English for Agriculture and Livestock Farming

For those who like Farming terminology

13 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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Oil from microalgae is likely to be the future of Food Technology

According to experts, these oils are rich in fatty acids, vitamins, essential amino acids or polysaccharides. They can counteract nutritional lack of other foods.
One of the aims of the Food Sector companies is to obtain essential oils that the human body is not capable of producing, such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The intake of these acids has been proved to be of benefit against Alzheimer's disease, for instance.


By the way,
Alga is a singular form. Pronunciation: /ˈalgə/
Algae is a plural form. Both pronunciations are correct in English: /ˈældʒiː/ and /ˈælɡiː/

Have a nice day!

Alonso

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About Alonso Redondo

10 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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A little bit of listening and more

ANSWER 

 

I propose you a little listening exercise:

1. Fill in the blank as you listen to this sentence:

_____________ is material spread over soil. (The mp3 has been adapted / cut   from VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH)

2. Answer key: above

3. More:

The word mulch can be defined as a shelter, as of vegetal or plastic material over the soil to protect plants from soil erosion, water loss etc. 

Some bilingual dictionaries do not give the right translation of the term. (I will omit the wrong Spanish translation).

When it comes to translate so technical terms, I recommend specialized dictionaries, such as this one:

diccionario de ciencias hortícolas 001

ISBN: 84-7114-818-8

By the way, the proper translation of mulch into Spanish is: acolchado (or mulch, I´m sorry, as I see it it´s not worth fighting against Anglicisms) .

Have a nice weekend!

Alonso

 

 

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9 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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Five-legged calf

A five-legged calf was born in Iurreta, Vizcaya, Spain, last April 2, as reported by Efe its owner Jesús Lejarazu. The animal came into the world after a normal calving, weighing some 30 kilos. The calf has five full legs; two front paws and three hind legs.  Besides, a sixth leg looms on its back, though very small and without movement.
Mr. Lejarazu, has explained that the animal will be treated as the rest of his herd and that the extra legs will not be removed, since it doesn't seem to pose the animal a problem. The mother also gave birth to a hornless calf last year.

Polymelia not only occurs in humans, but also in cattle. It is a birth defect:  the affected animal has more than the usual number of limbs.

See you soon ,

Alonso

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8 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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Sow is a polysemic word in our terminology. Too much polysemic…

sow 2 001

Why is it that the same word 'sow' has so different meanings? I`m not capable of seeing the connection between the two meanings. Is there an etymologist out there who´d like to collaborate?

 

  • Sow: the adult female of the pigs.
  • Sow: to seed on land for plant growth; to seed. (Simple Past:  sowed, Past Participle:  sown, sowed).

See you later,

Alonso

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About Alonso Redondo

8 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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Consulting a paper dictionary is not so outdated

cuts of beef 001
Visual or also called pictorial dictionaries may be very useful. Images are quite important when it comes to face very detailed or specialized terminology. As an example, you may watch here cuts of beef, for those who work in Food production. The Visual Dictionary by Jean-Claude Corbeil and Ariane Archambault (English – Spanish – French – German) is a great one. Of course it can be found on the Internet if you want to purchase it. Here, in our Department,  we are glad to let you consult it whenever you want, just email me.

Consulting a paper dictionary is not so outdated, especially if it is a Visual or Pictorial one.

Have a nice day!

Alonso

 

 

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8 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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Did you know a sheep tail is always down?

Sheep and goats are usually put together in the same place when whe talk about dictionaries. Here you may see an example: (Diccionario temático de Agricultura y Ciencias Afines, Mª Jesús Gozalo et al). By the way, Mª Jesús, many thanks for putting me on this road to English for Agriculture. smiley

sheep and goats 001 - copia

However, these animals are quite different in terms of production, behaviour, etc. In this video, you may watch a great professional from the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Drumlin Farm explaining the main differences between sheep and goats.

reasons to raise sheep


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4S2YIkNHqE

Did you know a sheep tail is always down? Goats can carry them down or up.

Take it easy,

Alonso
 

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7 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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I recommend to raise

RAISE

Have you ever recommended a word to someone? This is going to be my first time. The verb 'raise' is a polysemic one; it has multiple meanings. Even inside our terminology it is. That's why it is so recommendable for us: one word; two very common meanings in Farming.

  • You may raise a crop.
  • And you may raise livestock.

Let us contextualize it by exemplifying with real special language taken from research articles:

  • Many conventional farmers raise legume.
  • Raising beef cattle is a very common practice in USA.

By the way, you may also raise farmed fish, such as Tilapia. Of course! It must be so, because farmed fish is considered as livestock too in many places.

At this stage, you should have understood that 'to raise' can be translated into Spanish as 'cultivar' o 'criar' depending on the direct object next to it.

Best regards,

Alonso

 

 

 

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7 abril, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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Rafael Nadal sponsors Spanish food

Spanish farm sector trusts Rafa`s image for sponsoring commodities abroad. The campaign was presented in Madrid under the motto 'Born in Spain, admired in the world'. It is hoped that wine, olive oil, table olives and Iberian pigs find their way in markets from USA, China, Brazil and Australia.

rafael-nadal-288554_640

 

 

 'In Rafa we trade'.

 

Bye,

Alonso

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26 marzo, 2015
por alonso.redondo@upm.es
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Very useful videos!

logoheadn

 

You may know Infoagro as a Spanish site for Agriculture, but for those who are interested in English for Agriculture and Livestock Farming, it is great to be able to consult this web, I do recomend it: http://www.infoagro.com/video/. Here you may find some videos both in English and Spanish, i.e. the same video in both languages… I think it is quite interesting, a useful way to start learning some of this teminology! Click their videos!

This is my first post… of many of them, I hope,

See you soon,

Alonso

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