Agricultural and Rural Land Use

Key Issue #3: Where are Agricultural Regions in More

Developed Countries?

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming• Where?

– Most common form of agriculture in the United States west of the Appalachian and east of 98 degrees west

– Much of Europe from France to Russia

Characteristics of Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

• The integration of crops and livestock

• Most crops are fed to animals

• Livestock provide manure

• ¾ of income comes from animal products (beef, milk, eggs, etc…)

• The mix of crops and livestock reduces the variation in seasonal income

Crop Rotation Systems

• Farms are divided into fields

• The crop planted on each rotates

• A year fallow

Choice of Crops

• Corn

• The Corn Belt

• Soybeans

Dairy Farming

• Where?– The most important type of commercial

farming near large urban areas of the NE U.S., SE Canada, and NW Europe

– Also, South and East Asia– India – the largest producer of milk

Why Dairy Farms Locate Near Urban Areas

• Transportation factors – milk is highly perishable!

• Milkshed

Regional Differences in Dairy Products

• The farther the farm is from urban areas, the smaller is the percentage of output devoted to fresh milk

• New Zealand

Problems for Dairy Farmers

• Declining revenues and rising costs

• Dairying is labor intensive

• Feeding the cows during winter = expensive

Grain Farming• Grain – the seed from various grasses (wheat,

corn, oats, barley, rice, etc…)• Grains are primarily grown for human

consumption• Output is sold to food manufacturers• The most important – wheat• The world’s leading export• The world’s “breadbasket”

Grain Farming Regions

• The U.S. is the largest commercial producer of grain

• A few other countries: Canada, Argentina, Australia, France and the U.K.

• Generally found in regions too dry for mixed crop and livestock agriculture

The McCormick Reaper

A Combine Machine

Livestock Ranching

• Ranching is the commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area

• Semiarid or arid land

• Practiced in PED’s where vegetation is sparse and soil is bad

Cattle Ranching in Popular U.S. Culture

• Beginning of U.S. cattle ranching:– Columbus first brought cattle to America on his

second trip– Immigrants from Spain and Portugal began ranching

in the Americas– Cattle Ranching expanded in the 1860s

• Transporting cattle to market– To reach cities: cowboys drove them over trails

through Texas to the nearest railway– They were transported to on cattle cars

Fixed Location Ranching

• Cattle ranching declined in the 1880s

• “The Code of the West”

• Early cattle ranchers in the West owned little land, only cattle

Range Wars• The U.S. government

owned most of the land that was used for grazing

• The government sold the land to farmers

• Barbed wire• The farmers won the

battle, and ranchers had to buy or lease land

Changes in Cattle Breeding

Hereford Longhorn

Ranching Outside the U.S.

• Other PED regions• Rare in Europe, except Spain and

Portugal• Argentina, Southern Brazil, and Uruguay• The interior of Australia• New Zealand, the Middle East, South

Africa• Ranching is part of the meat-processing

industry

Mediterranean Agriculture

• Climate – prevailing winds provide moisture and moderate winter temperatures

• Land is very hilly

• A smaller percentage of income is derived from animal products than mixed use and livestock regions

Mediterranean Climate Regions

Mediterranean Crops

• Most are for human consumption

• Horticulture – the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers

• Two most important cash crops – olives and grapes

Wine Production

• 2/3 of the world’s wine production is in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean (France, Italy, Spain)

• The Remaining 1/3 – produced in other Mediterranean climate regions (California, Chile, South Africa, and Australia)

Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming

• Where?– In the SE United

States– “truck farming”– Apples, asparagus,

cherries, lettuce, mushrooms, and tomatoes

Specialty Farming

• A form of truck farming spread to New England

• Profitably growing crops that have demand from affluent customers

• Asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, strawberries, etc…

Importance of Access to Markets

• Von Thünen Model – helps to explain the importance of proximity to market and the choice of crops on commercial farms– Johann Heinrich von Thünen, 1826, Germany– Which crops? Which animals?– The cost of land vs. the cost of transporting goods– Farms close to market tend to have products that are

expensive to transport– Farms further from the market have products that are

cheaper to transport

Von Thünen Model

Application of Von Thünen Model

• Based on experiences in the early 19th Century

• First ring outside of city – market oriented gardens and milk producers

• Second – timber• Next – various crops• Last – land for grazing• Other factors – a river or other

transportation can change the model