How much you know about agriculture (or, for you farm types, give this to a non-farm friend)? For each, circle the answer you think comes closest to defining these ag terms. The correct answers are at the end of the quiz.

1. PRRS is:

a – A manual for repairing sensor-controlled farm equipment

b – How your girlfriend/wife reacts to receiving a diamond

c – Viral illness that affects pigs

d – How your tractor engine sounds after a tune-up

2: Wether is:

a – A neutered ram

b – A conjunction (you knew this if you grew up with “Sesame Street”)

c – An old ewe that can’t have any more lambs

d – Ancient English term that means “if”

3: Basis is:

a – The difference between the current local cash price for a commodity and its BOT price

b – A formula for determining which animals to keep in the breeding herd

c – What a baseball player does after hitting a home run

d – The foundation of a farm building under construction

4: Pull a calf:

a – How to get a 4-H calf ready to lead at the county fair

b – Overly stretching your lower leg muscles

c – What your teenager does when you say “No” to borrowing the family car

d – Assisting a cow with parturition

5: Heat houser is:

a – Something sissies attach to their old tractors in Midwestern winters

b – A room in the U.S. Capitol where Democrats and Republicans secretly debate issues

c – An enclosure where swine producers hold gilts that are ready to be bred

d – Affectionate term for an old codger who still farms

6: Rapeseed is:

a – Biblical term for fornication

b – Where canola oil comes from

c – A variety of clover often planted for sheep and goats

d – The tiny seed of an Arabic herb plant

7: Call option is:

a – Gives a farmer more options when to sell grain or livestock

b – A determination by Congress to bring a bill up for a vote or not

c – Gives a buyer control over when to purchase a commodity at a set price

d – The decision a basketball referee makes to signal a foul or not

8: Rhizomes are:

a – The deep taproots sent out by corn plants to find moisture

b – A variety of rye used for making beer

c – How Canada thistles most often spread

d – A beneficial garden fertilizer

9: Agricology is:

a – The movement of water through soil

b – The scientific study of how farmers age

c – Mainly a British term that refers to the science of agriculture

d – What your dog does when it eats too much

10: Gomer bull is:

a – A bull that attracts other male bovines to breed cows

b – A bull used to signal cows in heat but can’t breed them himself

c – Not a bull, but a heifer with male characteristics and behavior

c – An unruly bull that is prone to hurting rival bulls

11: Carryover is:

a – The amount of unsold grain left at the end of a crop year

b – Reporting grain sold the prior year on this year’s taxes

c – A hedge against future grain purchases

d – What a groom does with his bride as they enter their new home for the first time

12: Neonicotinoids are:

a – Electronic cigarettes that substitute water vapor for tobacco smoke

b – A new type of herbicide that has a nicotine-like substance in its formulation

c – People who have recently become addicted to smoking tobacco

d – A class of insecticides that overly stimulate insects’ central nervous systems

13: Calf scours:

a – Thoroughly washing a calf to prepare it for a livestock show

b – Illnesses in young cattle that cause diarrhea

c – What your parents said when you lied about completing the farm chores

d – Abrasions on a cow’s body caused by rubbing

14: Condition Score of 2 is:

a – An animal that is in near perfect health, with 1 being the best

b – Rating by a lender on the likelihood that a loan will be repaid

c – A rating made by a crop inspector on the condition of a field to be harvested

d – A cow that is very emaciated

Scoring: The correct answers are at the very end of this column. Give yourself 5 points for each correct answer you circled.

60 or higher: Congratulations, you know a lot about agriculture!

45-55 points: There’s hope for you to become a knowledgeable farmer.

40 or fewer: Consider going to agriculture school.

See the Glossary of Agricultural and Behavioral Health Terms on the AgriWellness website at www.agriwell ness.org and then click on “Resources” and select the “Glossary.”

Send your questions to Dr. Rosmann by email, at mike@agriwellness.org