Chapter 5: Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes

Speciality crops

Speciality crops

________ form Florida, South Texas, and Southern California and imports from Newland, Mexico and Austrilia keep Candian and American stores stocked.

Aquaculture

________ in bays and estuaries has resulted in very profitable small- scale oyster and salmon farms.

amount of mineral salt

As evaporation continues over several growing seasons, the ________ can build to toxic levels and poison crops.

Canada

Farmers can certify their products as non- GMO and bring a premium price from natural foods processors and consumers looking for the non- GMO label in the U.S. and ________.

High daytime temperatures

________ cause water vapor to be drawn out of irrigated farmland.

Medicinal crops

________, such as herbs, were grown along with vegetables in town market gardens for local sale.

Modern science

________ has had a critical role to play in horticulture and chemistry by using laboratory techniques to develop plant and animal hybrids that grow larger or under certain climatic conditions to meet the needs of farmers in different regions.

Dwarf varieties

________ were an important plant hybrid innovation.

sound methods

By reducing inputs and using ecologically ________, farmers can reduce the risk that their farming practices may lead to long- term environmental or economic problems.

primary economy

timber, fisheries, and mineral and energy resources

intensive agriculture

requires lots of labor input, or is focused on a small plot of land, or both

extensive agriculture

requires limited labor input, or is spread across large areas of land, or both

transhumance

where groups move seasonally not only to avoid harsh climates, climates, but also to follow animal herds and walk to areas where native plants were in fruit

pastoralism

agriculture based on the seasonal movement of animals from winter to summer pastures and back again

nomadic herding

a practice where whole communities would drive their herds from one seasonal grazing area to another following an annual cycle that was repeated over centuries

ranching

grazing livestock in a single large area,

mixed farming, or general farming

where multiple crops and animals exist on a single farm to provide diverse nutritional intake and non-food items, such as bone for tools and leather for different materials such as saddles, rope, and coats

subsistence agriculture

intensive mixed farming that provides for all of the food and material needs of a household

extensive subsistence agriculture

occurs when there are low amounts of labor inputs per unit of land

physiologic density

the number of people per unit of arable land

food preservation

a necessity for survival for thousands of years via drying, pickling, cooking, and storage jars that has led to many cultural variations in food consumption

(EX

cabbages spiced with red pepper and soaked in vinegar were buried in clay storage jars to make kimchi in Korea eight thousand years ago)

cash-cropping

a form of extensive agriculture in which harvested crops are exchanged for currency, goods, or credit

result

a system that had no surplus food and not much variety available to consumers

human ecology

human interactions with nature

food chain

the order of predators in the animal world that is used to describe several integrated human and mechanical inputs, from developing seeds to planting, fertilizing, harvesting, processing, packaging, and transporting food to market and finally to your dinner plate

crop rotation

occurs when one crop is planted on a plot of land and then switched to another plot in subsequent years

multi-cropping

the planting of more than one crop on the same plot of land

(EX

after summer vegetables are harvested, winter vegetables like kale and spinach can be planted and harvested before the cold)

double cropping

planting two crops one after another on a single plot in a year

triple cropping

planting three crops in the same year

(EX

Spring wheat is planted in the spring and harvested in late summer

irrigation

opens up more land to cultivation than would normally be possible in arid climates and is responsible for close to three-quarters of world freshwater use and up to 90 percent of freshwater use in the most poverty-stricken countries of the world

aquifers

underground water tables that gives water to irrigation farms

conservation

the practice of preserving and carefully managing the environment and its natural resources

conservation agriculture

an increasingly important way of providing a sustainable farming system without sacrificing crop production

no-tillage

involves not plowing the soil so that soil erosion is greatly reduced and soil fertility is increased by retaining natural vegetation

inter-planting

planting fast-growing crops alongside slow-growing crops, allowing a farmer to harvest the fast-growing crop before the slow-growing crop shades it out

sustainable yield

the amount of crops or animals that can be raised without endangering local resources such as soil, irrigation, or groundwater, or what can be raised without too many expensive inputs that would make farming unprofitable

(EX

corn has been used to make ethanol, an alcohol that can supplement gasoline and make it burn cleaner)

slash and burn agriculture

occurred in tropical rainforest regions with farmers shifting from one plot of land to another every few years as soil nutrients become depleted

extensive pastoralism

the shifting of animal herds between grazing pastures, has remained popular in several arid parts of the world, especially Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, where dry grassland is the common landcover

desertification

any human process that turns a vegetated environment into a desert-like landscape

soil salination

the evaporation of water that can trap mineral salts on the surface soil layer

EX

dietary restrictions can limit the trade of beef (to India) or pork (to Islamic societies)

EX

countries with larger governmental safety nets tend to support farmers in a more socialistic manner

EX

irrigation becomes necessary in water-scarce regions

vegetative planting

where the shoots, stems, and roots of existing wild plants were collected and grown together

seed agriculture

where the fertilized seed grains and fruits of plants were collected and replanted together

horticulture

where plant varieties that thrived in different soil or climate conditions were cultivated

hearths of domestication

the areas where most of this early agricultural activity originated

the Columbian exchange

domesticated New World crops that made their way to the rest of the world through relocation diffusion

(EX

maize, from the new world, and wheat, from the old world, were exchanged)

(EX

Whitneys cotton gin in 1793)

Green Revolution

occurred in the 1950s and 1960s when tropical plant and animal hybrids and chemical fertilizers and pesticides began to be used in Third-World agriculture

primary economic activity

farmers now produce one or more crops

secondary economic activity

process the crop

tertiary economic activity

advertise and market it through afarmers co-op or other market

(EX

BT corn has spliced genes from a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis to make them pest-resistant)

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, or rBGH

a synthetic hormone widely used in both the production of beef and milk in the United States and some other countries

downer cattle

beef cows that appear ill or are lame and cannot be used for human consumption, but can wind up in pet food or animal feed instead

organic

crops and animals must not be grown using genetic engineering, must be free of pesticides, antibiotics, and synthetic hormones, must not use artificial fertilizers, and must feed on completely organic crops

grass-fed cattle have also brought significantly higher prices to gourmet consumers who seek the more natural-tasting beef, as corn

and soy-based cattle feed has been blamed for less flavorful beef

fair trade movement

focuses on ensuring that small farmers and artisans are paid a fair price for their products

suitcase farmers

farm owners who have city jobs but still own land in rural areas

community-supported agriculture (CSA)

programs in which produce and other farm products are delivered directly to individual consumers

milkshed

the region around a city to which fresh milk is delivered without spoiling In terms of travel time and distance

ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurization

a new milk preservation method where milk is flash-pasteurized at very high temperatures and under pressure to keep the water in it from turning to steam and then stored in a sterile box container that is sealed in plastic to prevent contamination

commodity chains

links between producers and consumers in the journey from raw material to delivery of a finished product

Inputs

Farming requires a number of elements to maximize both the size and quality of crop yield, such as fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, water, tools, mechanical equipment, training, certifications, and research & development

Production

Growing and harvesting crops takes place

Processing

Raw agricultural goods are turned into consumer products

Distribution

Agricultural products are sent to market by contracting with outside transport providers

Consumption

retailers and restaurants sell the final product to consumers

commodity-dependent

when a single product or type of good accounts for more than 60% of its exports

Von Thünens Model

land use (the type of farming) is determined by how labor intensive the type of farming is

Village

the organization of a central marketplace and place of consumption for the agricultural goods produced in the surrounding area

Intensive Farming

Labor-intensive crops include fruits, garden vegetables, herbs, and anything that required constant tending or weeding or that needed to be picked for market at a particular time

Village Forest

A managed forest was needed to meet the energy and lumber needs of the community

Extensive Farming

Labor-extensive crops require large plots of land and far less tending because they dominated potential weed invaders

Grazing Lands

Highlands in peripheral areas were often not suitable for crop farming but perfect for grazing

cost-to-distance relationship

an inverse relationship between the value of labor and the distance from the center of the model; the higher the total labor costs, the closer it is to the center, and the lower the labor costs, the farther it is from the center

land-rent curve

a mathematical function that shows the changes in rent prices across the model

primary economy

timber, fisheries, and mineral and energy resources

intensive agriculture

requires lots of labor input, or is focused on a small plot of land, or both

extensive agriculture

requires limited labor input, or is spread across large areas of land, or both

transhumance

where groups move seasonally not only to avoid harsh climates, climates, but also to follow animal herds and walk to areas where native plants were in fruit

pastoralism

agriculture based on the seasonal movement of animals from winter to summer pastures and back again

nomadic herding

practice where whole communities would drive their herds from one seasonal grazing area to another following an annual cycle that was repeated over centuries

ranching

farming for the raising of livestock

multi-cropping

the planting of more than one crop on the same plot of land

mixed/general farming

where multiple crops and animals exist on a single farm to provide diverse nutritional intake and non-food items, such as bone for tools and leather for different materials such as saddles, rope, and coats

subsistence agriculture

intensive mixed farming that provides for all of the food and material needs of a household

extensive subsistence agriculture

occurs when there are low amounts of labor inputs per unit of land

physiologic density

the number of people per unit of arable land

food preservation

a necessity for survival for thousands of years via drying, pickling, cooking, and storage jars that has led to many cultural variations in food consumption

cash-cropping

a form of extensive agriculture in which harvested crops are exchanged for currency, goods, or credit

human ecology

human interactions with nature

food chain

the order of predators in the animal world that is used to describe several integrated human and mechanical inputs, from developing seeds to planting, fertilizing, harvesting, processing, packaging, and transporting food to market and finally to your dinner plate

crop-rotation

occurs when one crop is planted on a plot of land and then switched to another plot in subsequent years