Unit 5 / Agriculture / Modules 33-37

agriculture

The planting and harvesting of domesticated plants and the raising of domesticated animals for food

biodiversity

The variety and variability among species and ecosystems

cash crop

A crop raised to be sold for profit rather than to feed the farm family and the livestock; common cash crops are cotton, flax, hemp, coffee, and tobacco

climate

The average pattern of weather over a 30-year period for a particular region

clustered settlement

A tightly bunched farm settlement that has anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred inhabitants

Columbian Exchange

The interaction and widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, disease, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

commercial agriculture

Farming oriented exclusively toward the production of agricultural commodities for sale in the market

dairying

A farming system that specializes in the breeding, rearing, and utilization of livestock (primarily cows) to produce milk and its various by-products, such as yogurt, butter, and cheese

dispersed settlement (isolated settlement pattern)

A settlement pattern in which families live relatively distant from one another

domestication

The long-term process through which humans selectively breed, protect, and care for individuals taken from populations of wild plant and animal species to create genetically distinct species, known as domesticates

environmental contamination

Chemical residue that builds up with each application of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

extensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that require little hired labor or monetary investment to successfully raise crops and animals

feedlot

A fenced enclosure used for intensive livestock feeding that serves to limit livestock movement and associated weight loss

First Agricultural Revolution

Period during which the early domestication and diffusion of plants and animals and the cultivation of seed crops led to the development of agriculture

grain farming

A highly mechanized commercial farming system that specializes in the production of cereal grains; requires large farms and widespread use of machinery, synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, and genetically engineered seeds

Green Revolution

The U.S.-supported development of high-yield seed varieties that increased the productivity of cereal crops and accompanying agricultural technologies for transfer to less developed countries

hearth

A center where innovations or new practices develop and from which the innovations or new practices spread or diffuse

hybrid

The offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties

intensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that use high levels of labor and capital relative to the size of the landholding

linear settlement pattern

A settlement pattern in which buildings are arranged in a line, often along a road or river; limited to areas where legal systems dictated that property lines must be rectangular

livestock ranching

The practice of using extensive tracts of land to rear herds of livestock to sell as meat, hides, or wool

long-lot survey system

A unit-block surveying system whose basic unit is a rectangle that is typically 10 times longer than it is wide; A linear settlement pattern in which each farmstead is situated at one end of a long, narrow rectangular lot; each lot has access to a major linear resource, usually a river or a major road

market gardening

A small-scale farming system in which a farmer plants one to a few acres that produce a diverse mixture of vegetables and fruits, mostly for sale in local and regional markets

Mediterranean climate

A climate with winter precipitation, unusually mild winters, and clear skies with abundant sunshine; found along the Mediterranean Sea and a few coastal regions

metes and bounds

Survey system that uses natural features such as trees, boulders, and streams to delineate property boundaries

mixed crop / livestock agriculture

A diversified system of agriculture based on the cultivation of cereal grains and root crops (such as potatoes and yams) and the rearing of herd livestock

nomadic herding (nomadic pastoralism or pastoralism)

A system of breeding and rearing herd livestock, such as cattle, sheep, or goats, by following the seasonal movement of rainfall to areas of open pasturelands

plantation

Large landholding devoted to capital-intensive, specialized production of a single tropical or subtropical crop for the global marketplace

rural area

Area located outside of towns and cities; all the space, population, and housing not included in an urban area

Second Agricultural Revolution

Period that brought improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm produce that began in the late 1600s and continued through the 1930s

shifting cultivation

The cultivation of a plot of land until it becomes less productive, typically over a period of about three to five years; when productivity drops, the farmer shifts to a new plot of land that has been prepared by slash-and-burn agriculture

slash-and-burn (swidden) agriculture

Agriculture that involves cutting small plots in forests or woodlands, burning the cuttings to clear the round and release nutrients, and planting in the ash of the cleared plot

soil salinization

The concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

subsistence agriculture

Food production mainly for consumption by the farming family and local community, rather than principally for sale in the market

synthetic fertilizer

Industrially manufactured nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, made from petroleum by-products; contains higher concentrations of nutrients for plants than natural fertilizers

topography

The arrangement of shapes on Earth's surface

township and range

Land survey system created by the U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785, which divides most of the country's territory into a grid of square-shaped townships with 6-mile sides

truck farm

A scaled-up version of market gardening, with more acreage, less crop diversity, and a stronger orientation toward more distant markets