APHUG Unit 5 Vocab

Intensive Farming

type of agricultural production that involves the use of high levels of inputs, such as chemicals, fertilizers, and irrigation, in order to maximize crop yields

Monoculture

the practice of growing a single crop over a large area

Factory Farming

type of intensive animal production that involves confining large numbers of animals in small spaces and providing them with a highly controlled diet and environment.

Mixed crop/livestock systems

agricultural systems that involve the production of both crops and livestock on the same piece of land. 

Plantation agriculture

a type of large-scale, monoculture farming that involves the cultivation of a single crop, typically a tropical export crop such as coffee, cocoa, or bananas, on a large piece of land

Extensive Farming

a type of agricultural production that involves the use of relatively low levels of inputs, such as labor, capital, and chemicals, in order to produce crops or livestock

Columbian Exchange

the exchange of diseases, ideas, food. crops, and populations between the New World and the Old World following the voyage to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Pastoralism

the practice of raising livestock, such as cattle, sheep, or goats, on large areas of land, often in a nomadic or semi-nomadic way

Enclosure Movement

a process by which traditional common lands were enclosed and consolidated into larger, privately-owned farms. This allowed for more efficient farming practices and increased production.

Selective Breeding

Farmers began to selectively breed animals in order to produce offspring with desired traits.

Shifting Cultivation

the practice of farming by clearing land for farming by slashing vegetation and burning debris; also when farmers use land for a short period of time until soil is depleted, moves crops to new plot of land to allow for soil recovery.

 

It is also known as Slash and Burn. This cultivation technique is mostly practiced in wet, tropical climate regions

Rural Survey Methods

include metes and bounds, township and range, and long lot

metes and bounds

This system uses physical features of local geography along with directions and distances to define and describe boundaries of land parcels.  This one is native to England and can be found in the original thirteen colonies.  From the air it can be seen that land parcels are irregular in size and shape.

Long Lot System

This one was put in by the French and used in French regions of North America such as Canada and Louisiana.  Most farmland was along rivers and the system created long rectangular plots of farmland to give equal access to the river.

Township and Range

Townships are rectangular blocks of land about 6 miles square. The squares are gridded and numbered according to their position north or south of the base line. Ranges are columns of townships set side by side. They are numbered starting at the meridian that runs through the point of origin of each system.

Fertile Crescent

also sometimes called Mesopotamia—is the name given to a region of the Middle East that was particularly fertile several thousand years ago

Domestication

refers to the process by which a plant or animal is tamed by human society so that that plant or animal can be reliably utilized to provide for human sustenance.

Food Dessert

an area with limited access to healthy and affordable food. In the United States, the term "food deserts" has become a common way of describing rural or urban areas where fresh produce and public transportation are limited.

Local Food Movement

encourage people to buy foods produced in their local area, reducing the need for transport from elsewhere. Exporting and importing foods produce a high proportion of **food miles**, harming our environment.

Urban Farming

the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around a village, town, or city.

Commercial Agriculture

involves food production aimed at making money on a large scale. Think of as not growing food for consumption but instead for sale.

Subsistence Agriculture

involves food production mainly for the family. A farmer will grow most everything that the family would consume, and anything leftover will go to the local community rather than to a big market

GMOs

stands for “Genetically Modified Organism.” It is used in common parlance to refer to a crop whose genetic structure has been altered to make it more useful and efficient for human purposes

Green Revolution

The development of higher-yield and fast-growing crops through increased technology, pesticides, and fertilizers transferred from the developed to developing world to alleviate the problem of food supply in those regions of the globe.

1st Agricultural Revolution

the transition from hunting and gathering to planting and sustaining. (Think moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2 of the DTM)

2nd Agricultural Revolution

used the increased technology from the Industrial Revolution as a means to increase farm productivity through mechanization. This caused exponential population increase.

Deforestation

the destruction of forest or forested areas by human or natural means. Some notable human-based causes are slash and burn agriculture and production of forest products (i.e logging).

Irrigation

a man-made system whereby water is spread from its natural source (such as a lake or river) over a much larger geographic range to aid in agricultural production

High Yield Seed

are often genetically modified to produce desirable shapes and sizes for increased food production.

Soil Salinization

occurs when soil in an arid climate has been made available for agricultural production using irrigation.

Bid-Rent Theory

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

Mechanized Farming

Agriculture using modern powered equipment instead of animals or human labor

Community Supported Agriculture

one type of direct marketing, consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits

Desertification

the process by which previously fertile lands become arid and unusable for farming. The primary cause is usually over farming.

Global Supply Chain

a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer.

Agricultural Biodiversity

The variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms that are used directly or indirectly for good and agriculture.

Terrace Farming

an agricultural practice that suggests rearranging farmlands or turning hills into farmlands by constructing specific ridged platforms. These platforms are called terraces. The essential (and distinguishing) feature of terracing agriculture is excavating and moving topsoil to form farmed areas and ridges

Von Thunen Model

focuses on the relationship between the cost of land and the cost of transporting goods. The land near the city is more expensive, but transportation is cheaper, while the land far away is cheaper, but the transportation is more expensive

Export Commodity

A good or service produced in the home country and sold in another country. commodity. a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee.

Sustainable Agriculture

Farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotating soil-restoring crops with cash crops and reducing inputs of fertilizer and pesticides.