Yield monitoring — Collecting data on the amount of production at regular intervals combined with GPS readings. The resulting yield map is basic to decisions about fertilization, pest control, and other adjustments in a system of precision farming.
Zero, 50/85-92 provisions — Refers to the 50/85 and 50/92 commodity program provisions for rice and cotton and the 0/85 and 0/92 commodity program provisions for wheat and feed grains that were in effect in various forms from 1986 through 1995. Under these provisions farmers could idle all or part of their permitted acreage, putting the land in a conserving use, and receive deficiency payments as if up to 92% of the permitted acreage had been planted. A minimum planting requirement of 50% of maximum payment acreage applied for rice and cotton. Under the FAIR Act of 1996, producers have no planting requirements but must observe appropriate conservation practices if the land remains idle.
Zero tolerance — In food safety policy, a "zero tolerance" standard generally means that if a potentially dangerous substance (whether microbiological, chemical, or other) is present in or on a product, that product will be considered adulterated and unfit for human consumption. In the meat and poultry inspection program, "zero tolerance" usually refers to USDA’s rule that permits no visible signs of fecal contamination (feces) on meat and poultry carcasses. See wash versus trim.
Zoonotic diseases — Diseases that under natural conditions are communicable from animals to humans. Tuberculosis and rabies are examples of zoonotic diseases. Brucellosis in livestock becomes undulant fever in humans.