Organic Farming
Glossary
B
BANDING - The application of fertilizer in a concentrated linear zone in the soil - commonly alongside the rows of crops and under the soil surface. Contrast with Broadcasting, which is wide-zone application of fertilizer.
BASE - Something that will neutralize an acid, such as hydroxide or limestone.
BEDDING - Straw, woodchips, sawdust, paper, or other carbonaceous organic matter added to barn floors to absorb liquids from animal excrement and urine. Bedding increases the carbon:nitrogen ratio of farm manures.
BIODEGRADABLE - Subject to biological decomposition into simpler biochemical or chemical components.
BIOSTRIPS - Permanent sod strips, usually of high botanical diversity, maintained to provide food and habitat for beneficial organisms and disrupt dispersal of pests.
BIOFUELS - Fuels produced from recently produced biomass. Examples include fuel-grade ethanol, butanol, and biodiesel.
BUFFER ZONE - An area located between a certified production operation or portion of a production operation and an adjacent land area that is not maintained under organic management. A buffer zone must be sufficient in size or other features (e.g., windbreaks or a diversion ditch) to prevent the possibility of unintended contact by prohibited substances applied to adjacent land areas with an area that is part of a certified operation.
BULK DENSITY - The mass of dry soil divided by the bulk volume. Bulk density is not an absolute indicator of compaction because root limiting density varies with texture. Root extension is generally limited by bulk densities >1. 6 g/cm in silt loam soils; 1.6 g/cm is unlikely to be limiting in sandy soils and is severely limiting in clayey soils.
