Commercial and Subsistence Types

of Agriculture

Von Thunen Model

• Grain farming…• intensive or

extensive? Why?• Labor or capital?

Pg. 349

• Vegetable garden…• intensive or

extensive? Why?• Labor or capital?

Vegetation “slashed” and then burned (slash & burn). Soil remains fertile for 2-3 years. Then people move on.

where: tropical rainforests. Amazon, Central and West Africa, Southeast Asia

Crops: upland rice (S.E. Asia), maize and manioc (S. America), millet and sorghum (Africa)

Declining at hands of ranching and logging.

Shifting Cultivation pg. 335-338

Pastoral Nomadism pg. 338-339

The breeding and herding of domesticated animals for subsistence.

where: arid and semi-arid areas of N. Africa, Middle East, Central Asia

animals: Camel, Goats, Sheep, Cattle

transhumance: seasonal migrations from highlands to lowlands

Most nomads are being pressured into sedentary life as land is used for agriculture or mining.

Bedouin Shepherd

Somali Nomad and Tent

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

pg. 339-341

The Fields of Bali

• Wet Rice Dominant where: S.E. Asia, E.

India, S.E. China very labor intensive

production of rice, including transfer to sawah, or paddies

most important source of food in Asia

grown on flat, or terraced land

Double cropping (2 crops at once) is used in warm winter areas of S. China and TaiwanThai Rice Farmers

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

Mixed Crop and Livestock FarmingWhere: Ohio to Dakotas, centered on Iowa; much of Europe from France to Russia

crops: corn (most common), soybeans In U.S. 80% of product fed to pigs and cattle

Highly inefficient use of natural resources Pounds of grain to make 1 lb. beef: 10 Gallons of water to make 1 1b wheat: 25 Gallons of water to make 1 1b. beef:

2500

Dairy Farming

Where: near urban areas in N.E. United States, Southeast Canada, N.W. Europe- Over 90% of cow’s milk is produced in developed countries. Value is added as cheese, yogurt, etc.

Dairy Farm, Wisconsin

• Most important commercial agriculture practiced on farms near large urban areas

• Expensive: labor intensive, feed cowsIs milk a

luxury?!Milkshed : historically defined by spoilage threat; refrigerated trucks changed this.

Grain Farming

Where: worldwide, but U.S. and Russia predominant

Crops: wheat winter wheat: Kansas, Colorado,

Oklahoma spring wheat: Dakotas, Montana,

southern CanadaHighly mechanized: combines, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, migrate northward in U.S., following the harvest.

Livestock RanchingWhere: arid or semi-arid areas of western

U.S., Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain and Portugal.

History: initially open range, now sedentary with transportation changes.Environmental effects:

1) overgrazing has damaged much of the world’s arid grasslands (< 1% of U.S. remain!)

2) destruction of the rainforest is motivated by Brazilian desires for fashionable cattle ranches

Mediterranean AgricultureWhere: areas surrounding the

Mediterranean, California, Oregon, Chile, South Africa, Australia

Climate has summer dry season. Landscape is mountainous.

• Highly valuable crops: olives, grapes, nuts, fruits and vegetables; winter wheat

• California: high quality land is being lost to suburbanization; initially offset by irrigation

Pg. 349

Commercial Gardening and Fruit

FarmingWhere: U.S. Southeast, New England,

near cities around the world

• crops: high profit vegetables and fruits demanded by wealthy urban populations: apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.

• mechanization: such truck farming is highly mechanized and labor costs are further reduced by the use of cheap immigrant (and illegal) labor.

• distribution: situated near urban markets.

• large scale mono-cropping of profitable products not able to be grown in Europe or U.S.

•where: tropical lowland Periphery

•crops: cotton, sugar cane, coffee, rubber, cocoa, bananas, tea, coconuts, palm oil.

Where are these things mostly sold? Where are they produced?

Plantation Farming pg. 341-342

How does agriculture correlate to development?

• In terms of % of population that

farms?

• Type of farming?

• Types of crops/Products produced?

• Distribution of end product?

• Anything else you can think of?

Classifying Agricultural Regions

Commercial Agriculture

• Plantation farming• Mixed Crop and

Livestock Farming• Dairy Farming• Grain Farming• Livestock

Ranching• Mediterranean

Agriculture• Truck Farming

Commercial AgricultureValue-Added

Very little of the value of most commercial products comes from the raw materials

“adding value” is the key to high profit margins

(value chain)Roughly 6% of the price of cereal is the cost of the grain.

Classifying Agricultural Regions

Subsistence Agriculture

• Shifting Cultivation• Pastoral Nomadism • Intensive

Subsistence Agriculture

Johann Heinrich von Thünen (1783-1850)

prominent nineteenth century economist.

Von Thunen’s theories are the beginning of location economics and analysis (1826)

Factors: Spoilage, weight and distance

Locational Theory : butter and cheese more common

than milk with increasing distance from cities and in West.

Pg. 350

Play-doh von Thunen!!!! (Five groups)

• Each group gets FIVE colors of Play-doh.

• On a blank sheet of paper in the lower right hand corner make a key for each of the 5 rungs of the Von Thunen model (Example: blue=market/urban area, etc.

• Use the play-doh to create the rungs for VT.

• Using the nine small agricultural pictures in the envelope, stick each agricultural product in the rung of Von Thunen where it belongs.

• Discuss as a group WHY you are putting the product there. Is it heavy? Does it spoil quickly? Is it extensive land use? Etc.

• When you are finished take a picture with your phone.

Von Thunen Model

• Spoilage• Weight• Distance

• Costs!!! $$$$