Commercial Farming

Definition:Commercial farmers produce their crops to sell them in the marketplace

Commercial farming types include mixed crop and livestock farming, ranching, dairying, and large-scale grain production

Plantation farming is a form of commercial farming

Mainly practiced in less developed countries

Mixed Crop and Livestock farming

DefinitionInvolves a farm that grows crops and raises animals

Most crops grown on mixed farms are used to feed the farm’s animals

Provides manure fertilizer for sale as well as goods

Most of mixed farm’s income comes from sale of its animal products

Reduces farmer’s dependence on seasonal cropsDevotes nearly all land to crops but 3/4ths of income comes from sale of animal products

Exists widely throughout Europe and Eastern Northern America

Usually farms are near large, urban areas

Most mixed farms practice crop rotation

DefinitionCommercial grazing, or the raising of animals on a plot of land on which they graze

Ranching is usually extensive

Cattle and sheep are most common animals on ranches

Practiced in areas where the climate is too dry to support crops

Semi-arid, arid landWestern U.S, Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay

In U.S. part of pop cultureAlso on coast of Latin America and Northern Mexico

Declining in importanceBegan declining in U.S. in 1880sPartly because of low grain prices and because of U.S. meat quality standardsMany U.S. ranches are being converted into “fattening” farms

DefinitionGrowth of milk-based products for the marketplace

Dairy farms closest to the marketplace usually produce the most perishable, fluid-milk products

while those father away produce goods such as cheese and butter

Most economically productive type of commercial agriculture

practiced near cities in the northeastern U.S, southeastern Canada, and northwestern Europe

Dairy Farms usually very small and capital intensive

Uses a lot of machinery in the farming processLabor-intensive uses more human labor

The milkshed is the zone around the city’s center in which milk can be produced and shipped to the marketplace without spoiling

Growth in transportation technology has increased area of the milkshed

Improved technology and feeding systems have led to increases in the amount of milk produced per cow

DefinitionWhere the grains are most often grown to be exported to other places for consumption

Wheat is the dominant grain on large-scale grain farms

World’s largest export crop

Common in Canada, U.S., Argentina, Australia, France, England, and the Ukraine

U.S. largest grain producer

Within North America, large-scale grain production is concentrated within three areas

Winter-wheat beltKansas, Colorado, Oklahoma

Spring-wheat beltDakotas, Montana, Southern Saskatchewan Canada

Palouse regionWashington State

Large-scale grain farms grew during Industrial Revolution

Farms are usually highly mechanized, capital-intensive operations

Several technological innovations precipitated the growth of large-scale grain farming:

McCormick Reaper 1830sCuts standing grain in the field

Combine Machine Completes all three processes:

Reaping, threshing, and cleaning

DefinitionInvolves large-scale farming operations that specialize in farming of one or two high-demand crops for export, usually to more developed regions

Called plantations or agricultural estates

Introduced in tropical and subtropical zones by European colonizers

Seeking to produce crops such as: Coffee, tea, pineapples, palms, coconuts, rubber, tobacco, sugar cane, and cotton

Today, plantation farming is largely reflective of global power structures

Most exist in low-latitude regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Most owned by companies from more developed countries

Often take the best land from natives

Most plantations exist in a location that has easy coastal access for export

Through modern plantations have integrated advanced technology, still labor-intensive

Large number of seasonal workers used

Form of plantation agriculture remains in the subtropical and tropical U.S.

Migrant workers used for labor

Predominant type of agriculture in the Southeast United States

Region has a long growing season and humid climate and is accessible to the large markets

New York, Philly, Washington D.C.

Often called “truck farming”Truck means “bartering or exchange of commodities”

Grow fruits and vegetablesSold fresh to consumers

Highly efficient large-scale operations

Labor costs kept down by hiring migrant workers

Many undocumented