AP Human Geo Unit 5

• economies of scale

  the reduced cost of producing food items as the quantity of production increases. Companies achieve this by lowering prices and buying a HUGE amount of products, so that the prices are more spread out. ex. Costco and Walmart pg 381
• Von Thunen Model

  A model that hypothesizes that perishability of the product and transportation costs to the market each factor into a farmer's decisions regrading agricultural practices pg 348
• vertical integration

  company controls more than one stage of the production process pg344
• truck farming

  farming that relies on trucks for transportation serves markets that are far from the farm. pg 317
• transhumance

  the movement of herds between pastures at cooler, higher elevations during the summer months and lower elevations during the winter pg318
• Thomas Malthus

  Eighteenth-century English intellectual who warned that population is threatened because population growth would grow faster than the agricultural production (no more food) was he was wrong)
• sustainable agriculture

  Agriculture that protects the environment, ensuring profitability, and promote greater social equality pg334
• survey patterns

  Uses physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances, to define the boundaries of a particular piece of land
• subsistence agriculture

  Agriculture practiced by a person that only wants to feed their family or a very small community. (used a lot in periphery countries, Africa is mostly subsistence for ex.) pg 312
• subsidy

  A government payment that supports a business or market providing low-cost loans, insurances, and payments. pg 345
• slash-and-burn (swidden)

  type of shifting cultivation where you clear the land by cutting down trees and use ashes for nutrients in the soil (used in South and Central America a lot, cattle raising) pg 318
• shifting cultivation

  the practice of growing crops or grazing animals on a piece of land for a year or two, then abandoning the land that was sucked out of its nutrients, and moving to new land, repeat (used especially in tropical Africa) pg 318
• rural settlement

  Sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities (country sides, farms)
• ranching

  A form of commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over an extensive area.
• plantation agriculture

  large scale commercial farming of 1 particular crop grown for markets often distant from the plantation pg 317
• pastoral nomadism

  moving of animals seasonally or as needed to allow the best grazing also called nomadic herding. pg 318
• Neolithic Revolution

  The beginning of agriculture. From foraging to farming. ~11,000 years ago. Tools started being in use pg 329-331
• Monocropping/ Monoculture

  Cultivation of 1 or 2 crops that are rotated seasonally. (corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton)pg 316
• Milkshed


  The area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied and can not be spoiled (connection: Von Thunen's model) p
• Metes and bounds

  the system that describes property boundaries (lines drawn in a certain direction for a specific distance) from Great Britain to North America pg 313

  
• Mediterranean agriculture

  specialized farming that occurs only in areas where the dry-summer Mediterranean climate prevails (olive, citrus, grapes, sheep, goats) pg 311
• market gardening

  farming that produces fruits, veggies, and flowers and typically serves a specific market ore urban are, local stuff pg. 317
• luxury crops

  "hard to get" crops; delicacies ex: chocolate, coffee, tabacco
• long-lot survey system

  series of adjacent long strips of land that reach to the front of a river or lake. pg. 313

  
• livestock ranching

  The raising of domesticated animals for meat and other byproducts such as leather and wool. mostly found in western states (cows, sheep, pigs) pg 318
• Intertillage

  Uncultivated strips of land that are in between rows of crop, to remove weeds
• agriculture

  deliberate tending of crops and lice stock in order to produce food and meat pg 307 (NOTE: look at pg 321 for regions map with types of agriculture)
• intensive subsistence

  A form of agriculture in which farmers must use a large amount of effort to produce the maximum yield from their land. pg 314
• horticulture

  market gardening, growing our own fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
• green revolution

  increase knowledge of genetics to develop new high yields of grain crops References: case studies of India's green revolution pg 333
• GMO

  genetically modified organism, enhanced plants that has the ability to resist disease/drought/give more nutritional impact on consumer pg 332 ex. corn, soy, rice
• feedlot

  a plot of land on which livestock are fattened for market pg.318
• fallow

  arable land that is left uncultivated to let the nutrients regenerate
• extensive agriculture

  An agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area. ex. subsistence: slash and burn, shifting cultivation commercial: ranching in the United states pg. 318
• double-cropping


  growing more than one crop a year on the same land 12.4 Notes ex. rye & soy, wheat and soybeans
• domestication

  the effort to grow plants and raise animals, adapting to human demands, and using selective breeding for specific characteristics pg324
• dairying


  An agricultural activity involving the raising of livestock, most commonly cows and goats, for dairy products such as milk, cheese, and butter. pg 342 (pg 342 see for change in the milk industries)
• crop rotation

  the varying of crops from year to year to allow the restoration of valuable nutrients and keeps the productivity of the soil. Practiced in Europe from a long time ago, type of subsistence farming pg 316 ex. Norfolk four field system pg 332
• commodity chain

  a network of people, information, processes, and resources that work together to produce, handle, and distribute a commodity or product pg.344
• commercial agriculture

  an agricultural practice that focuses on producing crops and raising animals for the market for others to purchase pg 312