2. Definition
• Agriculture – raising of animals or the
growing of crops to obtain food for primary
consumption by the farm family or for sale
off the farm
3. Some Historical Perspective
• In the beginning, there
were Hunters and
Gatherers
• Not the best system:
– Extensive land use,
but not intensively
– No real permanent
settlements
– Unpredictable and
hard
• This still exists in some
parts of the world
4. Agricultural Revolutions
• First Agricultural Revolution –
allowed humans to become more
sedentary and avail themselves of a
more reliable source of food
–Animal Domestic– process of
taming wild animals for human
benefit
–Focus on Subsistence Agriculture
5. Agricultural Revolutions
• Second Agricultural Revolution
– occurred during Industrial
Revolution – used technology as
a means to increase production
and distribution of products
–Focus shifts to Commercial
Agriculture
6. Agricultural Revolutions
• Third Agricultural Revolution – latter half of
20th cent, corresponded with exponential
population growth occurring around the world
– Sometimes called GREEN REVOLUTION –
involves use of biotechnology (genetic
engineering) – altering genetic material of
plants and animals
– Double cropping – growing two crops per year
to double the harvest
– Triple cropping – allows even more people to
be fed
7. Agricultural Revolutions
• Continentality – area’s temp is
affected by its location relative to
nearest large body of water. This
will affect what can be grown and
how often
8. Variations of Farming
• Subsistence Farming – produce food
they need to survive on a daily basis
• Shifting Cultivation – moving farm fields
after several years in search of more
productive soil after depleting nutrients in
original field
–Slash and Burn agriculture – leaves
barren soil behind and moves on to the
next area and clears it by burning – puts
nitrogen in soil
9. Variations of Farming
• Crop Rotation – planting of different
types of crops each year to replenish
the soil with nutrients used up by
previous crop
• Pastoral Nomadism – moving
animals on a seasonal basis to areas
that have the necessary resources to
meet the needs of the herd
10. Variations on Subsistence
Agriculture
• Extensive Subsistence Agriculture –
includes pastoral nomadism and shifting
cultivation
–Needs a lot of land (extensive)
–criticized for causing soil erosion, water
degradation, and other environmental
problems
– is more productive
11. Variations on Subsistence
Agriculture
• Intensive Subsistence Agriculture –
more intense style of subsistence farming
–more work is needed to obtain the same
level of production
–Usually done in areas that it is harder to
continue to farm
12. Commercial Farming Vocabulary
• Mediterranean Ag – dry summer, cool moist
winter – grapes, dates, olives
• Dairy Farming – highly mechanized, milking
cows
• Specialized Fruit Production – orchards
• Grain Farming – mass planting and harvesting
of grain crops
– The Staple Grains - wheat, barley, millet: A
large % of world population depends on these
for survival
13. Commercial Farming Vocabulary
• Plantation Agriculture – more prevalent
in less developed countries, production of
one crop sold to more developed countries
(produces “Banana Republics”)
Dependency:
• Interaction between Core Countries (or
MDCs) that are dependent on the
periphery for raw materials and the
Periphery that produces those raw
materials
14. Found in More Developed Countries
• Mixed Livestock and Crop
Production –
cows grown for
meat and other
products . Cows
are fed with crops
(corn and
soybeans) grown
on the same farm.
15. Found in More Developed
Countries
• Livestock Ranching –done on the
fringes of productive farmland , so it
requires huge areas of land (like the
Midwest). It involves the feeding of
livestock done by allowing animals to
roam fields without assistance of
farmer.
–“put them out to pasture”
16. Types of Commercial Farming
• Truck Farms – farm where farmers
produce fruits for market
–Farmers will bring in produce to City
Market on the weekends. Sales will
take place there, but the farm is
somewhere else.
• Suitcase Farms – no one resides
there permanently ; mostly staffed by
migrant workers
17. Types of Commercial Farming
• Agribusiness – mass production of
agricultural products
–Examples: Mansanto, Ocean
Spray, John Deere
• Agricultural industrialization –
increased mechanization of the
farming process to increase
productivity and profits (started to
occur during the Industrial Revolution)
18. Von Thünen's
Model of Land Use
• Johann Heinrich von Thünen– Farmers
will chose what crops are grown in direct
relation to how far the farm is from the
market. In order of distance (closest farms
up first):
1. Market-Gardening Activities –
various heavy, bulky products (melons,
veggies) – need to be close to market
because they will spoil and it costs too
much to transport
19. Von Thünen's
Model of Land Use
2. Dairy Farming – produced close to
market, cost of transportation for
cooling
3. Livestock Farming –
1. Fattening adds weight to animals
and farmers do this to increase sale
price,
2. Feedlots specialize in cattle or
hogs—these animals are not put to
pasture
20. Von Thünen's
Model of Land Use
4. Commercial Grain Farming – selling of
wheat, corn, millet, other grains
• Combines – separate seed from shaft of
plant
• Food chain – grain sent to market in
trailers, sold to producer who makes
product (bread), product sold to
wholesaler, sells to grocery store,
individuals can buy it
5. Livestock Ranching – uses most land per
farm of any other zones
21. Von Thünen's
Model of Land Use
6. Nonagricultural Land Use – isn’t
really a zone of agriculture because
distance to market is so far that farmer
cannot productively or profitably sell
his goods
22. Trends in US Agriculture
• Early American Agriculture Practices –
hunting/gathering (Native American
groups)
23. Trends in US Agriculture
• Effect of Early Settlements and Westward Migration
on Agriculture– Colonization from Europeans brought
cattle and the use of seed agriculture
– Metes and Bounds – used in Great Britain and
brought over for the 13 colonies, this is a more
informal way of measuring by using the land’s
physical features to describe who owns what
– Township and Range – terms that began to be used
as westward expansion occurred into the Northwest
Territory
– Sections – Midwest square mile tracts (acres)
– Long Lots – used by French settlers in Louisiana
24. Trends in US Agriculture
• American Agriculture in 20th Cent – based on
ideas of Manifest Destiny (God’s will to move
westward across US). Resulted in:
– Environmental Modification – introduction of
manmade chemicals and practices to an area
– Desertification – overgrazing led to
encroaching deserts within arid regions (the
Southwest and Dust Bowl areas)
25. Trends in US Agriculture
• Future
–Aquaculture – farming of fish for sale
off farm—raised in ponds or pastures
–Creative Destruction – removal of what
nature originally produced in a particular
location to grow what is desired
(Cultural Landscape)
26. World Crop Regions
• US – Corn
–For livestock and human consumption
and ethanol fuel
• South America – Sugar Cane fuel
• Eastern Europe/Russia – Wheat
• Africa – Sorghum or Millet
–Both are high calorie energy sources
• Asia – Rice
