AP Human Geography
Topic 5
Food and Agriculture
Spencer Swindler
 Agriculture
is a
activity
which extracts food material directly
from the earth’s surface.
 Developing countries’ agriculture is
mostly
. Food and
farm products are usually consumed
close to where they are grown.
 Developed countries focus mainly on
. Farmers sell
almost everything they produce.
 Before
the New Stone Age all
humans were engaged in hunting
and gathering.
 Agriculture began 10,000 years
ago.
 The
, aka
,
involves the cultivation of plants
and domestication of animals.
 Civilization was born out of
excess food and sedentary
living.
 According
to Carl Sauer the first
crops cultivated came from
(cloning by
cutting stems and dividing roots).
 According to Sauer people in SE
Asia were more settled, due to
fishing and hunting, and had
more plants able to be
transplanted & divided.
 Yams, taro, bananas, and palms
were the first crops.
 Most
modern crops are grown using
.
 Carl Sauer believes the seed
agriculture hearths were in India,
China, and Ethiopia.
 We are taught incorrectly that the
Fertile Crescent is the birthplace
of agriculture because Europeans
inherited most of their agricultural
practices and crops from the Tigris
and Euphrates region.
 Jared
Diamond
believes that the
physical environment
determines what
crops are grown. This
along with what
animals are
domesticated allows
certain areas to
develop faster than
others.
 Subsistence
agriculture is
found in developing
countries (LDCs) and
produces food and goods
for the local community.
 Subsistence agriculture is
and
requires a high percentage
of the total labor force.
 Subsistence farming varies
greatly by region.
 There
are three major categories of
subsistence farming.
-concentrated
farming of wet rice, Chinese wheat, millet,
maize, beans, and peas
 Extensive Subsistence (Swidden and Nomadism)
aka swidden
agriculture-uses slash and burn techniques to
clear rain forest.
(growing various
crops) is common. Most work is done by hand.
-following domesticated
herds.
requires large amounts of land and
comparatively (to intensive
subsistence agriculture) minimal labor.
 Population and product per acre are
low whether we are talking about
leaving large plots fallow in swidden
agriculture or having huge pastures.
 Reindeer, sheep, goats, camels, and
yaks provide meat, wool, milk, skins,
transportation, and work.
requires intense working of
concentrated farms. Yield per acre
is high but little is sold to others
outside the local community.
 Lowland (wet) rice is planted in a
dry nursery then moved to a wet
paddy/
.
 Many Asian wet rice farms are
meaning farmers
get two harvest in one year.
 Whereas
subsistence agriculture is
and requires a high percentage of
the total labor force, commercial
agriculture is
and requires
a very small percentage of the population.
 Agriculture in more developed countries
(MDCs) involves research, technology, and
advanced machinery.
 New breeds of plants and animals,
fertilizers, herbicides, antibiotics, and
genetic modification boost yields.
Combine harvester
is based on
food surpluses. Commercial farmers
do not sell much directly to
consumers. Most of their produce is
sold directly to food-processing
companies.
 Big
companies agree to buy grain
and livestock from commercial
farmers.
 This
system of commercial farming
found in MDCs is called
. Farming is integrated
in a large food-production industry.
 In
between 1 & 2% of all workers in
the US are farmers. Many subSaharan countries have over 60% of
their labor force engaged in
agriculture.
 Tractors, planters, and combines
have replaced manual labor.
 Railways, highways, cargo planes,
and huge ships give farmers in MDCs
the ability to get food and goods to
many many customers domestically
and worldwide.
 Like
subsistence farming commercial
farming can also be split into intensive and
extensive categories. Whereas there are 3
categories of subsistence farming, there
are 7 types of commercial farming.
 1. Mixed crop and livestock farming
 2. Dairy farming
 3. Grain farming
 4. Livestock ranching
 5. Mediterranean agriculture
 6. Commercial gardening and fruit farming
 7. Plantation farming
Farmers grow cereal grains and raise livestock
on the same land with the vast majority of
the crops going to the animals. Income
comes mostly from the sale of beef, pork,
milk, and eggs. Fields require attention for
spring planting and fall harvesting. Animals
require attention year-round but can be sold
year-round as well. Clover is sometimes
rotated in for cattle to eat and to revitalize
the land. Corn and soybeans are the most
important ‘mixed’ crops.
Dairies must be closer to their market than
other agricultural products. This relatively
small ring surrounding the city is called the
milkshed. Today refrigerated railcars and trucks
have greatly increased the size of milksheds.
New Zealand is the world largest producer of
dairy products but sells no milk to the US or
Europe. The products it sells are cheese,
butter, and other products that last a long time.
Managing milk cows is very labor intensive and
existing farms must have many cows.
Labor for wheat is concentrated in
planting and harvesting. Winter
wheat is grown in Kansas,
Colorado, and Oklahoma. Wyoming
and Nebraska can produce both
winter and spring wheat. Montana
and the Dakotas produce spring
wheat only. Wheat is the world’s
leading export crop. The prairies of
the US and Canada are called the
for good
reason.
When crop production is impractical,
commercial agriculture takes the form of
ranching, where livestock graze over extensive
areas. In the US cattle originally roamed freely
and were rounded up in the spring and driven to
large railroad termini. Most livestock raised in
the U.S. is sold domestically. The South
American pampas (prairie) has both cattle and
sheep. Sheep are very popular in Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, and the Middle East.
This type of agriculture exists in central Chile,
California, and the lands bordering the
Mediterranean. These areas share hot & dry
summers, mountains that border the sea, and
hilly topography. Horticulture (fruits,
vegetables, & flowers) forms the base of
Mediterranean agriculture. Farmers usually
plant a variety of crops. Olives and grapes
continue to be among most important grown.
In California citrus and tree nuts are grown for
the U.S. market.
In the Southeastern U.S.
predominates. Products
include tomatoes, mushrooms,
apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce,
and cucumbers. Most produce is sold
to large processors for canning or
freezing. Truck farms rely heavily on
machinery and fertilizers. Migrants
are hired to keep labor costs low.
Plantations are large farms that specialize
in 1 or 2 crops. Today most plantations are
found Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The
from these regions are raised
for export to MDCs. Cotton, sugarcane,
coffee, rubber, and tobacco are grow on
sparsely settled plantations. Workers are
imported and provided with room and
board. Westerners (individuals and
corporations) own many plantations and
pay salaries. The demise of slavery was
also the demise of the domestic plantation.
In the early 19th century a German farmer,
Johann Heinrich von Thünen, studied the spatial
layout of farming around the town of Rostock.
He mapped patterns of concentric rings around
towns. Von Thünen identified four rings.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Market Gardening/Dairy
Forest
Field Crops
Animal Grazing
need
to be close to town because they spoil
quickly.
 In Von Thünen’s day wood was a primary
source of fuel and towns needed to be close
to
to minimize transportation costs.
/grains are grown in the next ring.
Crops like wheat are much less perishable
than fruits, vegetables, and milk.
 The 4th ring was used for
. This ring provides lots of space, low
rent cost, but has high transportation cost.
 Von
Thünen’s model teaches us to apply
methods for high
value-land and
for
low value land.
 Von Thünen’s model has to be altered to
account for soil quality, terrain, and climate
changes. In the real world the rings are not
perfect circles.
 Von Thünen is a
that
explains how agricultural activity is related
to the land where production takes place.
 Areas
of extensive agriculture usually have
a
with
distance between individual farmhouses.
are when people
live close together in hamlets and villages.
The surrounding fields are small. Land use
is intense and people and animals do most
of the work.
A
is a cluster of houses in a rural
area. Most people in villages work in the
primary sector.
Traditionally
passing land to the eldest
son, is how land was
distributed. As settlers
moved west the U.S.
government used the
,
in which grids were drawn
and land was divided. The
straight lines are were where
roads and homes were built.
 The
rectangular survey
system does not take terrain
into account. The
approach does.
Natural features are used in
the metes and bounds
approach creating
irregularly shaped plots. In
Canada, Louisiana, and
Texas the
extends from rivers
and roads to give more
access to transportation.
She viewed population growth as a positive
force driving innovation.
• She believed intensive agriculture has the
ability to support much higher population.
• Boserup developed a five-stage model
detailing increasing intensity of cultivation.
• She argued that increased levels of
productivity would counteract the land
being rendered infertile from overuse.
•
Agricultural production has grown
exponentially and outpaces population
growth. At current levels famine should be a
thing of the past.
• The diffusion of nitrogen-based fertilizers
assure higher productivity around the world.
• New food sources, ocean cultivation, higherprotein cereals, and improved ‘craveability’
of previously rarely eaten foods prove science
can save the world.
•
Agricultural production in India and
China is keeping pace with population
growth.
• New processes of irrigation have greatly
increased crop yields.
• Agribusiness has increased productivity
and raised large amounts of grain to
feed the world.
• Farmers in MDCs make more profits as
agriculture becomes more global.
•
Poor countries don’t have
enough money for capital
intensive commercial
agriculture.
• “Green Revolution” seeds
and fertilizers are expensive.
• Combines and tractors cost
hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
•
Fertilizers cause
groundwater pollution.
Fertilized soil has a
reduction in organic matter.
• Populations of certain breeds
of fish are dwindling.
• ‘Heirloom’ fruits and veggies
are expensive to buy because
of low supply.
•
LDCs in Sub-Saharan Africa
still have food shortages.
The world has plenty of food
but it is hard to distribute.
• Irrigation has led to
groundwater depletion
negatively impacting current
and future water supplies.
•
Agribusiness leads to much of
the land being devoted to one
type of crop. We need natural
diversity for sustainability.
We need to eat a wider
variety of foods for healthy
diets. We need countries to
be more self-sufficient.
• Natural environments are
destroyed and vegetation loss
can lead to desertification.
•