Glossary
Soil and Plant Scientist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential soil and plant scientist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key soil and plant scientist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in soil and plant scientist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Agronomy
- Crop and soil science.
- Cover crop
- Crop to protect soil.
- Crop rotation
- Changing crops each season.
- Extension service
- University outreach to farmers.
- Germination
- Seed sprouting.
- Hybrid
- Crossbred plant.
- NPK
- Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium.
- Organic matter
- Decomposed material in soil.
- pH
- Acidity.
- Scouting
- Checking fields for problems.
- Soil test
- Lab test of nutrients.
- Sustainability
- Long-term resource care.
- Tillage
- Working the soil.
- USDA
- U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- Yield
- Amount harvested.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Soil and Plant Scientist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Soil and Plant Scientist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.