| K |
The chemical symbol for potassium.
(From kalium, Latin). |
| Karotyping |
The examination of chromosomes. |
| Kelpie |
Australian
sheep and cattle dog breed. |
| Kemp |
Short,
white, brittle medullated fibres which are shed.
Though generally confined to the head and legs, these fibres occur in
the fleeces of specially carpet breeds and in some crossbred and
down-type sheep, particularly the Cheviot. |
| Keratin |
a. A
tough, insoluble protein substance that is the chief structural
constituent of hair, nails, horns, and hooves.
b. Antibacterial material found in the teat canal.
This is the cow's first natural defence against infection. |
| Keyline farming |
Keyline
farming practices were first developed by Percival Yeomans in the early
1940s. His philosophy was that permanent agriculture must materially
benefit the farmer, the land and the soil. Keyline farming
aims to increase the productivity of the soil to levels greater than
were present before the land was farmed, to the point where the soil
does not need or respond to chemically processed fertiliser. The
emphasis is placed on improving soil and increasing soil organic matter
by deep non-inversion tillage combined with cyclic high-density grazing
or mowing. See http://www.keyline.com.au/ |
| Key
Species |
(a) Forage species of sufficient
abundance and palatability to justify its use as an indicator to the
degree of use of associated species.
(b) Those species which must, because of their importance, be
considered in the management program. |
| Kicker |
Sheep
that struggles and kicks while being shorn |
| Kid |
Young
male or female goat. See Meat
Terminology |
| Kidding |
Process
of producing an offspring (kid) in goats. |
| Killer |
A sheep or calf kept for farm
slaughter for rations. |
| Killing-out
percentage |
Also
known as dressing-out percentage or dressing percentage. This is the
dressed carcass
weight expressed as a percentage of live weight before slaughter. Care
is needed in
definition. The
dressed carcass weight may be the actual weight or weight with some
standard deduction for shrinkage.
The live weight used may be off pasture, or fasted weight at the
freezing works where errors due to fill (gut contents) are reduced. |
| Kilovolt |
1000 volts |
| Kilowatt |
1000 watts |
| Kilowatt Hour |
A unit of energy - the energy
expended in one hour when the power is 1 kilowatt. |
| Kinetic Energy |
The
energy possessed by a body because of its motion, equal to one half the
mass of the body times the square of its speed. Inherent force
in falling raindrops striking the earth. |
| Kinins |
Plant hormones
associated with cell
division. |
| Kraal |
An Afrikaans and South African English word for an
enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African
homestead or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other
fencing, roughly circular in form. |
| Krasnozem |
Crumbly red to red-brown soil,
often acidic. |
| Kriging |
A group of geostatistical techniques to interpolate the
value of a random field (e.g. the elevation of the landscape as a
function of the geographic location) at an unobserved location from
observations of its value at nearby locations. |
