Von Thünen Model Mateo Villalobos and Ashlyn Rowland

Who was Von Thünen? R = Rent per unit of land. Y = Yield per unit of land. p = market price per unit of yield. c = Average production costs per unit of yield. m = Distance from market (in kilometers or miles). f = Freight rate per unit of yield and unit of distance. Thunen was an agriculturist and an economist born on June, 24, 1783 In 1826 he published his first volume of his most important work called The Isolated State With Respect to Agriculture and Political Economy Developed his theory with the formula: R=Y(p-c)- Y Fm What do the variables mean? Died in 1850

What's the Von Thünen Model? The model’s main goal is to explain how the different parts of land is used and the reasoning behind that usage. Organized into 5 sections: 1.Urban Center (Blue)Urban Center 2.Dairy Farming (Light blue)Dairy Farming 3.Forests (Green)Forests 4.Grains and Field Crops (Orange)Grains and Field Crops 5.Ranching and Livestock (Light green)Ranching and Livestock Determined by 3 variables: Value of product, price of land, and transportation

Urban Center/ Market This is the center where all the products are going to end up in The most populated area These can be urban cities such as Atlanta or New York City The main purpose of the locations of the rest of the sections is based on how far it need to be from the market This is where the central governing power is located

Dairy Farming and Market Gardening Dairying is the production of milk and market gardening is the production of fruits and vegetables Milk must remain in the milk shed which is a distance around an urban area where milk has to be produced so it doesn't spoil Due to the perishability of vegetable they have to be closest to the market Due to new technology however the dairying milk shed has been moved to over 300 miles and vegetables can now be produced further away from the market

Forests This area is used for the timber to produce fuel and for building materials This is located close to the market because wood is heavy and difficult to transport Wood was very important for energy before the industrial revolution Von Thünen expressed the importance of wood for energy in his model by putting it close to the urban market He used the variable of the value of the product and put wood up close

Grains and Field Crops This is where grains and field crops such as grain for bread is produced This can also last longer than dairy and vegetables and fruits so it can be placed further away from the market This is where other field crops can be grown that are efficient and last long however they are bulkier to transport which increase the price Again technology has increased the distance to the market for field crops

Ranching and Livestock This is where livestock, or animals are raised for market It is far from the market because the can “walk themselves”, or can be driven closer to the market before being slaughtered Livestock need massive amounts of land for grazing, especially “all grass fed” cattle. Ranchers usually switch fields to grow the grasses for the cattle to eat when they are moved back into that field which requires a lot of land Kept away far from market because people do not want to be around animals.

What can this model be used for? Even with today’s technology, products like fruits and milk can only travel so far before they become no good to consume Grain products, which can last a lot longer than fresh foods can be grown farther away and still make it to the market with plenty of time to sell Livestock still need lots of land (1 acre or more per cow for organic all grass fed cattle)

Why this Model is Irrelevant in Today’s Society Today’s technology allows us to ship food farther, faster, and making them last longer GMOs and foods with preservatives allow us to get food all around the world, such as coffee beans from Brazil Without today’s technology we wouldn’t be able to obtain fruits and vegetables from far away countries

Why this Model is Relevant in Today’s Society This can still be applicable in periphery countries around the world who do not have access to the technology available in MDCs Still with today’s technology products such as milk still need to be close to the market (300 miles) and a lot of different fruits and vegetables have to be transported quickly to the market A lot of products are also put closer to the market today because they are so expensive and inefficient to transport such as wood for building material This can be useful for planning the purpose of land outside urban areas Even though it is still somewhat relevant in MDCs its application is very limited.

Problems? This model is based on assumptions Was created before the industrialization so not as applicable to today's modern world Was not translated to English until 1966 Many Assumptions: The model assumes that there are no barriers for transport Assumes that there are no social factors in choosing the product The model assumes that there is no contact or outside trade The model assumes that outside the model, all the land is flat and the fertility is all in uniform (the same)