Keller/AP Human Geography
March 2009
Agriculture & Rural Land Use
The von Thunen Model
“A Portion of Each Crop is Eaten By the Wheels!”- von Thunen. Germany, 1820’s.
Part 1: Please read the section on the von Thunen model in your textbook and the attached readings in your
case study packet to answer the following (on separate paper):
1. Identify and briefly discuss three factors which influence the choice of crops produced by commercial
farmers?
2. What is the significant connection of dairying to the idea that the commercial farmer needs to have
proximity to the market?
3. Which two costs is the commercial farmer most concerned with?
4. Explain why “distance to market” is so critical according to von Thunen?
5. According to von Thunen, there are SIX assumptions that need to be in place related to the production of
agricultural products. Pick any THREE and discuss using examples (past or present) from class discussions
and the attached texts where these assumptions may or may not be valid?
6. Briefly describe which specific crops were produced in each ring of von Thunen’s model and why they
were located in the ring they were?
APHG Textbook Page References (von Thunen):
De Blij, Murphy, Fouberg. 8th edition:
Pages 340-341
Rubenstein. 9th edition:
Pages 350-351
Fellmann, Getis, Getis: 10th edition:
Pages 269-271.
Norton. 4th edition:
Pages 273-278
The Human Mosaic. 10th edition.
Pages 283-285
Knox and Marston. all editions:
None
Von Thunen - A Model of Agricultural Land Use
The Von Thunen model of agricultural land use was created by farmer and amateur economist J.H. Von Thunen
(1783-1850) in 1826 (but it wasn't translated into English until 1966). Von Thunen's model was created before
industrialization and is based on the following limiting assumptions:
The city is located centrally within an "Isolated State" which is self sufficient and has no external influences.
The Isolated State is surrounded by an unoccupied wilderness.
The land of the State is completely flat and has no rivers or mountains to interrupt the terrain.
The soil quality and climate are consistent throughout the State.
Farmers in the Isolated State transport their own goods to market via oxcart, across land, directly to the central
city. Therefore, there are no roads.
Farmers act to maximize profits.
In an Isolated State with the foregoing statements being true, Von Thunen hypothesized that a pattern of rings
around the city would develop.
There are four rings of agricultural activity surrounding the city. Dairying and intensive farming occur in the ring
closest to the city. Since vegetables, fruit, milk and other dairy products must get to market quickly, they would be
produced close to the city (remember, we didn't have refrigerated oxcarts!)
Timber and firewood would be produced for fuel and building materials in the second zone. Before
industrialization (and coal power), wood was a very important fuel for heating and cooking. Wood is very heavy
and difficult to transport so it is located as close to the city as possible.
The third zone consists of extensive fields crops such as grains for bread. Since grains last longer than dairy
products and are much lighter than fuel, reducing transport costs, they can be located further from the city.
Ranching is located in the final ring surrounding the central city. Animals can be raised far from the city because
they are self-transporting. Animals can walk to the central city for sale or for butchering.
Beyond the fourth ring lies the unoccupied wilderness, which is too great a distance from the central city for any
type of agricultural product.
Even though the Von Thunen model was created in a time before factories, highways, and even railroads, it is still
an important model in geography. The Von Thunen model is an excellent illustration of the balance between
land cost and transportation costs. As one gets closer to a city, the price of land increases. The farmers of the
Isolated State balance the cost of transportation, land, and profit and produce the most cost-effective product for
market. Of course, in the real world, things don't happen as they would in a model.
Agricultural Location Theory in Human Geography
There are a lot of factors that influence how and where agriculture (farming) can be practiced. Some of those
factors are physical: soils, climate, and vegetation. Some of those factors are human: food preferences, dietary
habits (how many pigs are grown in the Middle East, where pork is anathema to both Jews and Muslims?),
political considerations (tariffs, subsidies), and other factors. One way to look at
agricultural location decisions and practices is to look at the profit motive, and this is especially true
in the capitalist economic system. Of course, the other locational factors have to be satisfied
first (profit is not a consideration if it is too wet to grow wheat or too dry to grow rice). And this
necessarily involves commercial agriculture rather than any kind of subsistence system.
Von Thunen and Economic/Locational rent. Note that the term “rent” has many meanings. The rent term most
of you are probably familiar with is that of contract rent or money paid for land or other property. For your
purposes of analyzing von Thunen’s theory, you should think of Locational rent as meaning MONEY MADE.
Economic/Locational rent is important in the agricultural location theory of von Thunen.
A German who lived in the late nineteenth through the middle of the twentieth centuries, he
devised a theory based on his observations of the German countryside. He observed that farmers
with the same kind of land and the same kind of environmental exposure use their land
differently. Some grew one kind of a crop and others grew something else. Why? Further, land
uses of these differences formed concentric zones or rings around cities. Why? Von Thunen
hypothesized that land use variations exist because of differential transportation costs.
He made a number of ASSUMPTIONS for his theory and subsequent model:
1. There is a single market place with no connections; his theory was called the isolated state. Is this a
likely real life situation?
2. Homogeneous physical environment (isotropic surface)
3. Uniform labor costs
4. Transportation equally possible in all directions
5. Transportation costs are directly related to distance
6. Farmers are rational and opt for those types of agriculture that produce the greatest locational rent
However, farmers don't usually grow their produce at the market site. It has to be moved or
transported there. This distinction means transportation costs will have an effect on Locational
rent.
As distance to market increases:
1. Production costs remain constant.
2. Transport costs increase
3. Locational rent decreases. Transportation costs and Locational rent are inversely related - one
goes up as the other goes down. It's because the transport costs eat into the locational rent.
Keller/APHG
March 2009
Part II: Answer after working through the collaborative (group) assignment:
1. In relation to the application of von Thunen’s model and associated assumptions, both past and present:
Please answer the following:
a. From your reading, your collaborative analysis and associated interpretation, identify and discuss a
specific agricultural example in which the process of production to consumption supports von Thunen’s
assumptions noted from the reading and your associated interpretation.
b. From your reading, your collaborative analysis and associated interpretation, identify and discuss a
specific agricultural example in which the process of production to consumption does not support von
Thunen’s assumptions noted from the reading and your associated interpretation.
c. From your reading, your collaborative analysis and associated interpretation, does the process of
modern agribusiness and vertical integration support the premise of von Thunen’s locational theory of
agriculture?
Please keep in mind historical context when doing this analysis, i.e. Von Thunen suggested this model
approx. 180 years ago! Also, please try to give specific examples wherever you can.
Collaborative Assignment (typically done in class, in groups of 3-4): Students will need a calculator.
Problem: Analyzing aspects of von Thunen’s rent theory.
This exercise examines the effects of various costs, especially transportation costs and climate constraints, on the
spatial organization of agricultural activities located around a central market. This demonstrates the
APPLICABILITY of von Thunen’s rent theory to agricultural problems.
Do not be confused by the fact that the graphic model used for this activity shows FIVE rings and NOT
four. This is the case because you are looking at the viability of certain crops with regard to distance in miles
to market and associated climate factors, NOT directly related to the FOUR specific zones setup by von
Thunen in his Model!
In order to produce a map showing the distribution of crops within an area, three assumptions must be considered:
1. This is an isolated region which all agricultural produce is sold at a central market town.
2. The variety of crops is limited to dairy products, vegetables, corn, cotton and wheat due to climatic and
prevailing market conditions.
3. The farmers are rational economic producers, that is, they will produce those products which yield the
greatest profit on their land.
a. Using the following formula for calculating economic rent:
ECONOMIC RENT (R) = E (p-a) – E f k
Where:
E = yield in units per acre
p = market price per unit of output
a = cost of production per unit per acre
f = transport cost per unit per mile
k = distance from the market in miles
and the following cost data from agricultural activities, determine the rent for each of the activities for each
of the four distance zones (k = 2 miles, 4 miles, and so on).
Cost data for agricultural activities to - determine rent for each value of k:
A($) E
p
f
2miles
4m
6m
8m
10m
____________________________________________________________________________
Cotton
.25
100
.60
.03
Wheat
.45
125
.65
.02
Dairy
.25
200
.55
.04
Corn
.20
300
.30
.01
Vegetables
.20
200
.70
.10
a. For that activity which yields the highest rent for a particular distance (for ex. Up to 2 miles) check the
environmental constraint table to see if temperature and precipitation permit it to exist in that band or
any part of it. Using the appropriate symbol for that activity, draw on the map that area where the
activity should be found based upon its rent and climate needs. If there is still unallocated space within
the zone, go to the activity which yields the next highest rent, check the environmental constraints for it
and draw its symbol in the area where the first activity cannot be produced. If there is still unallocated
space, go to the next highest rent yielding activity and so on until the zone is completely allocated with
agricultural activities.
Proceed to the next distance band (4 miles) and allocate land uses in the same manner until all land uses are
allocated. Do this for every one of the five distance bands until all the activities have been allocated.
If two activities yield the same rent for a particular area and are permitted by climatic conditions then insert
both symbols to show that they both might be found there. If any of your calculations produce a negative
value for Rent, treat it as though it were zero.
Environmental Constraints:
Activity
Temperature
Precipitation
Cotton
Wheat
Dairy
Corn
Vegetables
Hot
Cool - Mild
Cool – Mild
Mild – Hot
Mild – Hot
30 - 55 inches
15 - 55 inches
25 - 55 inches
20 - 55 inches
20 - 48 inches