Von  Thunen  

•  Von  Thünen  Model    – Johann  Heinrich  Von  Thünen  (1783-­‐1850)  was  German  farmer    

– interested  in  best  way  the  for  farmers  to  locate  their  farms  within  an  Isolated  State  so  that  they  maximized  their  profits.  

– First  effort  to  analyze  the  spaLal  character  of  economic  acLvity.  

4  Types  of  Farms  during  Van  Thuren’s  Time  

•    Dairy  and  Intensive  Farming  

•  Timber  or  Forest  •  Field  Crops,  Grains  •  Ranching,  Livestock  

•  (Has  expanded  and  evolved  to  include  new/different  types  of  farming)  

Von  Thünen  Model:  Ring  1:  Dairying/Market  Garden  (Intensive)    

•  Milkshed  

•  …Nearest  the  town,  farmers  produced  commodiLes  that  were  PERISHABLE  and  commanded  HIGH  PRICES  – Dairy,  eggs,  vegetables,  fruit,  milk  products  

•  Higher-­‐value  land  **Intensive  farming:  Yields  high-­‐amount  of  crop  out-­‐puts  per  acre  

Von  Thünen  Model:  Ring  2  Forest/Timber  Farming  

•  ….  

•  ****The  reason  the  forest  is  listed  in  his  model  is  because  he  lived  in  a  Lme  when  the  forest  provided  wood  for  fuel  and  building.******  

Von  Thunen  Ring  3:  Grain  Farming  (Extensive)  

•  Grains  for  breads:  Wheat,  barley  and  millet  

•  Since  grains  last  longer  than  dairy  products  and  are  much  lighter  than  fuel,  reducing  transport  costs  

Extensive:  Small  amount  of  labor  

Von  Thunen  Ring  4:    Ranching/Livestock  

•  Raising  of  animals  for  slaughter  

•  Cadle,  sheep,  goats..etc  •  Uses  most  land  per  farm  of  any  of  the  zones  in  the  model  

Johann  Heinrich  vonThünen  •  When  von  Thünen  created  this  model  he  had  to  make  certain  assumpLons:  

1.  1.    The  terrain  was  flat  

2.  2.    Soils  and  environmental  condiLons  were  the  same  everywhere.  

3.  3.    No  barriers  to  transportaLon  to  market.  

Under  such  circumstances,  he  reasoned,  transport  costs  would  govern  the  use  of  land.    He  reasoned  that  the  greater  distance  to  market,  the  higher  the  transport  costs  that  had  to  added  to  the  cost  of  producing  a  crop  or  commodity.      At  a  given  distance  to  market,  then,  it  would  become  unprofitable  to  produce  high-­‐cost,  perishable  commodiLes  –  and  market  gardens  would  give  way  to  field  crops  such  as  grains  and  potatoes.    SLll  farther  away,  livestock  raising  would  replace  field  agriculture.    

Modified  Over  Time:  Land  use  paderns  today  

•  Model  has  been  modified    

•  Alter  details  but  not  change  the  underlying  padern  of  the  

•  RefrigeraLon  and  food  preservaLon  

•  Improved  transportaLon  

•  Regional,  global  markets,  corporate  decision  making  

•  Government  Policy  

•  Forests  no  longer  occupy  a  zone  close  to  the  market