TEXAS NEIGHBORS | FALL 2018 By Julie Tomascik Editor Same words. Different meanings. Agriculture is full of them—those homonyms that can confuse us. Farmers and ranchers seem to speak their own language some-times. Jargon. Technical words. Or just words that mean something different to you. It’s a learning process for sure. We’ve all been there. Endured the vocabulary tests. Learned the definitions of words. It wasn’t the most fun part of school, but essential. Who would’ve thought agriculture went hand-in-hand with English class? Turns out, it does! Test your ag vocab, and see how much you know about these seven words that mean something different on the farm. CAB: What it means to most: The yellow vehicles. The ones Uber is competing with in cities across the country. What it means to a farmer: The por-tion of the tractor where farmers and ranchers ride. It’s not always air-condi-tioned. HYBRID: What it means to most: A tiny, elec-tric-powered car with a gasoline motor. Common in big cities. What it means to a farmer: Seed pro-duced by cross-pollinated crops. And one of the major reasons for a rise in agricultural output. POST: What it means to most: Facebook. Need I say more? What it means to a farmer: The rigid objects holding the fence together. And they come in all shapes, sizes and colors. If they’re painted purple, it means no trespassing. HEADER: What it means to most: Making a shot or pass with your head in soccer/ futbol. Could be a little painful, right? What it means to a farmer: The busi-ness end of a combine. It acts like scis-sors to harvest the crops. ELEVATOR: What it means to most: A compart-ment or platform that raises or lowers people or things to different floors/levels. What it means to a farmer: A building or terminal where grain is elevated and stored or transferred to an alternate mode of transportation. STALK: What it means to most: Social media creeping. Or someone who has an ob-session with you in real life. What it means to a farmer: Trunk or stem of crops like corn or grain sor-ghum. What it means to most: A writing tool. Applies ink to paper. A bit of a foreign concept these days with technology, but still useful! What it means to a farmer: The act of gathering livestock. PEN: WWW.TEXASFARMBUREAU.ORG