AP Human Geography Agriculture

Animal Husbandry

An agricultural activity associated with the raising of domesticated animals, such as cattle, horses, sheep, and goats.

Cash Cropping

Planting large amounts of profitable crops for mass production and sell.

Corporate Agriculture (Agribusiness)

System of food production involving everything from the development of the seeds to the marketing and sale of food products at the market.

Commercial Crops

A crop grown for direct sale rather than for livestock feed.

Domestication of Plants

Domesticating plants for human use, one of the first steps to a full fledged agricultural economy.

Double Cropping

Planting and harvesting a crop on a field more than once a year.

Fallow

When farmers grow crops in a clear field for only a few years until the soil nutrients are depleted. The farmers then have the soil empty for a few years so the nutrients in the soil can be restored; uncropped land.

GMOs

Foods that are mostly products or organisms that have their genes altered in a laboratory for specific purposes, such as disease resistant, increased productivity, or nutrients value; Genetically Modified Organisms.

Intensive Farming

Subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relative large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a pared of land.

Labor-intensive Crops

Includes fruits, garden vegetables, herbs, and anything requiring constant tending or wielding.

Labor-intensive Animals

Animals that require constant tending, includes dairy cow and poultry for eggs.

Monoculture

Dependence on a single agricultural commodity.

Mechanization

In agriculture, the replacement of human labor with technology or machines.

Market Gardens

Small scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers, Distinguishable by the large diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, during a single growing season. Labor is done manually.

Plantation Agriculture

Raising a large amount of a 'cash crop' for local sale or export.

Suitcase Farmers

A suitcase farm is a farm in which no one reside permanently, they go against the grain of traditional farming. In the US migrant workers provide a cheap, abundant labor source; they work on the farm during the day and leave at night. There is no residence on the site.

Sustainable Yield

Rate of crop production that can be maintained over time.

Transhumance

Movement of animal herd to cooler highland areas in the summer to warmer lowland areas in the winter.

Von Thunen Model

Theory that a commercial farmer wull decide which crops to grow and which livestock to raise depending on the proximity to market.

Green Revolution

An outgrowth of the 3rd agricultural revolution, this effort began in the 1940s and developed new strains of hybrid seeds and fertilizers that dramatically increased the crop output possible from each farm.

SE Asia domesticated what?

Mango, Taro Root, Bananas, palm oil, cattle, sheep, goats

Sub Saharan Africa domesticated what?

Coffee, Cowpeas, Millet

S. Mexico domesticated what?

squash, beans, cotton, Maize(Corn),

SW Asia domesticated what?

Wheat, Barley

1st Agric Revo Change

Nomadic herders to sedentary lifestyle and intentional farming

1st Agric Revo Impact

Birth of civilization

Birth of urban areas

Birth of government

Birth of class structures(social stratified)

Before this egalitarian

Created irrigation

Created farmers,slaves, government officials, merchants

Surplus of food

Led to writing

Began trading which led to system of defense

Towns located on high ground(acropolis) and water

2nd Agric Revo Sustained by...

Mechanical reaper

Combustible engine

Seed drill

Railroad

Refrigeration

Artificial feed

New banking practices

3rd Agric Revo Defintion

new strains with higher yields through genetic manipulation to increase yield through the use of herbicides and fertilizers

How to increase GMOs

1. Purchase artificial fertilizer

Chemicals

2. Irrigation system

3. Purchase herbicides/pesticides

4. Purchase machines to keep up with production

5. Need a receptive environment

6. Need receptive commodity markets

7. Barriers to implementation

Poor, unreceptive environment river water

Shifting Cultivation Location

Subtropics and Tropics

Shifting Cultivation Steps and Characteristics

Steps:

Clear land

Plant land

Fallow(not planting anything so soil can replenish itself)

Come back to land when it is full of nutrients

Characteristics:

Low quality land

Low population density

Nomadism

Dry Areas

Same climate as livestock ranching(commercial farms in MDCs)

Marginalized land

Commercial Farming Positives

Increase yield

Keeps food costs low

Commercial Farming Negatives

Use of chemicals

Human health

Younger age of puberty

Cancer increase

Environment

Rainforest destruction

Desertification

Rise in sustainably sourced farming

Local and organic

Blue zone where business collaborate to show thi

Livestock Ranching

Raising of domesticated animals for food or items like leather

Climate: Dry

Growing industry

As countries develop, meat eating increases

Standard of living increases

Not near market

Bulk-reducing industry

Dairying

Climate: Cold/Warm Mid Latitudes

Perishable

Area surrounding dairying is milk shed

Closer to market

North Latitude

Bulk-gaining

Bottling fluid

Mixed livestock and grain

Raise domesticated animals and growing feed

Commercial Grain Farming

Wheat belt

Bread-basket US

Corn belt

Market Gardening

Items people garden

Near market since items are perishable

Suitcase farms

Rely on migrant labor

Mediterranean

Dry summers

High rainfall needed

France, Spain, Greece, North Africa, Australia, Chile, California

Produce grapes, citrus, etc.

Wine production

Plantation farming

Tropics

In LDCs

Owned by MDCs

Cash crops

Cash Crop Examples

Worldwide Cotton

Rubber

Amazon

Rice

India

Sugar from Caribbean

Coffee

Ethiopian Origin

US #1 consumer

Central America and Africa produce it

Illegal Drugs

Marijuana, Poppy seeds

Core are demanders

Periphery grows them

Takes processing

What two factors influenced Von Thunen model?

Perishability and Transport Costs

Von Thunen ring outside city(1)

Market gardening/dairying/feedlot

Feedlots fatten livestock before slaughter

Skinny before sent near market

Von Thunen ring (2)

Forestry

Von Thunen ring (3)

Food grains and cash crops (Crop Rotation)

Von Thunen ring (4)

Enclosed Field

Von Thunen assumptions

Flat terrain---Similar climate/soil---no barriers to transportation

Von Thunen factors that decrease the model

Refrigeration

Food preservation

Global markets/corporate decision making

New alternatives for fuel

New ways grains are used

Vertical farming

Urban, crowded, squatter areas

Takes up less space

Subsistence crop

Food crops used only by family or local market trading

Organic Farming

o extracts farmers from big corporations

o environmental=reduce synthetic chemicals in soil/water

farming and ranching without the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other synthetic inputs.

o sold in 54% of US grocery store

Truck Farms

Farm where farmers produce fruits for the market

Use mechanization to produce large quantities of fruits and veggies