Key Issue 3

Where are agricultural regions in MDC?

- divided into 6 main types:

o mixed crop and livestock farming
o dairy farming
o grain farming
o livestock ranching
o Mediterranean ag
o Commercial gardening and fruit farming
o Plantation farming

MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK FARMING

- most common form of commercial ag in west and central US and in Europe

CHARACTERISTICS OF MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK FARMING

- most distinctive characteristic: its integration of crops and livestock
- most crops are fed to animals instead of consumed by humans
- livestock apply manure to improve the soil fertility to grow more crops
- mixed commercial farm devotes almost all of its land to growing crops, but gets ¾ of its
income from animal products
- workload is distributed more evenly throughout the year
- crops need attention only for two or three seasons, livestock whole year
- involves crop rotation
o farm is divided into fields
o each field is planted on in a cycle- over several years
o maintains fertility of a field- some crops deplete resources, others renew it
o production from shifting cultivation is much smaller than production from crop
rotation – more efficient
o two field system with cereal grains: oats, wheat, rye, barley in 5th century

2nd year- 1st year-

barley barley
1st year- fallow 2nd year-
fallow

o three field system with cereal grains in 8th century

Winter Spring Fallow

cereal cereal 1st year
1st year 1st year

o four field system with cereal grains in 18th century

Root Cereal Rest Cereal

crop 1 1st and crop 1st 1st and
and 2nd and 2nd 2nd
2ndyear year year year
 - cereals such as wheat and barley were sold for flour and beer production, straw kept for
animal bedding

CHOICE OF CROPS
- in US, corn is selected frequently because of higher yields per area than other crops
- some is eaten by people, but most of it is fed to pigs and cattle
- most important region in US is from Ohio to the Dakotas- called the Corn Belt
- soybeans have become the second most important crop in US

DAIRY FARMING
- most important type of commercial ag

WHY DAIRY FARMS LOCATE NEAR URBAN AREAS

- become most important type of commercial ag in the first ring outside large cities
because of transportation factors
- must be closer to their market because milk is highly perishable
- milkshed: ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling
- improvements have made milksheds bigger, dairy farms don’t have to be so close
anymore
- today’s milkshed’s radius is 10x what it was in 1840 ( was 30 miles, now 300 miles)

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN DAIRY PRODUCTS

- choice of product varies within the US dairy region
- the farther the farm is from large cities, smaller is the % of output devoted to fresh milk
- farther located farms are more likely to sell output to processors who make butter, cheese,
or dried/evaporated/condensed milk
- countries tend to specialize in certain products
- farmersprocessorsconsumer

PROBLEMS FOR DAIRY FARMERS

- economic problems- declining revenues, and rising cots
- labor intensive
- dairy farming requires constant attention

GRAIN FARMING
- grain- the seed from various grasses, like wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, millet, and
others
- crops on the farm are grown for human consumption mostly
- most important crop is wheat

GRAIN-FARMING REGIONS
- US is the largest producer of grain (commercially)
- Only found in a few other countries- like Canada, Argentina, Australia, France, UK
- Winter wheat belt: through Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma
o Wheat is planted in autumn, harvested in summer (survives the winter because of
a strong root system)
- Spring wheat belt : Dakotas, South Saskatchewan in Canada, and Montana
o Planted in the spring, harvested in late summer
o 3rd important region is the Palouse Region of Washington State
 - grain production is heavily mechanized
- reaper was invented in 1830s to cut grain in the field, and the combine performs 3
operations at once: reaping, threshing, and cleaning

IMPORTANCE OF WHEAT
- WORLD’S leading export crop

LIVESTOCK RANCHING
- ranching is the commercial grazing of lifestock

CATTLE RANCHING IN US POPULAR CULTURE

- prominent in pop culture (Hollywood Movies)
- cattle ranching in TX actually dominated
- cattle were first brought by Columbus
- immigrants from Spain and Portugal started cattle ranching
- expanded because of the demand for beef ; mostly on east coast