Agriculture Territories

Vocabulary  Environment: life setting that includes both natural and human elements  Physiographic regions: Areas of a territory characterized by similar natural features  Growing season: Number of days the temperature reaches over 5 degrees Celsius and allows for farming  Mixed farming: growing both crops and livestock on the same farm  Market Gardening: cultivation of vegetables

Vocabulary Continued  Crop yield: is the measurement of farm output used for a cereal, grain or legume and is normally measured in metric tons per hectare (or kilograms per hectare).  Farming Practices: All techniques in agriculture  Intensive Agriculture: When farming practices target high yields  Extensive Agriculture: when the farm is not as productive as intensive agriculture  Administrative regions: A division of Quebec’s territory based on social and cultural characteristics

Agriculture  Agricultural space is all the land in a country that can be used for farming  This space is generally filled with flat, fertile land with favorable climate conditions  Land suitable in Quebec is limited and must feed 7 million people  The question in Quebec is how do we make up for the land being taken up by cities without hurting the Environment  Quebec’s agricultural space only represents 2 percent of its vast area

Physiographic Regions  There are four physiographic regions in Quebec  Canadian Shield: Vast Rocky plateau with thin infertile soil  Hudson Bay and Arctic Lowlands: Stretch of low elevation where less than 10 percent of the ground is permanently frozen (tundra)  St. Lawrence Lowlands: Narrow plain consisting of fertile land and located on each side of the St. Lawrence River  Appalachian Mountains: Range of low mountains separated by valleys that often have fertile soil

Quebec’s Physiographic Regions

Climate Zones  There are four climate zones in Quebec as well  1) The Arctic Zone: Temperature ranges from -32 degrees to minus 4 degrees and the growing season is 40 days long with 136 mm of precipitation per year  2) Subarctic Zone: Temperature ranges from -27degrees to minus 12.6 degrees and the growing season is 80 days long with 396 mm of precipitation per year  3) Humid Continental Zone: Temperature ranges from -12 degrees to 19 degrees and the growing season is 140 days long with 1174mm of precipitation per year  4) Eastern Maritime Zone: Temperature ranges from -32 degrees to minus 4 degrees and the growing season is 40 days long with 136 mm of precipitation per year

Agricultural Production  The dairy farm is the most common type of farm in Quebec  On dairy farm mixed farming is practiced: cows are raised for milk and corn is raised to feed the animals  Some dairy farms also have land devoted to market gardening  A livestock farm is one devoted to animal production  Grain farms grow grains and specialized crop farms grow products like fruit or tobacco

Agriculture in Quebec  Intensive agriculture is practiced in Quebec today  This farming practice aims to maximize farm production using fertilizers, machinery, chemicals and modern irrigation practices  It is often practiced on land where the area for cultivation is limited but fertile