Unit 5 Agriculture & Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes

aquaculture (aquafarming)

use of river segments or artificial bodies of water such as ponds for the raising and harvesting of food products including fish, shellfish, and seaweed.

Bid Rent Theory/Bid-Rent Curve

a geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand for real estate changes as the distance from the central business district (CBD) increases. It states that different land users will compete with one another for land closer to the city center.

Biodiversity

the variety of plant and animal life in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Biotechnology

A form of technology that uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make or modify plants and animals, or to develop other microorganisms for specific purposes.

carrying capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support.

clustered settlement pattern

a settlement where buildings are clustered around a particular point.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

Commercial Agriculture

Term used to describe large-scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces, and the latest technology.

commodity chain

series of links connecting the many places of production and distribution and resulting in a commodity that is then exchanged on the world market.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A system in which consumers pay farmers in advance for a share of their yield, usually in the form of weekly deliveries of produce.

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In its simplest form, CSA is a contractual agreement between a farm and a group of consumers variously described as "shareholders," "members," or "subscribers." Members purchase a "share" at the beginning of the season, allowing the farmers to plan production for a guaranteed market and providing capital up front to purchase inputs. Thus, shareholders pay the real costs of production and in this way contribute to the support of local, small-scale growers. Risks are shared: if there is a poor harvest, everyone gets less, not just the farmers. The cost of a share, decided in advance, takes into account estimated costs of inputs and labor and the standard of living of the farmers (Fieldhouse 1996; Groh and McFadden 1990; Kelvin 1994).

conservation

Protecting and preserving natural resources and the environment.

deforestation

cutting trees down faster than they can be regrown; exposes the land to erosion. Causes the land to be less fertile and less productive- can't grow crops efficiently.

Desertification

Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.

dispersed settlement pattern

A rural settlement pattern characterized by isolated farms rather than clustered villages.

Domestication (pastoral-ism)

the taming of animals for human use, such as work or as food.

economies of scale

as a company grows and production units increase, a company will have a better chance to decrease production costs by producing a higher number of goods. When more units of a good or service can be produced on a larger scale, the price to produce the individual good/service decreases

extensive agriculture

a crop or livestock system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit area of land. May be part of either a subsistence or a commercial economy

fair trade

An alternative to international trade that emphasizes small businesses and worker-owned and democratically run cooperatives and requires employers to pay workers fair wages, permit union organization, and comply with minimum environmental and safety standards.

First Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)

dating back 10,000 years, achieved plant domestication and animal domestication; beginning of civilization.

food desert

an area typically in a highly populated, lower income urban environment, where people have limited access to healthy, fresh food or affordable healthful food options. This may be due to having a low income or having to travel farther to find healthful food options.

Food insecurity

the inability to purchase enough food to avoid hunger, difficulty providing enough food for each person due to lack of resources.

genetically modified organism (GMO)

an organism produced by copying genes from a species with a desirable trait and inserting them into another species.

Global Supply Chain

a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer.

Green Revolution (3rd Agricultural Revolution)

Agricultural revolution that increased production through improved seeds (high-yield), fertilizers, and irrigation; helped to support rising Asian populations.

intensive agriculture

any agricultural system involving the application of large amounts of capital and/or labor per unit of cultivated land; may be part of either subsistence or commercial economy.

Land cover change

the loss of natural areas, particularly loss of forests to urban or exurban development, or the loss of agricultural areas to urban or exurban development.

linear settlement pattern

Settlements are in long, thin rows often along roads or tracks or valley bottoms

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Reasons

Allows each dwelling access to the road/track

Farming can be done perpendicular to the road and products can easily be loaded up for transport

People can't live on valley edges or in water

Could be just above a flood plain

Don't want to waste farming land by building on it, so build next to it

Local food movement

Purchasing food from nearby farms because you want to support local farmers and to minimize the pollution created from the transportation of food around the world.

long-lot survey system

distinct regional approach to land surveying found in the Canadian Maritimes, parts of Quebec, Louisiana, and Texas whereby land is divided into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals.

Market Gardening (Truck Farming)

The small scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers.

mechanized farming

farming that uses machines to increase the per capita food number; but still results in an unequal distribution of food.

Mediterranean agriculture

An agricultural system practiced in the Mediterranean style climates of Western Europe, California, and portions of Chile and Australia, in which diverse specialty crops such as grapes, avocados, olives, and a host of nuts, fruits, and vegetables comprise profitable agricultural operations.

Metes and Bounds Survey System

A system of land surveying east of the Appalachian Mountains. It is a system that relies on descriptions of land ownership and natural features such as streams or trees. Because of the imprecise nature of metes and bounds surveying, the U.S. Land Office Survey abandoned the technique in favor of the rectangular survey system.

mixed crop and livestock farming

Commercial farming characterized by integration of crops and livestock; most of the crops are fed to animals rather than consumed directly by humans.

Nomadic Herding/Pastoral Nomadism

A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals over open pastoral lands. As plant life and water are used up and consumed in one area, nomads herd their animals to the next plot of land

They live in dry climates.

Monocropping (monoculture)

large planting of single crop species or variety encouraged by mechanization of agriculture and use of synthetic fertilizers; efficient but leads to soil erosion and pest vulnerability.

plantation agriculture

Production system based on a large estate owned by an individual, family, or corporation and organized to produce a cash crop. Almost all plantations were established within the tropics; in recent decades, many have been divided into smaller holdings or reorganized as cooperatives.

Ranching

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

Rural Settlement Patterns

farms, villages, or towns that have any of the following patterns- dispersed, clustered, or linear

Second Agricultural Revolution

dovetailing with and benefiting from the Industrial Revolution, the Second Agricultural Revolution witnessed improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm products.

shifting cultivation (slash and burn)

vegetation is cut down and then ignited to make the ground more productive (swidden is the term for this prepared land); each field is used for a couple years then left fallow for a relatively long time.

soil salinization

in arid regions, increased water from irrigation evaporates before being absorbed by the soil, leaving salts behind. This makes farming more difficult and increases desertification (ex. Fertile crescent, southwestern US)

subsistence agriculture

Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family.

Sustainability

avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance. Sustainable initiatives can meet the needs of the present without impacting the needs of the future

Terrace Farming

The cutting out of flat areas (terraces) into near vertical slopes to allow farming. Terrace farms appears as steps cut into a mountainside. This adaptation allowed both the early Chinese, and the Inca of Mesoamerica to grow enough food for their large populations.

township and range system

The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling. Also known as the Rectangular Survey System, it was created by the Land Ordinance of 1785 to survey land ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, following the end of the American Revolution. Creates a rectilinear pattern on the landscape.

Urban farming

The growing of fruits, herbs, and vegetables and raising animals in towns and cities, a process that is accompanied by many other activities such as processing and distributing food, collecting and reusing food waste.

Value-added specialty crops

increasing the economic value of a commodity through particular production processes, e.g., organic produce, or through regionally branded products that increase consumer appeal and willingness to pay a premium over similar but undifferentiated products. i.e. free-range chickens, hormone-free beef

Von Thunen Model

An agricultural model that spatially describes agricultural activity in terms of rent. Activities that require intensive cultivation and cannot be transported over great distances pay higher rent to be close to the market. Conversely, activities that are more extensive , with goods that are easy to transport, are located farther from the market where rent is less.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

a method in which large numbers of meat or dairy animals are raised in densely packed feedlots to maximize land usage and fed a calorie rich diet to maximize animal growth and increase profits