1. Primarily for direct consumption by a local population, usually small scale and low tech Subsistence Agriculture Primarily for purpose of selling products for money, often monocultures for economies of scale Commercial Agriculture Agriculture & Rural Land Use – Key Topics

2. Large-area farms or ranches Low inputs of labor & low output per acre Extensive Land Use Small-area farms or ranches High inputs of labor & high output per acre Intensive Land Use Rice paddies, southeast China Cattle ranch, northeast Colorado

3. Large amount of human work is applied per unit of output Labor-Intensive Agriculture Large amount of capital (equipment and buildings used to produce other goods) is applied per unit of output Capital-Intensive Agriculture Top picture – Labor-intensive corn raising in central Mexico. Bottom picture – Corn exported from capital- intensive U.S. farms to the Mexican market

4. Subsistence – predominantly low-income regions Intensive subsistence – subtropical monsoon areas Shifting cultivation – tropical forests & savannas Nomadic herding – semiarid and arid lands Commercial – predominantly high-income regions Crop farming – more humid climates Livestock ranching - drylands

5. Probable culture-hearths of agriculture shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies Invention of farming & domestication of livestock (8,000– 14,000 years ago) + diffusion from several source regions = shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies First Agricultural Revolution

6. Second Agricultural Revolution Technological changes (starting 1600s in Western Europe; spread by 1800s to North America) Began with new methods: crop rotation, better horse collars Later innovations: replace human labor with machines, supplement natural fertilizers & pesticides with chemical Beginnings of commercialization of agriculture (production of surplus for trade); enabled widespread urbanization

7. Climate and natural environment Culture Economic factors Simplified von Thünen model of agricultural land use (1826) Factors influencing location of agriculture Medium transportation cost items (corn, soybeans, mixed farming) More extensive land use – medium rent Urban market High transportation cost items (vegetables, eggs, dairy, flowers) Intensive land use – high land rent Lowest transportation cost items (forestry, wheat, livestock ranching) Most extensive land use – lowest land rent

8. Third Agricultural Revolution GREEN REVOLUTION Since 1960s - hybridized grains (“Green Revolution”) - synthetic fertilizers - genetically engineered crops - vertical integration of ownership (e.g., Cargill, ConAgra, ADM) - globalization of production A partial list of ConAgra’s brands Swiss MissHunt’s Van Camp’sMarie Callender’s WessonHebrew National Slim JimEgg Beaters RosaritaChef Boyardee ReddiWipPam Peter PanOrville Redenbacher’s Healthy ChoiceBanquet

9. “Green Revolution” – 1960s -1980s Rice plant Rice - staple food for 2.5 billion Asians - provides 2/3 of calories for Asians with rice-based diets Green Rev – Raised yields * Improved rice strains * Greater use of fertilizer * Increase use of irrigation Asia’s rice production grew at annual rates of 3.0% until 1980s Yield growth rate exceeded high pop. growth rates of the time

10. “Post-Green Revolution” (since 1980s) Green Revolution Plusses: Countries self-sufficient in rice or even exporters (Thai, Viet). Poor people benefited as yield increases caused real price of rice to drop. Problems Successes led to less concern about food security, & less investment in irrigation, agric research, & rural infrastructure. Growth rate in rice production declined during 1985-95 due to drop in growth rate of rice yields. In most places, despite increasing use of fertilizers, further increases in yields became harder to achieve & more costly.

11. Third Agricultural Revolution Benefits Reduced uncertainties in agriculture Greater global exchange of ag products Increased yields Costs Increased dependence on fossil fuels Reliance on chemical inputs Less global diversity of food products Concentration of pollutants

12. Primary Secondary Tertiary Quaternary Sectors of the Economy Figure 6.1 (p. 138) Figure 6.11 (p. 150)

13. Background on Economic Restructuring of the U.S. and Canadian Economies Job Competition

14. Figure 6.10 (p. 149) Structural change of the economy

15. Least-Cost Location Theory Cost minimization is half of profit maximization equation (along with maximizing revenues) Cost minimization theory: - labor-cost minimization - transportation cost minimization Cost minimization - an industrial location strategy that seeks to minimize what the firm pays to produce and distribute its products or services

16. Maquiladoras – foreign-owned assembly plants in Mexico (mostly textiles & consumer electronics) Over 11,500 maquiladoras along border with U.S.; employ 2 million+ Mexicans Revenues from maquiladoras, make up 85% of trade btwn Mexico and U.S. Minimizing Labor Cost Average work week is 60-70 hours; wages about $5.75 per day. Women are 70% of maquiladora workforce. Since 2000, some maquiladoras have closed as corporations move assembly-line jobs to even lower- wage countries, mainly China. Sources: PBS & Ingolf Vogeler

17. Fixed and Variable Costs Influence the Optimum Location for Economic Activity Classical economic geography models focus mainly on the variable cost of transportation

18. Determining the best location for a mfg. plant with raw materials in Minnesota, Florida, and Texas & the market in New York (but with differing amounts of raw mat’s needed)

19. Weber Triangle Three factors: –Transport costs –Labor costs –Agglomeration Transport costs: –One market and two sources: Equal distance and shipping costs dictates a market location Two weight-losing materials results in an intermediate location

20. Weber’s Theory of Location Weber’s theory results in 3 generalizations: –Using pure materials in the production process will always dictate a market location –Weight-loss materials usage will pull the plant closer to the sources –Intermediate location chosen most often No handling costs at terminal

21. Weber’s Theory of Location Labor Costs: –Location chosen always has least combined costs A location my have higher transport costs, but more inexpensive labor –Isotims: lines of equal transport cost –Isodapane: line of total transport costs (sum of isotims)

23. Weber’s Theory of Location Agglomeration: –Weber recognized that clustering will result in a per unit savings –Example:

24. Raw Material Oriented Tendency for industry to locate near its source of raw materials in order to save on transport costs Usually occurs when raw materials lose weight in the production process (e.g., paper, steel) Transportation Cost Minimization

25. Market Oriented Tendency for industry to locate near population centers in order to save on transport costs Occurs when product is more costly to transport than raw materials (e.g., beverages, glass) Transportation Cost Minimization

26. Break-of-Bulk Oriented Location between sources of raw materials and markets – for products that must be divided and shipped from a central point of entry Intermodal transportation – e.g., moving from rails to trucks or ships to trucks, or ports to pipelines Transportation Cost Minimization

27. Where is the best location for a steel manufacturing plant? Recipe for steel (traditional) Coal = 2 to 3 tons (+ energy*) Iron ore = 1½ to 2 tons Limestone = ¼ to ½ ton Mix all solid ingredients. Heat at about 600º F until thoroughly melted.* Pour molten blend into molds. Cool and serve. Makes one ton of finished steel.

28. The recipe for making steel has changed (new technology) How has this affected the location of modern steel- producing areas?

29. Consider transport costs of a car’s components. Where’s a good place to locate your assembly plant?

30. Over 50,000 U.S. auto- making jobs in these foreign- owned plants (2005)

31. The cost of transporting data has declined to near zero Source: Probe Research, Inc., Telcordia (Bellcore); Progressive Policy Institute. Low transmission costs, plus ability to digitize data, revolutionized the location choices for high-tech industry

32. “Post-Fordist” Production – High Tech Industry Adapting the traditional models of economic geography Greater flexibility of production Less reliance on storage of inventory – seek prompt delivery of goods needed for production (“just-in-time”) Suppliers’ location Need to have access to fast delivery systems (= airports) Agglomeration of management Still occurs! High-tech innovators locate closer to airports; universities; amenities; venture capital (tends to be a “footloose” industry) Internationalized spatial division of labor Lower labor costs needed for production – industry locates manufacturing in lower wage areas (secondary) but tech and management stays in core area (quaternary)

33. Multiplier Effect Addition of one basic job tends to give rise to more jobs including non basic jobs –Basic Job = brings money into an urban place & gives the city its primary function Auto manufacturing Coca cola plant Aerospace industry Movie production industry Adding a NON basic job does not have the same effect

34. Economic Base Model