Chapter 13 The Spatial
Organization of Agriculture
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Introduction
Historical Geography of the Farm in America
Historical Geography of Farming in the World
Agriculture in Modern Societies
Introduction to the Agricultural Production Process
Von Thünen’s Location Theory
Empirical Applications of Thünian Location Theory
Dynamic Agricultural Location Theory: Thünian
Analysis in Time-Space
• Thünian Location Theory in the Late-TwentiethCentury World
• Summary
Historical Geography of the Farm
in America & Farming in the World
• In the U.S.- Clearly long-run decrease in share
of employment in agriculture, proportion of
population on farms, and share of population
located in rural places
• Regional differences in role of agriculture—
leading and lagging regions
• Globally, the shift from hunting & gathering in
“wild” environments to cultivation and
domestication, increases in yields, but with most
production still destined for local consumption
• A thin layer of trade in exotic commodities –
spices, salt, …
Historical Pattern of Local SelfSufficient Agricultural Settlements
Urban Center
Producing Goods & Services
(Trading foodstuffs & raw materials)
Rural Hinterlands – Producing
Food and Raw Materials
Agriculture in Modern Societies
• Contrast to manufacturing and services:
agriculture is distributed extensively across the
landscape. Due to (1) variations in productivity
by crop/product, (2) competition with other land
uses, (3) spatially dispersed markets for some
agricultural products
• Implies more sensitivity to transport (and storage
costs)
• Has led to R&D to enhance agricultural
productivity (ag extension; computerization of
farm activity: crop planting & timing, harvesting,
storage, etc.
Agricultural Patterns in the U.S.
• Current patterns of specialization (Fig
13.4) versus earlier patterns (prior to
interregional trade made possible by rail
and trucks)
• Farmer’s experimentation leads to
realization of yield potentials for
crops/products in subregion
– Northwest examples – wool, wheat, hops,
apples, grapes, potatoes
Imagine a Search Process:
Producers Seeking Places Like the
Yellow zone
RAINFALL
SOIL
PHYSICAL
OPTIMUM
TEMPERATURE
Spatial Variations in the
Quality of Agricultural
Resources
• Impact of temperature & precipitation on yield &
Too Hot
Zero
10
25
50
OPTIMUM
5 10 5 2 0
2
10
30

Too Cold
Precipitation
and Rent
Too Wet
Too Dry
Temperature
cost
Spatial Variations in the
Quality of Agricultural
Resources, cont.
Limits for particular crops / animals
Locational Rent vs. economic rent
Defined relative
to a market location
Defined across all
competing uses
Crop C
Crop A
Crop D
Crop B
Von Thünen’s Location Theory
• Developed in 18th Century Germany, but a
wealthy landowner, to optimize the pattern of
uses of his land
• Based on the notion of opportunity cost –
producers seek maximum return VERSUS
possible return
• Example: If land is rented to someone at
$1000/acre, and someone else is willing to pay
$2000, the land owner would be incurring an
opportunity cost of $1000
• In the agricultural land market: contracts, and
other institutions that lead to “imperfections” in
land uses vs. optimal land use (but true for all
land uses)
Von Thünen’s Location Theory
• Assumptions in modern rendering of this
theory
• The isotropic plain again
• Rent: Economic Rent as envisaged in Von
Thünen’s model, versus rent like you and I
pay to landlords or banks
• Von Thünen’s model versus what is in the
text in Figure 13.8: The role of wood
historically
Historic U.S. Energy
Consumption
Spatial Organization of Land
Use
• Agricultural Production
– Sold in central places
– Rent Theory Model for one good
– Rent Theory Model for multiple goods
– Evidence
• Spatial Organization in Urban
Centers
– Theory
– Evidence: concentric rings; sectors;
multiple-nuclei
Basic Land-Rent Model
Rent.xls
Land Rent = Yield (Market Price
minus Production Cost) - Yield
*transport rate*distance)
LR = Y(m-c)-y*d*t
If: Y = 4, m = 5, c = 2, t = .1, d = 10,
LR = 4 (5 - 2) - 4*.1*10
= 12 - 4
= 8
Multiple Centers & Ag. Land
Use
Single Crops or Combinations
The agricultural trade system
A
B
Crop 1
Crop 2
A
Crop 3
Empirical Evidence for
Agricultural Production
Von Thünen’s famous studies
Bauria, India; Addis Ababa
Farm Land Use Values - Washington
counties
Sinclair’s Reversal of von Thünen’s
Analysis
Rent
Limit of expected
urban growth
Distance from urban center
Location Rents in Urban Areas
Location Rent
Industrial
Residential
Agricultural
Commercial
Distance from Center
Urban Land Rents: Evidence
The monocentric city model vs. reality
Harris & Ullman: alternative structures:
(1) concentric zone model - monocentric vs.
multiple hierarchical center
(figure 1.36),
(2) sector model (Seattle; Calgary)
(3) Multiple - nuclei (merger over time OR
evolution due to shifts in locational preference &
transportation system (Edge Cities)
Empirical Applications of Thünian
Location Theory
• The view in this text: dominated by an Eastern
U.S. view of production systems –narrative, Fig.
13.14. Fig 13.15, Fig 13.16.
• Fig 13.16 & Figure 13.17 – I think is far too
simple, and fails to capture the microclimatic
organization of modern agriculture in the U.S.
• Fig 13.18 – Also too simple, in my view of the
organization of production systems.
• **The rise of localized market systems in recent
years
Dynamic Agricultural Location Theory
(OR) Dynamic Industry!
• The Jannelle model
• Presented here for agriculture, but I think
that it is relevant across the economy
• Please think of industries in your
communities that resonate with this
framework.
Spatial Impact of Transport
Improvements
1. Demand for
Accessibility
Search
6. Increased
Interaction
5. Spatial adaptation
to changes in timespace organization
(centralization and
specialization
2. Technological
Development
4. Time-space
convergence
3. Transport
Innovation
Key Consequences of Janelle
Model
Interaction
• Long-run decrease in friction of distance
t1
t2
t3
Distance
Due to innovations in transportation methods
and improvements in media themselves
Result: Lowered average ton-mile costs of transportation
and decreased importance of transport costs as a
factor cost  AND other costs rise in importance
Consequences of Janelle Model,
Cont.
• The spatial pattern of production moves
from dispersed……..
C1
C2
L1
M1
L3
M2
L2
M1
C3
M1
Consequences of Janelle Model,
Cont.
• To concentrated, taking advantage of the
intrinsic
comparative advantages of resource
supplies
C
1
C2
L1
M1
M1
L3
M2
L*
M1
L2
M1
C3
• Resulting in (1) geographic specialization, (2) increased
spatial extent of production, (3) greater interaction
(consider this model operating across many industries)
Examples of Janelle Model
Steam-powered railroads versus
waterborne sailing vessels & canal era
or overland by horse-drawn wagons.
Development of Interstate Highway
System
Development of intermodal cargocontainer system (ship/rail)
? What about in the services? Clearly
impact in business/tourist services. But
what about the Internet?