1. Rural Land Use & Von Thünen Model

2. Nomadic Herding Sahara, Polar Regions (Canada, Russia, US) Inuits
Sahara desert

3. Sheep Ranching in Patagonia
Availability of Land
Western US, Argentina (Pampas)
Sheep Ranching in Patagonia
Wyoming

4. Commercial Grain Farming
MDC’S (US Mid-West, Western Europe)
Agribusiness
Combine
Canadian Agribusiness
North Dakota

5. Mediterranean Agriculture
Grapes, Olives, Wheat
Med. Region, California, Coastal S. Africa

6. Plantation Agriculture
Mostly LDC’s (former Colonies)
Owned by Individual or Corporation.
Cash Crops (monoculture)
Rubber Plantation, Vietnam
Tea Plantation, Malaysia

7. Illegal Drugs Much more money for peasants in LDC’s Colombia: Cocaine
Afghanistan: Poppies

8. Intensive Agriculture
Cultivation of small landholdings
More than ½ of world’s population
Labor intensive
Crop yields per acre are usually high
Population densities also high
Many families are fed primarily with the produce of their individual plots (subsistence farming)
Crop yields with high market value including fruits, vegetables, and dairy products

9. Extensive Agriculture
Located farther from the market on less costly land – there is less need to use the land intensively
Involves large areas of land and minimal labor input
Typified by large wheat farms and livestock ranching
Product per land unit and population densities are low
Includes nomadic herding and shifting cultivation (swidden or slash-and-burn)

10. Von Thünen Model

11. Von Thünen Model John Heinrich Von Thünen 1826: The isolated state
Model of concentric rings where agricultural land use is patterned in the form of concentric circles around a market, transportation is a key factor
Von Thünen Model Assumptions
Flat terrain
Constant soils & conditions
No barriers to transportation to market

14. Land value
Distance from market

15. Land value
Distance from market

16. Land value
Distance from market

17. Land value
Distance from market

18. Land value
Distance from market

19. Land value
Distance from market

20. “The Isolated State” 1 – highly perishable; dairy, fruit
2 – forest (fuel & building material)
3 – less perishable; field crops, grains
4 – livestock, ranching (self-transporting)
“The Isolated State”

21. Modifications to Von Thünen Model
Modifying the model will alter the details but not change the underlying pattern of the rings
Ex: a change in demand and therefore market price of a commodity would merely expand its ring of production

22. Even though the Von Thünen model was created in a time before factories, highways, and even railroads, it is still an important model in geography.
It’s 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.

23. Von Thünen Model – Contemporary Variables
Modern transportation is more efficient
Transportation cost is no longer proportional to distance – why?
Firewood is no longer a factor
Technology has reduced the significance of perishability
Refrigeration
Vacuum sealed cans

24. Is Von Thünen’s model relevant in today’s global economy
Is Von Thünen’s model relevant in today’s global economy? Why or why not?