Forage Blower - A machine used to fill a Silo, particularly of the tower type, with finely chopped material for making Silage, by blowing it up a duct, often to a height of 15 m (50ft) into the silo. Some kinds of forage blower also chop the crop, these being called cutter blowers.

Forage Box - A large mobile container, usually with wheels, similar to a Dump Box, used to transport Forage from a Silo to a Manager. The forage is discharged in a steady even flow, usually by a transverse moving floor mechanism or elevator belt, driven by p.t.o. from a tractor. Also sometimes used to transport forage from the field to managers for herds under Zero-Grazing.

Forage Crop - Crops which are grown primarily for livestock feed, to be either harvested for hay, silage or green feed or harvested by grazing animals.

Forage Harvester - A machine which cuts, chops and loads (by chute) green crops (e.g., grass, lucerne, etc.) into an adjacent or towed trailer, for subsequent silage making. Sometimes the crop is precut and allowed to wilt in windrows before being collected by a pick-up reel substituted for the cutter mechanism. There are three main types, viz., Double Chop Harvester, Flail Forage Harvester and Metered Chop Harvesters. They are mainly trailed or semi mounted but self-propelled machines are available.

Foremilk - The first few squirts of milk drawn from a cow's udder by hand into a strip cup before starting milking. This milk has a high bacterial content.

Forest - A large area of uncultivated land covered by trees and underwood. Blocks of woodland in excess of 1000 acres are classed as forest by the forestry commission. The original meaning was unenclosed woodland or open, mainly treeless, areas reserved for hunting, usually belonging to the Crown, e.g, the New Forest.

Foremalin - An aqueous solution of formaldehyde used as a sterilant, mainly of glasshouse and potting soils and implements, and occasionally used as a disinfectant.

Fors - Hairs in fleece, mixed with the wool. The removal of such hairs from wool is called forsing.

Forward - A descriptive term applied to both livestock and crops that are more advanced in their development at a particular time than normal.

Foul Brood - A bacterial disease (Bacillus sp.) of bees which kills the larvae and causes their decomposition.

Foul-in-the-foot - A bacterial infection (usually Actinomyces necrophorus) of the hooves, particularly of the hind feet, of cattle, normally around wounds or cuts. Swelling, heat, pus production and lameness occur. Muddy fields and gateways are particular sources of infection.

Four-tooth Sheep - Sheep of about 18-21 months of age.

Fowl Cholera - A contagious bacterial disease (Pasteurella apisepticus) of poltry characterized by sudden high fever and profuse green diarrhoea.

Fowl Paralysis - Marek's Disease.

Fowl Pest - A term mainly used for Newcastle Disease. Also another name for fowl plague, a similar viral disease of poultry which is rare in the British Isles.

Fowl Pox - A viral disease of fowls causing warts on the comb, wattles and other parts of the head.

Fowl Typhoid - An infectious bacterial disease (Salmonella gallinarum) of poultry, mainly affecting Pullets, causing drowsiness and loss of appetite.

Fox - A carnivorous canine predator (Vulpes vulpes) which is known to take young lambs and poultry and is a vector of rabies.

Foxy Hops - Over-mature dried hops with a reddish-browncolour. The colour may also be caused by disease or decay.

Frame Harrow - A type of harrow with an articulated sectional frame and no wheels, providing flexibility to follow the contours of the land.

Free-grazing - The most common method of grazing stock with few, if any, controls. Stocking rate is usually adjusted to the supply of herbage but over and undergrazing often occurs. Fencing costs are kept to a minimum and intensive stock supervision is avoided. (Grazing systems).

Free-martin - A heifer calf born as a twin with a bull calf, usually sterile.

Free-range - A system of keeping poultry in which the birds are provided with small houses and are allowed to run free over a field or large enclosed area. Each house is usually designed to accommodate 50-150 birds and is raised slightly above the ground. Most poultry are now a days kept under more intensive systems such as battery cages.

Pigs may also be kept under a free range system, with breeding sown provided with cheap mobile housing or arks for protection, and having the run of an area of grass. The majority of pigs are also kept under more intensive systems.

Freshen - A term applied to a cow as it approaches calving.

Friesian - A breed of black and white cattle originating in Holland and

exported across the world, so that some variations now exist. The British Friesian is intermediate between the well-muscled, short legged, dual-purpose Dutch Friesian, and the Holstein Friesein (Holstein) of Canada which produces a high yield of milk and Butterfat. It is characterised by longer legs than the Dutch Friesian, with a deep body, long and wide hindquarters and a large udder. The average annual Milk Yield in 1981/82 (milk yields) was 5885 kg (5703litres) with a 3.83% butterfat content. Red and white types are also known.

Frit Fly - A small shiny black fly (Oscinella frit) that lays its eggs on oat seedlings and tillers, which are then attacked by the larvae. The next generation of files lay eggs in the glumes and the larvae attack the developing grain. Wheat and maize may also suffer from frit fly attack.

Front Loader Arms - Hydraulically operated arms fitted on either side of the front end of a tractor to which various implements may be attached.

Fruit Fly - 1. Small yellow-brown flies (Drosophila sp.) which feed on fruit.
2. Large flies, e.g., celery fly, gall flies, etc., whose larvae feed on fruits.

Fruit Sugar - Fructose.

Full Mouthed - A descriptive term for livestock in which a complete set of permanent teeth have grown, e.g., after 3 years in sheep.

Fumigate - To destroy bacteria, insects and other pests by exposing the place they are infecting e.g., a farmbuilding, to poisonous gas or smoke (Disinfection).

Fungicide - A chemical used to destroy fungi and thus control fungal diseases.

Fungus - One of a large group of plants including moulds, mushrooms and yeasts, characterized by lack of chlorophyll. They are either parasities, many of which cause crop disease (e.g., Potato Blight, Mildew, Ergot, Rust) or Saprophytes which are important in the release of nutrients to the soil from dead plants and animals. They are mainly constructed of thread like hyphae and are classified into three groups, vis., Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes and Phycomycetes.

Furrow - The groove or trench in the soil made by a plough as the mouldboard turns over the soil in a more or less continuous strip (the furrow slice). A completely ploughed field, before other cultivations are undertaken, is said to be 'in the furrow'.

Furrow Opener - Another name for a Coulter.

Furrow Press - A heavy type of multi-ring Roller usually trailed

behind a plough, with wedge shaped rims to some of the wheels (the press wheels) which compress the lower parts of the furrow slices. Sometimes used when preparing light land for wheat following a Ley. Also called press.

Furrow Wheel - A wheel on a trailed plough which runs in the previously turned furrow.

Fym - An abbreviation for Farmyard Manure.