1. Agricultural and Rural Land Use
Key Issue #3: Where are Agricultural Regions in More Developed Countries?

2. Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
Where?
Most common form of agriculture in the United States west of the Appalachian and east of 98 degrees west
Much of Europe from France to Russia

3. Characteristics of Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
The integration of crops and livestock
Most crops are fed to animals
Livestock provide manure
¾ of income comes from animal products (beef, milk, eggs, etc…)
The mix of crops and livestock reduces the variation in seasonal income

4. Crop Rotation Systems Farms are divided into fields
The crop planted on each rotates
A year fallow

5. Choice of Crops
Corn
The Corn Belt
Soybeans

6. Dairy Farming
Where?
The most important type of commercial farming near large urban areas of the NE U.S., SE Canada, and NW Europe
Also, South and East Asia
India – the largest producer of milk

7. Why Dairy Farms Locate Near Urban Areas
Transportation factors – milk is highly perishable!
Milkshed

8. Regional Differences in Dairy Products
The farther the farm is from urban areas, the smaller is the percentage of output devoted to fresh milk
New Zealand

9. Problems for Dairy Farmers
Declining revenues and rising costs
Dairying is labor intensive
Feeding the cows during winter = expensive

10. Grain Farming
Grain – the seed from various grasses (wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, etc…)
Grains are primarily grown for human consumption
Output is sold to food manufacturers
The most important – wheat
The world’s leading export
The world’s “breadbasket”

11. Grain Farming Regions
The U.S. is the largest commercial producer of grain
A few other countries: Canada, Argentina, Australia, France and the U.K.
Generally found in regions too dry for mixed crop and livestock agriculture

12. The McCormick Reaper

13. A Combine Machine

14. Livestock Ranching
Ranching is the commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area
Semiarid or arid land
Practiced in PED’s where vegetation is sparse and soil is bad

15. Cattle Ranching in Popular U.S. Culture
Beginning of U.S. cattle ranching:
Columbus first brought cattle to America on his second trip
Immigrants from Spain and Portugal began ranching in the Americas
Cattle Ranching expanded in the 1860s
Transporting cattle to market
To reach cities: cowboys drove them over trails through Texas to the nearest railway
They were transported to on cattle cars

17. Fixed Location Ranching
Cattle ranching declined in the 1880s
“The Code of the West”
Early cattle ranchers in the West owned little land, only cattle

18. Range Wars
The U.S. government owned most of the land that was used for grazing
The government sold the land to farmers
Barbed wire
The farmers won the battle, and ranchers had to buy or lease land

19. Changes in Cattle Breeding
Hereford
Longhorn

20. Ranching Outside the U.S.
Other PED regions
Rare in Europe, except Spain and Portugal
Argentina, Southern Brazil, and Uruguay
The interior of Australia
New Zealand, the Middle East, South Africa
Ranching is part of the meat-processing industry

21. Mediterranean Agriculture
Climate – prevailing winds provide moisture and moderate winter temperatures
Land is very hilly
A smaller percentage of income is derived from animal products than mixed use and livestock regions

22. Mediterranean Climate Regions

23. Mediterranean Crops Most are for human consumption
Horticulture – the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers
Two most important cash crops – olives and grapes

24. Wine Production
2/3 of the world’s wine production is in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean (France, Italy, Spain)
The Remaining 1/3 – produced in other Mediterranean climate regions (California, Chile, South Africa, and Australia)

25. Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming
Where?
In the SE United States
“truck farming”
Apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce, mushrooms, and tomatoes

26. Specialty Farming A form of truck farming spread to New England
Profitably growing crops that have demand from affluent customers
Asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, strawberries, etc…

27. Importance of Access to Markets
Von Thünen Model – helps to explain the importance of proximity to market and the choice of crops on commercial farms
Johann Heinrich von Thünen, 1826, Germany
Which crops? Which animals?
The cost of land vs. the cost of transporting goods
Farms close to market tend to have products that are expensive to transport
Farms further from the market have products that are cheaper to transport

28. Von Thünen Model

29. Application of Von Thünen Model
Based on experiences in the early 19th Century
First ring outside of city – market oriented gardens and milk producers
Second – timber
Next – various crops
Last – land for grazing
Other factors – a river or other transportation can change the model