AP Human Geography Agriculture (copy)

Agribusiness

System of food production involving everything from the development of the seeds to the marketing and sale of food products at the market.

Cash Crops

Planting large amounts of profitable crops for mass production and sell.

Commercial Agriculture

Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm.

Double Cropping

Planting and harvesting a crop on a field more than once a year.

GMOs

Foods that\have their genes altered in a laboratory for specific purposes, such as disease resistant, increased productivity, or nutrients value

Intensive Subsistence Farming

A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land.

Monoculture

Dependence on a single agricultural commodity.

Mechanization

In agriculture, the replacement of human labor with technology or machines.

Primary Economy

Any economic activity pertaining to the collecting, harvesting, and obtaining of raw materials.

Plantation Agriculture

Raising a large amount of a 'cash crop' for local sale or export.

Transhumance

Movement of animal herd to cooler highland areas in the summer to warmer lowland areas in the winter.

Von Thunen Model

Theory that a commercial farmer wull decide which crops to grow and which livestock to raise depending on the proximity to market.

Green Revolution

An outgrowth of the 3rd agricultural revolution, this effort began in the 1940s and developed new strains of hybrid seeds and fertilizers that dramatically increased the crop output possible from each farm.

Nomadism

Dry Areas
Same climate as livestock ranching(commercial farms in MDCs)
Marginalized land

Mixed livestock and grain

Raise domesticated animals and growing feed

Commercial Grain Farming

Wheat belt
Bread-basket US
Corn belt

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,

Double cropping

Harvesting twice in one year
Employ crop rotation

Truck Farms

Farm where farmers produce fruits for the market
Use mechanization to produce large quantities of fruits and veggies

Agrarian

relating to land; relating to the management or farming of land

Agricultural Industrialization

The use of machinery in agriculture, like tractors etc. - makes it easier for farmers to have higher crop yields.

Agricultural Landscape

The land that we farm on and what we choose to put were on our fields.

Agricultural Location Model

An attempt to explain the pattern of agricultural land use in terms of accessibility, costs, distance, and prices.

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.

Cultivation Regions

Regions were there is agricultural activity. Know these specifically! (ie. Southwestern US is cattle ranching, Mediterranean is crop trees).

Dairy Farms

specialized in dairy products, N. America, Europe, NOT Africa, South America, Asia

Desertification

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

Extensive Commercial Agriculture

A crop or livestock system in which land quality or extent is more important than capital or labor inputs in determining output

Feedlot

a plot of land on which livestock are fattened for market

Food Manufacturing

The processes that are used to convert raw materials into finished food products

Growing Season

The season in which crops grow best. Growing season can vary by location, societies rely on their growing season to which crops they can or can't grow at their latitude.

Hunting and Gathering

the killing of wild animals and fish as well as the gathering of fruits, roots, nuts, and other plants for sustenance

Intensive Commercial Agriculture

Intensive farming in a commercial economy, crops have high yields and market value

Livestock Ranching

an extensive commercial agricultural activity that involves the raising of livestock over vast geographic spaces typically located in semi-arid climates like the American West

Long-Lot Survey System

A distinct regional approach to land surveying whereby land is divided into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals

Luxury Crops

Non-subsistence crops such as tea, cacao, coffee, and tobacco

Metes and Bounds System

a system of land surveying east of the Appalachian Mountains. The system relies on descriptions of land ownership and natural features such as streams or trees.

Pastoralism

A type of agricultural activity based on nomadic animal husbandry or the raising of livestock to provide food, clothing, and shelter.

Organic Agriculture

Approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs.

Pesticides

Chemicals used on plants that do not harm the plants, but kill pests and have negative repercussions on other species who ingest the chemicals.

Plant Domestication

genetic modification of a plant such that its reproductive success depends on human intervention

Rectangular Survey System

A system used to divide public domain lands in the United States in which land is divided into 6-mile square townships and subdivided into sections, portions of sections, or irregular lots.

Root Crops

crop that is reproduced by cultivating the roots of or the cuttings from the plants

Carl Sauer

Defined the concept of cultural landscape as the fundamental unit of geographical analysis.

2nd Agriculture Revolution

Innovations led to agricultural surpluses, food surpluses, let people move from farms to factories, growth of cities increased.

Seed Crops

crop that is reproduced by cultivating the seeds of the plants.
crop that is reproduced by cultivating the seeds of the plants.

Specialization

The concentration of the productive efforts of individuals and firms on a limited number of activities

Slash and Burn Agriculture

a farming technique in which trees are cut down and burned to clear and fertilize the land

Township and Range System

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

Third Agriculture Revolution

'green revolution' rapid diffusion of new ag techniques between 1970's and 1980's, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers

Soil Erosion

the wearing away and removal of rock and soil particles from exposed surfaces by agents such as moving water, wind, or ice

scale economies

cost advantages due to the size of a retailer

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.

Columbian Exchange

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

fair trade movement

an effort to promote higher incomes for producers and for more sustainable farming practices

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