1. Von Thunen’s Theories of Land
Use and Agricultural
Organization
•How is agricultural land organized?
•How does this impact the cost of
rent/purchasing land?
2. Land Use and Agriculture
• Fallow – the practice of farming land, harvesting,
tilling (but not planting), and repeating the cycle
– Half the field is fallowed, the other half is planted
• CBD – central business district (town, city, hearth)
• Three-Field Farming
– Only one third of the field is fallowed, while the
other two parts are harvested in Spring and
Autumn
• Bid rent – how much someone is willing to pay for a
particular piece of land
3. Johann Heinrich Von Thünen
• Developed an agricultural model to explain
the locations and costs of agriculture in and
around a CBD
• He used mathematics to explain the cost of
farming in multiple environments
• R = Y(p − c) − YFm
• R = rent p = production costs
• Y = yield c = market price
• F = transportation costs
• m = distance to market
4. Applications
• By analyzing the consumer costs, production, and
geographic limitations, Von Thunen’s model could
help landowners and agriculturalists determine
adequate rent for land and potential profits
• This model is outdated and was created assuming all
land was similar, climate was fixed, no roads existed,
and technology would not improve
• This model has been modified to take physical
features into account
5. William Alonso
• William Alonso used von Thunen’s model to
evaluate the cost of land in an agricultural
region (or industrial center)
• The farther away from the CBD, the less
money people were willing to pay due to the
limited access to the CBD
• How can this be applied today?
6.
7.
8. Modernization
• How can the principals of von Thünen and
Alonso be used to explain land costs for
agriculture today?
• What changes over time have shifted this
model?
• Can this model be used in future agriculture?
• Where can this model still be seen?
9. Grocery Ad
• How can the grocery ad illustrate
von Thunen’s model in action?
• Why are the prices different for each
product?
• What factors are used to determine
the market cost of foods?
