importance in Fiji, often presented at ceremonies.

Also called: Yam (Dioscorea)

Used in: Fiji

The land together with its people, customs and traditions. In Fiji the land and the community are seen as one.

Used in: Fiji

Thank you (also "good"). "Vinaka vakalevu" means thank you very much.

Used in: Everywhere

How much spray mix (water plus product) a sprayer puts out per hectare or acre, usually in L/ha or gal/ac. The product label often gives the range to use; calibrating the sprayer checks what it really puts out.

Also called: Carrier volume, spray volume, gallons per acre (America)

Work out a spray tank mix

Used in: Australia, New Zealand

A young animal recently taken off its mother's milk - for cattle usually around 6 to 10 months old.

Also called: Weaned calf or lamb (America, Canada)

Used in: Fiji

Kava: a drink made from the ground root of the kava plant (Piper methysticum), shared at ceremonies and gatherings. Kava is also an important cash crop, for example on Kadavu and Taveuni.

Also called: Kava, grog (Fiji English)

Farming by division

Used in: Everywhere

An animal about one to two years old. In Australian cattle markets yearlings are young cattle sold at lighter weights.