Key Issue #3 – Where are Agricultural Regions in More Developed Countries?

1. Key Issue #3 – Where are Agricultural Regions in More Developed Countries?

2. Don’t worry about writing • Commercial agriculture in MDC’s can be divided into 6 main types: • mixed crops and livestock • dairying • grain farming • livestock ranching • Mediterranean agriculture • gardening and fruit culture. • The location of each depends largely on climate

3. MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK FARMING • Most common form of ag. west of the Appalachians in the US and W Europe.

4. Characteristics of Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming • The biggest characteristic is its integration of crops and livestock. • Most of the crops grown are fed to the animals. In turn, the livestock provide manure to grow more crops. • A typical mixed farm devotes nearly all land to growing crops, but more than 3/4ths of its income derives from the sale of animal products. • In the US, beef, pork, and chickens are the main animals grown on farms.

5. Corn is typically grown and fed to the animals because of its higher yield per acre than other grains. It can also be sold and processed into oil, margarine, and other food products. • Soybeans are the 2nd most grown product. They also can be fed directly to the animals or sold for use in human products like tofu, soy milk, or soybean cooking oil. • Farmers are able to distribute the work load across the entire year and receive seasonal variations of income.

6. DAIRY FARMING • Dairy farming is the most important type of commercial agriculture practiced on farms near the large urban areas in N. America & Europe. • It accounts for about 20% of the total value of all agricultural output. • Traditionally, fresh milk was rarely consumed except directly on the farm or in nearby villages. • With the rapid growth of cities in MDC’s in the 19th century, the demand for milk to urban residents increased. • Rising incomes allowed people to buy milk, which was once considered a luxury.

7. Why are dairy farms located near urban areas? • Mostly because of transportation issues since milk is highly perishable. • The ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling is known as the milkshed. • Before railroads, the range was 30 miles. Today, its more like 300 miles

9. Regional Variations • Dairies in the eastern US tend to supply milk. • To the west, farmers tend to sell their output to processors who make cheese, butter, or evaporated or condensed milk. • ex: 5% of milk is processed in Pennsylvania, while 90+% is processed in Wisconsin. • Dairy farmers, like other farmers, tend to sell their products to distributors who then sell to consumers

10. Problems for Dairy Farmers • Cows require constant attention… milking 2x a day, feeding during winter, etc. • The number of farms with milk cows declined in the US by 2/3rds from 1980-2000, due to lack of profitability and excessive workload. • However, the number of cows only declined by 1/8th and production actually increased by 1/4th.

15. GRAIN FARMING • Grain is the seed from various grasses, like wheat, corn, barley, oats, millet, rice, and others. • Commercial grain agriculture is distinguished from mixed crop and livestock farming because it is grown primarily for human consumption. • The most important crop grown is wheat, used to make bread flour. It sells for a higher price and has more uses than other crops, thus making it more profitable to ship remotely. • The US is by far the largest commercial grain producer. • Commercial grain farms are generally located where it is too dry for mixed crop and livestock agriculture.

16. The McCormick reaper, invented in the 1830s, first permitted large-scale wheat production. Today, the combine machine does three tasks: reaps, threshes, and cleans. • Unlike other agricultural products, wheat is grown to a considerable extent for international trade and is the world’s leading export crop. • As the US and Canada account for about half of the world’s wheat exports, they are appropriately labeled the world’s “breadbasket.”

18. McCormick Mechanical Reaper

23. LIVESTOCK RANCHING • Ranching is the commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area. It is adapted to semiarid or arid land… it is practiced in MDC’s, where the vegetation is too sparse and the soil too poor to support crops. • Read 332-334

24. MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE • Mediterranean agriculture exists primarily in the lands that border the Med. Sea. Farmers in Southern California, Chile, and South Africa also practice it. • Prevailing sea winds provide moisture and keep winter temperatures warm. Summers are hot and dry, but sea breezes provide relief. The land is usually hilly, and mountains frequently plunge directly into the sea. • Most crops in the Med. Lands are grown for human consumption. • Horticulture – which is the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers – and tree crops form the commercial base of Med. Farming.

25. Around the Mediterranean Sea, the two most important cash crops are olives and grapes. 2/3rds of the world’s wine is made in countries bordering the Mediterreanean Sea. • Despite the importance of grapes and olives, about half of the land is devoted to growing cereals. • The rapid growth of urban areas in the US, especially Los Angeles, has converted high-quality agricultural land into housing developments… • Thus far, it has been offset with expansions into arid lands, which requires massive irrigation, so it is yet to be seen what problems this may bring.

27. COMMERCIAL GARDENING & FRUIT FARMING • This is the predominant type of agriculture in the Southeast US… long growing season and humid climate and is accessible to the large markets of the Northeast US. • The type of agriculture practiced in the SE is typically called truck farming because “truck” was a Middle English word meaning bartering.

28. Truck farms grow lots of the fresh fruits & vegetables that people demand in MDC’s. • They are highly efficient large-scale operations that take full advantage of machines at every stage of the growth process. • Truck farmers are willing to experiment to maximize efficiency and are willing to hire migrant workers to keep down costs. • Farms tend to specialize in a few crops, and a handful of farms may dominate national output of some fruits and vegetables.

31. PLANTATION FARMING • This is a form of commercial agriculture practiced in the tropics and subtropics, especially in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. They are situated in LDC’s, but are owned and operated by Europeans and North Americans and grow crops primarily for MDC’s. • A plantation is a large farm that specializes in one or two crops like cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, tobacco, etc. • They are located in sparsely settled areas, so they import workers and provide them with food, housing, and social services. • Until the Civil War, plantations were important in the US South

32. Boone Hall Plantation, Charleston, SC

33. Boone Hall Plantation Slave Cabins

35. Coffee Plantation

36. Tea Plantation

37. Banana Plantation

38. Chiquita Banana Plantation, Colombia

39. Pineapple Plantation, Hawaii

40. China-Taiwan

41. Key Issue #4 – Why Does Agriculture Vary Among Regions?

42. Three types of reasons help to explain differences among agricultural regions: • Environmental • Cultural • Economic

43. ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS • Regions of distinctive agricultural practices exist in part b/c of differences in climate. • Ex: the Middle East is dry, so pastoral nomadism occurs. Central Africa has a tropical climate, so shifting cultivation is the predominant type. • The correlation between agriculture and climate is by no means perfect, but clearly some relationship persists between climate and agriculture.

44. ECONOMIC ISSUES FOR SUBSISTENCE FARMERS • Two economic issues discussed in earlier chapters influence the choice of crops planted by subsistence farmers… • First, b/c of rapid population growth in less developed countries, subsistence farmers must feed an increasing number of people. • Second, b/c of adopting the international trade approach to development, subsistence farmers must grow more food for export instead of for direct consumption

45. Subsistence Farming and Population Growth • Read Ester Boserup’s explanation of why population growth influences the distribution of types of subsistence farming. • Pages 337-338.

46. Subsistence Farming and International Trade • To expand production, subsistence farmers need higher yield seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and machinery. Some needed supplies can be secured through trade. • To generate the funds they need to buy agricultural supplies, LDC’s must produce something they can sell to MDC’s… the LDC’s sell some manufactured goods, but most raise funds through the sale of crops.

47. Consumers in MDC’s are willing to pay high prices for fruits and vegetables that would otherwise be out of season, or for crops such as coffee and tea that cannot be grown there b/c of the climate. • The sale of export crops brings a LDC foreign currency, a portion of which can be used to buy agricultural supplies. However, with rapidly growing populations, the money may have to be used to feed the people.

48. Drug Crops • The export crops chosen in some LDC’s, especially in Latin America and Asia, are those that can be converted to drugs. • Various drugs, such as coca leaf, marijuana, opium, and hashish, have distinctive geographic distributions. • Coca leaf is grown in NW S. America, esp. Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Most of its processing and distribution is based in Colombia. • Mexico grows the majority of the marijuana that reaches the US. • Most opium originates in Asia, especially Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Laos. Thailand serves as the transportation hub for distribution for MDC’s.

49. Last year, Afghan farmers grew 93% of the world’s opium

50. ECONOMIC ISSUES FOR COMMERCIAL FARMERS • Two economic factors influence the choice of crops or livestock by commercial farmers: • access to markets • overproduction