AP Human Geography
Chapter 10: Agriculture
Key Issue 3
CH 10 KI 3 RUBENSTEIN READING OUTLINE
R342 Key Issue 3 – WHERE ARE AGRICULTURAL REGIONS IN MORE DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES?
R342 Mixed Crop & Livestock Farming
 Identify where in the world this is the most common form of commercial agriculture.
*the United States west of the Appalachians and east of 98 degrees longitude
*much of Europe from France to Russia
USA west of the Appalachians (East of 98 degrees west longitude)
from France to Russia in Europe

Characteristics of Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
What are the crops used for?
feed for livestock

What is a benefit to this type of agriculture?
permits farmers to distribute the workload more evenly through the year and reduces
seasonal variations in income

Crop Rotation Systems
Why is crop rotation used? Explain how it works.
crop rotation helps maintain the fertility of a field b/c various crops deplete the soil of
certain nutrients but restore others

Define: cereal grain
a grass yielding grain for food

Choice of Crops
Which crop is chosen most frequently by mixed crop & livestock farming and why?
Which one is chosen second?
1st: corn b/c of higher yields per area than other crops
2nd: soybeans b/c, like corn, it’s consumed directly by people but mostly used for animal
feed
R343 Dairy Farming
 Identify where in the world this is the most common form of commercial agriculture.
large urban areas of NE USA,
& NW Europe

SE Canada,
- also S Asia
& E Asia
Describe dairy farming in MDC’s compared to LDCs.
MDCs - increased demand for milk to urban areas, more money allows people to buy
milk as a luxury
LDCs - risen dramatically in recent years; India’s now #1 producer ahead of U.S.

Why Dairy Farms Locate Near Urban Areas
Define: milkshed
the area (ring) around a city from which milk can be shipped without spoiling

Why is the milkshed located where it is?
dairy is highly perishable and must be closer to market than other products;
transportation improvements like refrigeration have permitted dairying to be undertaken
farther from the market

Regional Differences in Dairy Products
What kinds of dairy products are manufactured in the outer rings?
dairy products that are processed like butter, cheese, or dried/evaporated/condensed
milk

Who do dairy farmers sell to?
wholesalers & manufacturers

What do they sell?
*wholesalers distribute fresh milk to retailers who then sell to consumers
*manufacturers buy fresh milk to make butter and cheese

Challenges for Dairy Farmers
Explain the two challenges dairy farmers face.
economic difficulties - declining revenues and rising costs (lack of profitability &
excessive workload)
*dairy is labor intensive and requires constant attention throughout the year
*also expensive to feed the cows in the winter when they may be unable to graze on
grass
R345 Grain Farming
 How is grain farming different from mixed crop & livestock farming?
crops on a grain farm are grown primarily for consumption by humans rather than
livestock

What is the most important crop and why? Which part of the world produces this?
*wheat b/c of its relatively high value per unit weight: has more uses as human food (ex.
used to make bread flour) and can be stored relatively easily without spoiling and can be
transported long distances
*North American prairies (the world’s “breadbasket”)

Identify the locations of the three areas of large scale grain production in North America
& describe them.
1st: winter-wheat belt of Kansas, Colorado, & Oklahoma (planted in fall, survives winter)
2nd: spring-wheat belt of the Dakotas, Montana, & southern Saskatchewan in Canada
(planted in spring and harvested in late summer b/c winters are too harsh)
3rd: Palouse region of Washington state

Define: reaper
machine that cuts grain standing in the field

Define: combine
large machine that performs (combines) 3 tasks in 1 operation: reaping, threshing, &
cleaning
Combine
Reaper
R 346 Livestock Ranching
 Define: ranching
the commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area
Cattle Ranching in U.S. Popular Culture

Beginning of U.S. Cattle Ranching
Why did cattle ranching in the U.S. expand during the 1860s?
a result of the demand for beef in the East Coast cities during that time

Transporting Cattle to Market
How were cattle transported to market?
driven on hoof by cowboys over trails to the nearest railhead then in cattle cars the rest
of the journey
R347 Fixed Location Ranching
 Why did cattle ranching decline in importance during the 1880s?
as a result of conflict with sedentary agriculture

Range Wars
What were “Range Wars”?
U.S. gov’t owned most of the land used for grazing and began selling it to farmers to
grow crops so ranchers tried to drive out farmers by cutting fences and illegally putting
up their own fences

Changes in Cattle Breeding
Describe changes to cattle breeding.
ranchers had to switch from cattle drives to fixed-location ranching b/c of a change in the
breed of cattle; the new breeds introduced from Europe offered superior meat
R348

Ranching Outside the United States
What does ranching look like outside of the U.S.?
*rare in Europe (except Spain & Portugal);
*the pampas of Argentina, southern Brazil, & Uruguay are devoted to grazing cattle &
sheep;
*interior of Australia, Middle East, New Zealand, and South Africa where sheep are more
common
R349 Mediterranean Agriculture
 Identify where in the world this is the most common form of commercial agriculture.
What do these areas have in common?
*lands that border the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Europe, North Africa, and West
Asia; also found in California, central Chile, southwestern part of South Africa, and
southwestern part of Australia
*share a similar physical environment (borders a sea, are on west coasts of continents)
citrus

grapes
olives
How is transhumance involved in Mediterranean Agriculture?
some farmers along the Mediterranean Sea traditionally used transhumance to raise
animals although it is now less common - they kept animals (sheep & goats) on the
coastal plains in the winter and transferred to the hills in the summer

Define: horticulture
the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers

For what purpose are crops grown in Mediterranean Agriculture?
human consumption rather than animal feed

What are the three main crops grown in the Mediterranean, and how are they used?
olives - direct consumption & important source of cooking oil
grapes - direct consumption & wine (⅔ of world’s wine produced in areas around
Mediterranean Sea)
cereal grains - wheat for pasta and bread

Describe the two types of crops found in California.
fruit & vegetable horticulture; California supplies much of the citrus fruits, tree nuts, &
deciduous fruits consumed in the U.S.

What problems do farmers face in California?
*the rapid growth of urban areas (urban sprawl & suburbanization) has converted highquality agricultural land into housing developments
*farmland has expanded into arid lands as a result which requires extensive irrigation
and puts a major strain on the scarce water supply
R349 Commercial Gardening & Fruit Farming
 Identify where in the world this is the most common form of commercial agriculture.
Southeast United States

Explain the term “truck farming”
“truck” was a Middle English word meaning bartering or exchange of commodities; truck
farms grow many of the fruits and vegetables that consumers demand in more
developed societies

Why are these crops profitable?
highly efficient large-scale operations that take full advantage of machines, constantly
seek ways to maximize efficiency, and keep labor costs down by hiring migrant farm
workers
R350 Importance of Access to Markets
R350

Von Thunen Model
Why do geographers use the Von Thunen Model?
to help explain the importance of proximity to market in the choice of crops on
commercial farms
R350

Application of Von Thunen Model
Use Figure 10-13 to draw the Von Thunen Model diagram and label each ring.

What did von Thunen NOT consider in his model?
site and human factors: all land had similar site characteristics & uniform soil quality;
social customs and government policies can influence the attractiveness of plants and
animals for a commercial farmer

How is von Thunen’s model applicable on a larger scale?
farmers in relatively remote locations who wish to sell their output in the major markets
of Western Europe and Anglo America are less likely to grow highly perishable and bulky
products
************************************************************************************************
CH 10 KI 3 STUDY GUIDE READING OUTLINE
Read Study Guide Unit 5 pages 139-144 (stop @ “Patterns of Settlement”)

What is the goal to commercial agriculture?
farmers and ranchers sell all of their output for money

What do farmers farm in “Mixed Crop & Livestock farming”?
grow crops and raise livestock on the same land spread with most crops used as animal
feed

Where does Mixed Crop & Livestock farming take place in the world? What type of
climate is usual?
*In the U.S. west of the Appalachian mountains, much of Europe from France to Russia
*warm mid-latitude climates

What is crop rotation?
each field is planted on a planned cycle: changing crops or leaving field fallow each
cycle

Name 4 cereal grains.
oats, wheat, rye, barley

What is most commonly raised in mixed crop & livestock in the USA?
corn (soybeans are 2nd)

What do farmers farm in “Dairy farming”?
milk from dairy cows (can be used to produce butter & cheese too)

Where does Dairy farming take place in the world? What type of climate is usual?
*North/Northeast U.S., Western Europe, Southeast Canada, New Zealand
*cold mid-latitude climates

What is the milkshed?
the area (ring) around a city from which milk can be shipped without spoiling

What is a disadvantage to dairy farming?
economic difficulties (work hours too long and profit too little) - the expense of feeding
cows in the winter & it is labor intensive b/c the cows require a lot of care

What do farmers farm in “grain farming”?
cereal grains - mainly wheat in the United States

Where does Grain farming take place in the world? What type of climate is usual?
U.S. = winter wheat area, spring wheat area, Palouse region of Washington state
Other regions = Canada, Australia, Argentina, France, and U.K.

Where is winter wheat in the USA?
Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma

Where is spring wheat in the USA?
Dakotas, Montana

What is the name for the USA’s prairies?
the world’s breadbasket

What do farmers farm in “livestock ranching farming”?
cattle, sheep, goats are most common

Where does Livestock ranching farming take place in the world? What type of climate is
usual?
arid or semi-arid regions of the world where climate conditions make crop production
impractical

What are the Pampas? Where are they?
prairie region of Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay

What do farmers farm in “Mediterranean farming”?
some livestock is raised but mostly crop production: fruits, vegetables, flowers, tree
crops

Where does Mediterranean farming take place in the world? What type of climate is
usual?
*lands that border the Mediterranean Sea, California, central Chile, southwestern part of
South Africa, and southwestern Australia
*summers are hot and dry, moderate winter temperatures, moisture provided by
prevailing sea winds

What is horticulture?
the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers

What are the two most important cash crops?
olives and grapes

What do farmers farm in “Commercial Gardening & fruit farming farming”?
primarily fruits and vegetables: apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce, mushrooms,
tomatoes

Where does Commercial Gardening & fruit farming take place in the world? What type of
climate is usual?
predominates in the Southeast United States; warm mid-latitude climate (humid subtropical)

What is truck farming? What does “truck” mean here?
“truck” was a Middle English word meaning bartering or exchange of commodities; truck
farms grow many of the fruits and vegetables that consumers demand in more
developed societies

What do farmers farm in “Plantation farming”?
only one or two “cash crops”

Where does Plantation farming take place in the world? What type of climate is usual?
Latin America, Africa, and Asia

What are “cash crops”?
crops raised to make money for their owners (associated with Plantations in LDCs)

Describe Von Thunen’s model
the spatial layout of farming around a market/urban area; concentric rings featuring
different agricultural activities surrounding the market center; listed from closest to
furthest from market area they are:
ring 1 = dairy & market gardening
ring 2 = forestry/timber
ring 3 = field crops (grains)
ring 4 = animal grazing

Where is land used intensively in von Thunen’s Model?
closest to the center (market)

Where is land used extensively in von Thunen’s Model?
furthest from the center - the outermost rings

What is location theory?
explanation of how an economic activity is related to the land space where goods are
produced

How does location theory relate to von Thunen's model?
von Thunen’s model is based on the importance of considering land costs, transportation
costs, and the value of the crop