Unit 5

• Factors impacting the type of agriculture grown around the world:
• Physical Environment:

  • Climate determines bioclimatic zones and includes amounts of precipitation
  • Space/Landforms: Arable or non-arable land, presence of mountain ranges, deserts
  • Soil/Nutrients: Availability of naturally occurring nutrients in the soil, methods of nutrient supply
• Types of Agriculture:

  • Shifting Cultivation
  • Plantation
  • Pastoral Nomadism
  • Livestock Ranching
  • Mixed Crop & Livestock
  • Commercial Grain Farming
  • Commercial (Market) Gardening
  • Dairy
  • Mediterranean
• Environmental Possibilism:

  • Impact of physical environment on human society development
  • Technology utilization to overcome natural limitations
  • Examples: Greenhouses, Terrace Farming, Clearing Trees & Vegetation, Fertilizers, Slash & Burn Agriculture, Irrigation, Draining Wetlands
• Economic Forces impacting agriculture:

  • Cost of land, labor, and machinery
  • Intensive vs. Extensive farming
  • Size of land: Small plots vs. Large plots
  • Relative Location: Near high population density vs. Away from major population centers
  • Examples: Market Gardening, Plantation Agriculture, Mixed Crop & Livestock, Mediterranean, Shifting Cultivation, Livestock Ranching, Nomadic Herding, Commercial Grain Farming
• <|>Rural Settlement Patterns:

  • Clustered: Settlements in close proximity, surrounded by farmland and pasture, sharing resources, Metes and Bounds survey method
  • Dispersed: Isolated and dispersed settlements, reflective of individual values and ownership of land, Township & Range survey method
  • Linear: Settlement organized along a line, associated with transportation systems or physical features, Long Lot survey method
• Survey Methods:

  • Metes & Bounds: Originated from Great Britain to North America, utilizes landmarks and physical features for boundary lines
  • Long Lot: Originated from France & Spain to North America, long strips of land starting at a river or lake
  • Township & Range: Pioneered by Thomas Jefferson, rectangular grid system for land sales and purchases
• Agricultural Origins and Diffusion:

  • Agricultural Hearths: Geographic origins of domestication of plants and animals
  • Major centers of domestication: Central America, Andean Highlands, West Africa, East Africa/Nile River Valley, The Fertile Crescent, Indus River Valley, Wei-Huang River Valley, Southeast Asia
  • Independent Inventions, Commonalities Among Agricultural Hearths
• Diffusion of Agriculture:

  • Historic Causes: Contagious Diffusion, Immigration & Migration, Trade Routes, The Columbian Exchange
  • Modern Causes: Green Revolution, Demand for Meat
• <|>The Second Agricultural Revolution:

  • Advances and impacts of the second agricultural revolution
  • Industrial Revolution, Enclosure Movement, Characteristics of the Second Agricultural Revolution
  • Crop Rotation, Transportation Improvements & New Markets
• The Green Revolution:

  • Consequences on food supply and the environment in the developing world
  • Causes, Characteristics, Positive Results, Negative Results
  • Environmental Consequences, Gender Consequences, Poor Success in Africa
• Economic Forces influencing agricultural practices:

  • Subsistence vs. Commercial agriculture
  • Access to markets, credit, infrastructure, income, labor, and technology
  • Periphery Countries vs. Well-developed infrastructure
• Access to markets and credit allows commercial farmers to purchase modern farm equipment, advanced technologies, and large plots of land
• Well-developed infrastructure includes banking, transportation, and agricultural supply industries
• Core and semi-periphery countries are impacted by economic forces in agriculture
• Monocropping and monoculture involve cultivating one or two crops that are rotated seasonally
• Specialization and efficiency are achieved, leading to higher yields
• Profitable for plantations and large corporate farms
• Can strip nutrients from the soil, decrease biodiversity, or put small farmers out of business
• Supply and demand relationship affects prices: if there is more supply than demand, prices decrease
• Agribusiness involves the large-scale system of production, processing, distribution, financial funding, and research of agricultural products and equipment
• Rise of agribusiness has replaced small family farms with giant corporations like Tyson, Kelloggs, Coca Cola, Mars
• Economies of scale in large-scale farming are cost-effective due to lower bulk prices for supplies and technologies
• Modern equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, GMO and hybrid seeds contribute to higher yields
• Production increases lead to decreased costs of production, resulting in fewer family-owned farms
• Technological advances increase operating costs but also enhance the efficiency of agriculture
• Examples of current technological advances include Plant/Data Analysis, Next Gen Farming, Robotics, and Drones
• Commodity chains are complex networks connecting production places with distribution to consumers
• Improvements in agricultural technology, agribusiness, and globalization lead to crops and animals being raised far from final markets
• Consumers benefit from low prices due to commodity chains
• Bid-Rent Theory explains how the value of land is influenced by its relationship to the market
• Desirable and accessible land near the market costs more and leads to intensive farming
• Less desirable and accessible land farther from the market costs less and leads to extensive farming
• Von Thunen's model is used to explain patterns of agricultural production at various scales
• Major idea: Transportation costs are proportional to the distance from the market
• Farmers' decisions on agricultural practices are influenced by transportation costs and perishability of products
• Different zones in the model include Market/Urban Center, Dairy Farming & Market Gardening, Forests, Grains and Cereal Crops, Livestock Ranching
• Agricultural practices have environmental and social consequences
• Shift Cultivation and Slash & Burn Agriculture practiced in periphery and semi-periphery countries lead to soil degradation and deforestation
• Terrace farming and irrigation impact water resources and cultural landscapes