Chapter 10
Key Issue 3
Where Are Agricultural
Regions in More Developed
Countries?
Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
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Mixed crop and livestock farming is
practiced in much of the United
States and northern Europe.
Most of the crops are fed to animals.
Corn is generally the crop of choice
because of its high yields per area,
followed by soybeans.
Dairy Farming
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Dairy farming is an important type of commercial
agriculture near urban areas in North America
and Europe, where it accounts for about 20% of
the total value of agricultural output.
Australia and New Zealand also have major dairy
production regions.
The ring surrounding a city from which milk can
be supplied without spoiling is called the
milkshed.
Increasingly in the developed world, thanks to
modern transportation systems, dairy production
can take place further from the market.
Grain Farming
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Commercial grain farming, which includes wheat and corn,
takes place in western North America and southern Russia.
In North America there is a winter wheat belt in Kansas,
Colorado, and Oklahoma, where the crop is planted in the
autumn.
In the spring wheat belt, which includes the Dakotas,
Montana, and southern Saskatchewan, the crop is planted
in the spring.
A third important grain growing region is in the state of
Washington.
Large-scale wheat production was first made possible by
the McCormick reaper in the 1830s. Today the combine
performs the three tasks of reaping, threshing, and
cleaning in one operation.
Livestock Ranching
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Livestock ranching is the extensive commercial
grazing of livestock land in semiarid or arid lands.
It is practiced in much of the western United
States and the pampas regions of Argentina,
southern Brazil, and Uruguay.
Historically ranching involved the herding of
cattle over open ranges in a semi-nomadic style,
and later became sedentary farming by dividing
open land into ranches.
Today it has become part of the meat-processing
industry rather than an economic activity
practiced on isolated farms.
Mediterranean Agriculture
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Mediterranean agriculture, practiced in the
Mediterranean, California, and parts of
Chile, Australia, and South Africa, consists
of diverse crops such as grapes, olives,
nuts, fruits, and vegetables, mostly for
human consumption.
Horticulture is the term for the growing of
fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
Commercial Gardening and Fruit
Farming
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Commercial gardening and fruit farming is the
dominant form of agriculture in the southeastern
United States.
It is practiced close to urban areas and is also
called truck farming because “truck” was the
Middle English word for barter or the exchange of
commodities. Truck farms grow fruits and
vegetables.
The von Thunen model helps to explain the
importance of proximity to market and the choice
of crops in commercial agriculture.
According to von Thunen, rent, or land value, will
decrease the further one gets from market.