2. Vocabulary
Suit case farms – An American commercial farm in which no one lives, and work/harvesting is done by migratory workers.
Organic Farming – approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs
Industrial agriculture – the application of mass production techniques to food production
Intensive agriculture – growing of low value high yield products on large amounts of land
Truck Farming – commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because truck was a Middle English word meaning bartering or the exchange of commodities.

3. Vocabulary
Von Thunen Model – model of agricultural land use 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

4. Where are agricultural regions in MDC’s?
Depends on climate – 6 main types
Mixed crop and livestock farming
Dairy farming
Grain farming
Livestock ranching
Mediterranean agriculture
Commercial gardening and fruit farming
Importance of access to markets

5. Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
Most common form of commercial agriculture in the U.S.
Characteristics
Most crops are fed to animals
Nearly all land for crops, but gets income from animal products (beef, milk, eggs, etc)
Crop rotation system
root, cereal, rest crop, another cereal
Choice of Crops
Corn is most common
2nd is soybeans – animal consumption, tofu, hidden ingredient

6. Dairy farming Most important type of commercial farming in MDC’s
India is the largest producer
Why do dairy farms locate near urban areas?
Milk can go spoiled quickly
1840 increased distance from 30 miles – 300 miles
Regional differences in dairy products
Further away farms sell cheese and butter instead of milk
New Zealand is #1 in dairy products, markets are too far
Challenges for dairy farming
Labor intensive, milking and feeding animals

7. Grain farming
Grain – seeds from various grasses (wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, etc)
Grown for consumption by humans not animals
North American prairies #1 producer = “the breadbasket”
Spring wheat belt and winter wheat belt

8. Livestock Ranching Ranching – Commercial grazing of livestock
Semiarid and arid land
Cattle Ranching in the U.S. popular culture
Cowboy
Cattle were brought to N.A. by Columbus on his 2nd voyage
Spanish and Portuguese immigrants began to ranch them and taught the practice to other European settlers
Cattle had to be brought from Texas to Chicago, once in Chicago they would be slaughtered at a meat packing plant and sold to the East
Cattle were taken to the nearest rail line then sent in cattle cars to Chicago

9. Fixed Location Ranching
Range Wars
Cattle vs. Farmers
Changes in cattle breeding
By early 20th century, beef was traded by refrigerated ships
From cattle drives to fixed locations
Change from Longhorns to Herefords
Sent to farms and feedlots for fattening

10. Ranching outside the U.S.
MDC’s
South America;
Argentina: access to the ocean, pampas provide food
S. Brazil, Uruguay
Steps
1st herding in open ranges (seminomadic)
2nd fixed farming divided into ranches
3rd Grow crops and ranch on the drier lands
Differences in commercial and pastoral nomadism
Ranchers become part of the meat processing industry

11. Mediterranean Agriculture
Lands that border the Mediterranean Sea
Crops grown for human consumption
Olives, grapes, fruits, vegetables
2/3 of the world’s wine
California
Fruit and vegetable horticulture

12. Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming
U.S. Southeast
During the winter Chile
Truck farming
Barter or exchange of commodities
Fruits and veggies that MDC’s like, sold either directly to the people or to a company for canning and freezing
Experiment with new varieties, seeds, fertilizers, etc. to maximize efficiency
Hire migrant workers

13. Von Thunen Model
Importance of proximity to market in the choice of crops on commercial farms
Comparing two costs
Cost of land vs cost of transportation to market
Value if the yield per hectare
The cost of transporting the yield per hectare
Zones of the model
1st Market Gardening and Dairy
2nd Timber
3rd commercial grain
4th livestock

15. Why do Farmers face economic Difficulties?
Challenges for commercial farmers
Challenges for subsistence farmers
Strategies to increase food supply
Main challenge is generating enough income

16. Challenges for commercial farmers
Producing so much food, that their prices are declining
Farm Subsidies
Pays for the price the Govt. sets
Buys up extra and donates it to developing countries
Food stamps
Sustainable agriculture
Organic farming
A way small farms have remained competitive
.23% of farmland worldwide
Sensitive land management
Limited use of chemicals
Better integration of crops and livestock

17. Challenges for Subsistence Farmers
Feed an increasing # of people & must grow food for export and not direct consumption
Need to keep all soil fallowed
Incorporate higher- yield seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and machinery
Import them from other countries by building up revenue and becoming a global trading partner

18. Strategies to increase food supply
Increasing land productivity
Use crop rotation, fertilizers, pesticides, and higher yield seeds
Increasing exports of surplus production
Identifying new food sources
Lack due to the fact that there is not an integrated commodity chain
Expanding arable land
Stop desertification

19. Review World Food Production Meat Production
Cereal and major crop production
Wheat (S.E. Turkey), Rice (east or South Asia), Corn (Mexico), Yams (West Africa)
Main producers are US, China, India
Wheat = MDCs
Meat Production
Greatest factor in determining type of ranching is culture
Religious and cultural taboos
Proximity to the market for the product
Beef areas are concentrated in MDCs

20. Review How does per capita income correlate to literacy rate?
Which countries have the most people in the world, and were therefore affected by the Green Revolution?
Core-periphery
Industrial core
Upward transition: gaining jobs and attracting industry by business incentives, tax breaks, and investment opportunities
Downward transition: companies are leaving and unemployment is high
Resource frontier

21. Review Models and theories
Boserup’s Agricultural intensification theory
Agricultural production follows a punctuated equilibria
Very little improvements for long periods of time, followed by short rapid increases
Humans avoid Malthusian trap
Land Rent Theory
There is an inverse relationship between profits a piece of land needs to generate and the amount of land available
More land available, needs less profit per hectare
Less land available, needs more profit per hectare

22. Von Thunen’s Land Use Model
Crop production based on a cost analysis of shipping to the market
Value of yield per hectare
Intensive agriculture – large yield compared to land (large amounts of low cost crops)
Extensive agriculture – lots of land needed for minimal yield (fewer high priced goods)
Cost of transportation per hectare
Weight and perishability of the item
6 Stages: Market-Gardening, Dairy, Livestock fattening, commercial grain farming, livestock ranching, nonagricultural land use
Major Flaws
Assumes all types of land and transportation systems are equal
Hilly landscapes in Latin America (Terracing)
Refrigerated ships, airplanes
Global economy – Market is MDC’s
LDC’s specialize in agriculture production for MDC’s
Does not consider laws, regulations, and labor cost