Agricultural Land-Use Patterns and Processes Detailed Study Notes

Intensive Farming

Agriculture that uses large amounts of inputs (energy, fertilizers, labor, machines) to maximize yields.

Extensive Farming

Agriculture that uses fewer inputs and results in less yields.

Shifting Cultivation

Farming where farmers grow crops on land for a year or two, then move to another field when the soil loses fertility; includes slash-and-burn agriculture.

Pastoral Nomadism

Subsistence extensive agriculture in arid/semi-arid climates where nomads rely on animals for survival, moving herds to different pastures.

Livestock Ranching

Commercial grazing of animals confined to a specific area, typically in areas too dry to grow crops in large quantities.

Commercial Grain Farming

Raising wheat in regions too dry for mixed crop agriculture, primarily for human consumption and produced in prairies and plains.

Market Gardening

Large-scale commercial vegetable gardens and fruit farms, often referred to as truck farming; also includes the resurgence of small-scale market gardening near cities.

Plantation Agriculture

Large commercial farms specializing in one crop, found in low latitudes with hot, humid climates and substantial rainfall; often labor intensive.

Mixed Crop & Livestock

Intensive commercial integrated system with interdependence between crops and animals, where grains are grown to feed livestock and animal manure fertilizes the crops.

Mediterranean

Agriculture practiced in regions with hot, dry summers, mild winters, narrow valleys, and often some irrigation; crops include figs, dates, olives, and grapes; includes transhumance.

Dairy Farming

Local farms supplied products to customers in a small geographic area, but improvements in refrigeration and transportation expanded the milk shed; involves large corporate operations and fewer family-owned farms in some areas.

Metes and Bounds

Fields with irregular shapes using features of specific points (metes) and larger areas based on streams or roads (bounds).

Long Lot

Farms were long, thin sections of land perpendicular to a river, emphasizing access to water and trade.

Township and Range

Used in the United States beginning in 1785, it involves surveying rectangular plots of consistent size, including townships (areas six miles long and six miles wide) and sections (each square mile).

Clustered

Homes located near each other in a village, fostering a sense of place with shared services.

Dispersed

Farmers lived in homes spread throughout the countryside, promoting self-sufficiency but making shared services difficult.

Linear

Buildings and human activities organized close to a body of water or along a transportation route.

First Agriculture Revolution

Origin of farming marked by the domestication of plants and animals; farmers consumed the crops they raised using simple tools and manual labor; began in five centers/hearths.

Domestication

The process of taming plants and animals for human use.

The Fertile Crescent

A region in Southwest Asia where early crops like barley, wheat, lentils, and olives, and animals like cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep were first domesticated.

The Columbian Exchange

The exchange of crops, animals, diseases, and culture between the Americas and Europe/Africa/Asia after European colonization of the Americas.

Second Agriculture Revolution

Began in Great Britain in the 1700s, using technology provided by the Industrial Revolution to increase production and distribution of products.

Enclosure Movement

Divided common land into individual plots, increasing farm size and production.

Crop Rotation

Improving crop yields and food variety by rotating crops.

The Green Revolution

The rapid diffusion of new agricultural technologies, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers, increasing agricultural production worldwide, especially in the developing world.

Double Cropping

Harvesting twice a year from the same field.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Organisms (crops or animals) whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

Subsistence Farming

Growing enough food/raising enough livestock for the farmer's family, with a secondary goal to sell or trade any surplus.

Commercial Farming

Growing enough crops/raising enough livestock to sell for profit.

Monocropping/Monoculture

Specializing in one crop.

Agribusiness

Large-scale industrialized agriculture.

Economies of Scale

Cost advantages reaped by companies when production becomes efficient.

Commodity Chains

A sequence of processes from inputs to production and transport.

Bid-Rent Theory

A geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes relative to distance from the central business district (CBD).

Von Thunen Model

Describes how land value decreases away from the city center.

Isotropic Plain

A term defining land which is all flat and of uniform fertility, and where transportation costs are everywhere the same.

Supply Chain

System of resources, transportation, and communication.

Luxury Crops

Crops that are not essential to human survival and are sold for a high price.

Fair Trade Movement

Movement that helps producers in developing countries to get a fair price.

Subsidies

Government payment made to farmers.

Slash & Burn Agriculture

Clearing land by cutting down and burning vegetation.

Terrace Farming

Shaping land to create flat areas for farming.

Irrigation

Diverting water to crops.

Removing water from wetlands.

Draining Wetlands

Soil Salinization

Salt accumulation in the soil.

Deforestation

Removal of trees.

Desertification

The process by which fertile land becomes desert.

Aquaculture

Cultivating aquatic animals and plants.

Urban Farming

Growing food in cities.

Organic Farming

Farming without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.

Community Supported Agriculture

Supporting local farms by purchasing directly from them.

Value-Added Crops

Crops that have an increased value, such as organic produce.

Local Farm Movement

Buying food from local farms.

Vertical Farming

Growing crops in vertically stacked layers.

Hydroponics

Growing plants without soil.

Food Insecurity

State of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

Area where people have limited access to a