Unit 5 APHG

Intensive Farming Practices

farming that uses significant amounts of labor/money; market gardening, plantation agriculture, and mixed crop/livestock systems

Market Gardening (Truck Farming)

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

plantation agriculture

Growing specialized crops such as bananas, coffee, and cacao in tropical developing countries, primarily for sale to developed countries.

Mixed crop and livestock

both animal and crops are farmed in the same area, it's helpful because farmers could distribute the workload more evenly through the year

Extensive Farming Practices

an agricultural production system that uses small inputs of labor, fertilizers, and capital, relative to the land area being farmed.

shifting cultivation (slash and burn)

A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period.

Pastoral Nomadism (Nomadic Herding)

A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals.

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

Metes and Bounds

A method of land description which involves identifying distances and directions and makes use of both the physical boundaries and measurements of the land.

township and range

A rectangular land division scheme designed by Thomas Jefferson to disperse settlers evenly across farmlands of the U.S. interior.

long-lot survey system

divided land into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals. Found in many French (sometimes Spanish) settlements such as Quebec and Louisiana

Domestication of plants and animals

• the taming of animals and plants for human use, such as work or as food

• this allowed the humans to remain in one place

• 10,000 BCE

agricultural hearths

areas of settlement during the Neolithic period, especially along major rivers, from where farming and cultivation of livestock emanates

-Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia) Modern day Iraq Tigris and Euphrates rivers

-Indus River Valley Civilization (Modern Day Pakistan)

-East Asia (Huang He) River Valley Civ (Modern China)

-Central America

Columbian Exchange

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

1st Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)

A transition from hunting and gathering societies to sedentary agricultural societies through the domestication of plants and animals.

2nd Agricultural Revolution (Industrial Rev.)

period of technological change from the 1600s to mid-1900s beginning in Western Europe with industrial innovations to replace human labor with machines and to supplement natural fertilizers and pesticides with chemical ones

3rd Agricultural Revolution (Green Revolution)

Began in the 1930's when scientists began breeding together different types of plants to create superior versions and continues today with GMO.

high-yield seeds

seeds that have been engineered to be stronger and more productive. They will produce more crops peer seed, need less water, and can survive in warmer climates

mechanized farming

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

subsistence farming

farming in which only enough food to feed one's family is produced

commercial farming

growing large quantities of crops or livestock in order to sell them for a profit

Milk shed

ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling

cash crops

crops, such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton, raised in large quantities in order to be sold for profit

suitcase farm

In American commercial grain agriculture, a farm on which no one lives; planting and harvesting is done by hired migratory crews.

Agribusiness

Commercial agriculture characterized by integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations.

Feedlot

a plot of land on which livestock are fattened for market; leads to environmental degradation due to runoff etc.

Monocropping (monoculture)

An agricultural method that utilizes large plantings of a single species or variety, bad things happen if your only crop hits a glitch

Bid rent theory

geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the Central Business District (CBD) increases.

Commodity chain (supply chain)

the process used by corporation to gather resources and transform them into goods and then transport them to consumers.

economies of scale

factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises; make more = costs less to make = more profit (walmart)

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.

Global Supply Chain

a worldwide network to maximize profits in production

export commodities

goods or services sold to a foreign country

environmental effects of farming

Pollution

Desertification

Soil Salinization

terraced farming

an ancient technique for growing crops on hillsides or mountain slopes, using step-like horizontal fields cut into the slopes

irrigation

The process of supplying water to areas of land to make them suitable for growing crops.

deforestation

The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves.

Draining wetlands

wetlands are not productive agricultural lands. In order to convert them into arable lands, the water is drained away and the land is bulldozed into flat plains for agriculture.

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.

genetically modified organisms

crops that carry new traits that have been inserted through advanced genetic engineering methods

qguaculture (aquafarming)

Raising and harvesting fish and marine life in ponds or other bodies of water

Biodiversity

The amount of biological or living diversity per unit area. It includes the concepts of species diversity, habitat diversity and genetic diversity.

organic farming

the use of natural substances rather than chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enrich the soil and grow crops

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.

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.

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

fair trade

trade in which fair prices are paid to producers in developing countries.

Local-food movements - Farm to Table

Purchasing food from nearby farms because you want to minimize the pollution created from the transportation of food around the world

food insecurity

the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food

food desert

An area that has a substantial amount of low-income residents and has poor access to a grocery store, defined in most cases as further than 1 mile.

double cropping

Harvesting twice a year from the same field.

Transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures.