Agricultural Vocabulary

Quaternary economic activties

concerned with the collection, processing, and manipulation of data and capital (e.g., FIRE - finance, insurance, real estate).

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs, or genetically modified foods)

have had their genes altered in a laboratory for specific reason (e.g., disease resistance, nutritional value, or increased productivity); grant producers greater control, predictability, and efficiency; started in the Third Agricultural Revolution

Long Lots (French) survey system

houses erected on narrow lots perpendicular along a river, so that each original settler had equal river access.

Illegal drugs

illegal cash crops are typically grown in the periphery and sold to the core; coca (cocaine; >50% grown in Colombia); poppy (heroin, opium; >90% grown in Afghanistan & Myanmar); marijuana (or cannabis).

Chemical Farming

increased use of fertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The development of higher-yield crops has produced: a "miracle wheat seed" which is shorter and stiffer, less sensitive to variation in day length, responds better to fertilizers, and matures faster; a similar miracle rice seed, that was heartier and has increased yields; a high-yield corn seed is currently being developed.

Third Agricultural Revolution

(Green Revolution) Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizer. Because of Green Revolution, agricultural productivity at a global scale has increased faster than the population. (e.g., major impact in Mexico, India, China, ...)

Rectangular survey system

(Public Land Survey) US system set up to parcel land west of the Appalachian Mountains. e.g., Township-and-Range

Von Thünen Model

(The Isolated State) 1826, Northern Germany. When choosing an enterprise, a commercial farmer compares two costs; cost of the land versus the cost of transporting production to market. Identifies a crop that can be sold for more than the land cost, distance of land to market is critical because the cost of transporting varies by crop. Von Thunen‟s theory disregards site or human factors. Also found that specific crops were grown in varying rings around city

Nomadic herding/pastoralism

(animal husbandry) based on herding domesticated animals.

Commodity chains

(e.g. agribusiness) a sequential process used by firms to gather resources, transform them into goods or commodities and, finally, distribute them to consumers.

Primary economic activities

(extractive sector) concerned with the direct extraction of natural resources from the environment (e.g., agriculture, mining, lumbering, fishing, ...).

Extensive activity

(fishing, forestry, nomadic herding, ranching, shifting cultivation)

Village forms

(linear, cluster, round, walled, grid pattern)

Secondary economic activities

(manufacturing sector) processing of products and assembling raw materials.

Intensive activity

(plantation agriculture, mixed crop/livestock systems, market gardening, horticulture, factory farms)

Tertiary economic activites

(service sector) provides us with transportation, communication and utilities (transportation, retailing, education, routine office-based jobs).

Shifting cultivation

(slash-and-burn) vegetation is cut down and then ignited to make the ground more productive (swidden is the term for this prepared land); each field is used for a couple years then left fallow for a relatively long time.

Commercial grains cultivation region

(wheat, corn,...) most profitable in the temperate zone with decent land fertility (e.g., Eastern US, Mid to East Europe).

Building materials of rural settlements

(wood, brick, stone, wattle, grass & brush) houses and buildings are typically built from materials that are abundant in the area (especially in the LDCs)

Truck farm

Commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because truck was a Middle English word meaning bartering or the exchange of commodities. Predominant in Southeastern U.S.A (long growing season, humid climate, and accessibility to large markets). Truck farms grow many of the fruits and vegetables that consumers demand in developed societies. Truck farms sell some of their product to fresh markets, but mostly to large processors for canning or freezing. Truck farms are highly efficient and large-scale operations that take full advantage of machines at every stage of the growing process.

Mechanization

Farmers need tractors, irrigation pumps, and other machinery to make the most effective use of the new miracle seeds. Farmers in LDC‟s cannot afford this machinery or the fuel to run the equipment, so governments must allocate funds to subsidizing the cost of seeds, fertilizers and machinery; started in the Third Agricultural Revolution.

Hunting & gathering

Humans gained food by hunting for animals, fishing, or gathering plants. They lived in small groups (often less than 50 people), traveled frequently following game and seasonal growth of plants (practiced by less than 1 percent of the population today).

2 Ring of the Von Thünen Model

In the next rings wood lots used for construction and fuel; it is a heavy industry with high transportation costs.

Staple grains

Maize (corn), wheat, and rice are the most produced grains produced world- wide, accounting for 87% of all grains and 43% of all food. Maize staple food of North America, South American, Africa, and livestock worldwide, wheat is primary in temperate regions, and rice in tropical regions.

1 Ring of the Von Thünen Model

Market-oriented gardens and milk producers in first ring, because of expense of transportation and perishability. (intensive agriculture - utilizes maximum efficiency in farming due to limited and high-cost land near markets)

3 Ring of the Von Thünen Model

Next rings are used for various crops or pasture (extensive agriculture - large-scale farming utilizing large plots of lower-cost land further from markets)

Second Agricultural Revolution

Precursor to Industrial Revolution in the 19th c., that allowed a shift in work force beyond subsistence farming to allow labor to work in factories. Started in United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Denmark, especially with the Enclosure Act, which consolidated land in Great Britain. Potatoes and corn diffused from the Americas to Europe, and other resources followed from colonial possessions to Europe.

Crop Rotation

Started in the Second Agricultural Revolution and is the practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil. Takes up large areas of land but keeps land usable for future generations.

Aquaculture

The cultivation of aquatic organisms in natural or controlled marine or freshwater environments (e.g., fish, shellfish, and seaweed); increased attention to aquaculture has led to a "Blue Revolution"

Agriculture

The deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for subsistence or economic gain.

Agricultural landscape

The land that we farm on and what we choose to put were on our fields; effects how much yield one gets from their plants.

4 Ring of the Von Thünen Model

The outermost ring devoted primarily to animal grazing.

Market gardening

The small scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers. Distinguishable by the large diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, during a single growing season. Labor is done manually.

Agricultural origins

Through time nomadic people noticed the growing of plants in a cycle and began to domesticate them and use for their own use. Carl Sauer points out vegetative planting and seed agriculture as the original forms. He also points out that vegetative planting likely was originated in SE Asia and seed agriculture originated in W. India, N. China and Ethiopia. Without the development of agriculture we would still have a relatively small and likely uneducated population.

Rice cultivation region

a commercial grain that is the staple of many Asian nations; China is the largest producer, US is the largest exporter.

First Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Agricultural Revolution)

a farming revolution that led to the establishment of permanent settlements along fertile river valleys which moved humans from egalitarian societies (equal) to more stratified societies (unequal).

Nucleated rural settlements

a number of families live in close proximity to each other, with fields surrounding the collection of houses and farm buildings (e.g., Asian longhouse)

Feedlot

a plot of land on which livestock are fattened for market.

Comparative advantage

ability of an individual or group to carry out an economic activity, such as production, at a lower cost and more efficiently than another entity)

Intercropping (intertillage)

an additional crop is planted in the spaces available between the main crop

Transhumance

animals that are kept on coastal plains in winter and moved to hills in the summer.

Organic agriculture

approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs.

Functional differentiation

as civilizations developed and societies became more complex, so did the function and complexity of the homes and buildings (e.g., a chief's or leader's home would typically be larger).

Plantation agriculture

based on a large estate owned by an individual, family, or corporation and organized to produce a cash crop. Almost all were established in or near the tropics - many have been divided into smaller holdings, or reorganized as cooperatives (owned by a group of individuals).

Folk-housing

building styles that are particular to the culture of the people who have long inhabited the area; there are three distinct folk-housing regions in the United States (by way of Europe)

Dietary balance

calories alone does not determine a balanced diet, but necessary requirements for the body to function and survive (e.g., the "food pyramid")

Dispersed rural settlements

characterized by farmers living on individual farms isolated from neighbors rather than alongside other farmers in the area.

Commercial agriculture

characterized by integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations.

Extensive subsistence farming

characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area.

Livestock ranching cultivation region

commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area. Practiced is semi-arid or arid land, where vegetation is too sparse or the soil to too poor to support crops. Prominent in later 19th century in the American West; ranchers free roamed throughout the West, until the U.S. government began selling land to farmers who outlined their farms with barbed wire, forcing the ranchers to establish large ranches to allow their cattle to graze.

Cash crops

crops grown for money; more specifically refers to more specialized crops located mainly in or near the tropics (e.g., sugar, cotton, rubber, bananas, oranges, ...)

Terracing

cultivating sloped land through graduated steps to decrease erosion and surface runoff of nutrients

New England folk-housing

dating back to colonial times is of wood-frame and diffused past Wisconsin.

Plant domestication

deliberate tending of crops to gain certain desired attributes; began around 12,000 years ago along several fertile river valleys and cultural hearths.

Maladaptive diffusion

diffusion of an idea or innovation that is not suitable for the environment in which it diffused into (e.g., New England-style homes in Hawaii, or Ranch-style homes in northeast US).

Animal domestication

domestication of animals for selling or using byproducts (the Fertile Crescent had cows, horses, pigs, and sheep, and therefore a comparative advantage over other early culture hearths). Helped us obtain meat without having to go out and kill our food right before dinner.

Sustainable yield

ecological yield that can be extracted without reducing the base of capital itself, the surplus required to maintain nature's services at the same or increasing level over time. Example, in fisheries the basic natural capital decreases with extraction, but productivity increases; so the sustainable yield is within the ranch that the natural capital together with production are able to provide satisfactory yield.

Intensive subsistence farming

effective and efficient use of labor on small plots of land to maximize crop yields. Popular in East, South, and Southeast Asia, because the ratio between farmers and arable land is so high, most of the work is done by the family by hand or by animal with processes refined over thousands of years.

Dairy cultivation region

expensive transportation and storage makes it most profitable near larger markets (e.g., NE US and NW Europe).

Mediterranean cultivation region

farming in the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea (Southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia), also in lands with similar climates (California, central Chile, Southwestern South Africa, and Southwestern Australia). Sea winds provide moisture and moderate winter; land is hilly with mountains frequently plunging directly into sea. Growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, and tree crops are the main crops, while animals are grown under transhumance

Agribusiness

general term for businesses that provide goods and services that support agriculture; many are vertically integrated; started in the Third Agricultural Revolution

Monoculture

growing a single crop over a wide area and for a large number of consecutive years

Multi-cropping

growing two or more crops in the same space

Double cropping

harvesting twice a year from the same land. Can cause agricultural exhaustion making people move away from the land.

Unchanged-traditional rural dwelling

layout, construction, and appearance have not been significantly altered by external influences.

Modernized-traditional rural dwelling

materials and layout have been changed (e.g. multiple bathrooms, two-car garage, aluminum siding, etc...)

Modified-traditional rural dwelling

new building materials used, but no change to the original structure or layout.

Caloric intake

often excessive in the core and deficient in the periphery (e.g., >50% of US adult population is overweight, ... >30,000 people starve to death each day worldwide!) (World Bank determines 2,500 calories per day is adequate).

Patterns of Rural Settlement

particular to the region in which they originated, or diffused to other parts of the world through diffusion and colonization.

Hidden hunger

people who may consume enough calories to survive, but lack certain nutrients - specifically protein (protein deficiency in the first three years can cause permanent damage; both to mental capacity & physical growth).

Little Ice Age

period of global cooling that occurred between the 16th c. and 19th c. after the Medieval Warm Period (~10th c. to 14th c.); greatly affected the northern empires of Rome and China (e.g., helped lead the Chinese to abandon overseas expeditions and focus inward to protect their lands).

Agrarian

pertaining to the development of agriculture. Where these types of people people and societies are located is not generally near cities; but these types of people are essential to the way that we live and our ability to live in cities.

Quinary economic activities

require a high level of specialized knowledge or technical skill (e.g., scientific research, high-level management).

Modern rural dwelling

sacrifices tradition for practicality & efficiency; reflects advanced technology, comfort, affluence, and suburbanization (common in US)

Subsistence farming

self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families

Rural settlements

sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities. Live in villages, hamlets on farms, or in other isolated houses. Typically have an agricultural character, with an economy based on logging, mining, petroleum, natural gas or tourism (ecotourism).

Luxury crops

specialized crops typically not essential to human survival; historically grown on plantations by European colonial powers (e.g., tea, coffee, tobacco, cocoa (or cacao), ...).

Middle Atlantic folk-housing

style originated as a one-room log cabin with a chimney at one end diffusing into Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Southern (Tidewater South) folk-housing

style was originally smaller, only one story, and a porch that diffused southward into Georgia. They were often built on a raised platform to reduce heat.

Cadastral system rural settlement pattern

survey system that determines the value, extent, and ownership of land for purposes of taxation.

Township-and-Range (U.S.A)

survey's used west of Ohio, after the purchase of the Louisiana Purchase. Land is divided into six-mile square blocks (township), which is then divided into one-mile square blocks (range). Ranges were then broken into smaller parcels to be sold or given to people to develop.

Primogeniture rural settlement pattern

system which the eldest son in a family (or daughter if necessary) inherits all of a dying parent‟s land (tradition brought by the Normans to England).

Metallurgy

technique or science of working or heating metals so as to give them certain desired properties or shapes (e.g., tools). Predates plant and animal domestication (e.g., gold, silver, copper, tin, iron,...).

Food manufacturing

the Green Revolution has increased production to avoid widespread famine. Allowing the world population to grow about four billion since stared, also allowing populations in developing nations to consume 25% more than before. This increase in diets is questioned by the content in diets; Asian farmers are eating more rice than fish and other vegetables because they can rely on rice to grow efficiently.

Horticulture

the cultivation of a garden, orchard, or nursery; the cultivation of flowers, fruits, vegetables, or ornamental plants.

Growing season

the season in which crops grow best. They can vary by location, societies rely on their growing season to which crops they can or can't grow at their latitude.

Metes and Bounds (English) survey system

uses physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances, to define the boundaries of a particular piece of land. Metes refers to boundary defined by a measurement of a straight run, bounds refers to a more general boundary, such as a waterway, wall public road, or existing building.

Biotechnology

using living organisms in a useful way to produce commercial products like pest resistant crops. Has helped the farmers grow a more bountiful harvest through the using of pesticides; started in the Third Agricultural Revolution

Polyculture

using multiple crops in the same space

Debt-for-nature swap

when agencies such as the World Bank make a deal with third world countries that they will cancel their debt if the country will set aside a certain amount of their natural resources.

Sharecropping

where a tenant farmer pays as rent a share of the crop.