1. FIELD NOTE
1.1. soybeans are being grown in South Dakota
1.2. organic agriculture - the production of crops without the use of synthetic or industrially produced pesticides and fertilizers
1.3. commercial agriculture - the large-scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces, and the latest technology
1.4. sale of organic food in the United States went from under $200 million in 1980 to $1.5 billion by the early 1990s to over $10 billion by 2003 and $24.8 billion in 2009
1.5. organic foods are now just under 4 percent of all food sales in the country
2. WHAT IS AGRICULTURE, AND WHERE DID AGRICULTURE BEGIN?
2.1. agriculture is the deliberate tending of crops and livestock to produce food, feed, fiber, and fuel
2.2. primary economic activities include agriculture, ranching, hunting and gathering, fishing, forestry, mining, and quarrying; both the growing of food or feed and raising of livestock are also considered primary economic activities
2.3. secondary economic activities are activities that take a primary product and change it into something else such as toys, ships, processed foods, chemicals, and buildings; manufacturing is the principal secondary economic activity
2.4. tertiary economic activities are those service industries that connect producers to consumers and facilitate commerce and trade or help people meet their needs; people who work as bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, nurses, salespeople, clerks, and secretaries belong to the tertiary sector
2.5. some analysts separate specialized services into quaternary and quinary economic activities, distinguishing between those services concerned with information or the exchange of money or goods (quaternary) and those tied to research or high education (quinary)
2.6. in Guatemala the agriculture sector accounts for 13.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), yet 50 percent of the labor force is employed in agriculture
2.7. in the US, less than 2 percent of the workforce is involved in agricultural production
2.8. thousands of others participate in supporting agricultural production
2.9. Hunting, Gathering, and Fishing
2.9.1. North America provides a good example of the diversity of regional specializations among hunter-gatherers
2.9.2. the oak forests of parts of North America provided an abundant harvest of nuts, sometimes enough to last more than a full year; American Indian communities living in and around these forest therefore collected and stored this food source
2.9.3. other American Indians living near the Pacific Ocean became adept at salmon fishing
2.9.4. the bison herds of the Great Plains provided sustenance,a nd so bison served as a focal point for many plains cultures
2.9.5. in the colder climates of North America, people followed the migrations of the caribou herds
2.9.6. in the north, in the coastal zone stretching from present day Alaska to Russia, the Aleut developed specialized techniques for fishing and for sea mammal hunting
2.9.7. the size of hunting and gathering clans varied according to climate and resource availability
2.9.8. in the north, in the coastal zone stretching from present day Alaska to Russia, the Aleut developed specialized techniques for fishing and for sea mammal hunting
2.10. Terrain and Tools
2.10.1. fire became the focal point of settlements, and the campfire took on symbolic and functional importance
2.11. The First Agricultural Revolution
2.11.1. Carl Sauer suggested that Southeast and South Asia may have been the scene, more than 14,000 years ago, of the first domestication of tropical plants
2.11.2. there, he believed, the combination of human settlements, forest margins, and fresh water streams may have given rise to the earliest planned cultivation of root crops- crops that are reproduced by cultivating either the roots or cutting from the plants
2.11.3. seed crops are plants that are reproduced by cultivating seeds
2.11.4. some scholars believe that the first domestication of seed plants occurred in the Nile River Valley in North Africa, but the majority view is that this crucial development took place in a region of Southwest Asia (also called the Fertile Crescent)
2.11.5. both millet and sorghum diffused from the West African region-millet to India and sorghum to China
2.11.6. diffusion of crops and seeds was greatly accelerated by worldwide trade and communications networks established with the development of mercantilism and European colonialism
2.12. Domestication of Animals
2.12.1. goats were domesticated in the Zagros Mountains as long as 10,000 yearrs ago; sheep some 9,500 years ago in Anatolia (Turkey); and pigs and cattle shortly thereafter
2.12.2. the advantages of animal domestication as a source of meat and as providers of milk
2.12.3. in Southwest Asia and adjacent parts of the Mediterranean basin, people domesticated the goat, sheep, and camel
2.12.4. goats were domesticated in the Zagros Mountains as long as 10,000 yearrs ago; sheep some 9,500 years ago in Anatolia (Turkey); and pigs and cattle shortly thereafter
2.13. Subsistence Agriculture
2.13.1. subsistence - growing only enough food to survive
2.13.2. shifting - cultivation of crops in tropical forest clearings in which the forest vegetation has been removed by cutting and burning
2.13.3. slash and burn agriculture - reflecting the central role of the controlled use of fire in places where this technique is used
3. WHAT IMPRINT DOES AGRICULTURE MAKE ON THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE?
3.1. the checkerboard pattern on the landscape reflects the pattern of land survey system and land ownership in much of the country
3.2. cadastral system-the method of land survey through which land ownership and property lines are defined
3.3. the US gov adopted the rectangular survey system after the American Revolution as part of a cadastral system
3.4. under the Homestead Act, a homesteader received one section of land (160 acres) after living on the land for five years and making improvements to it
3.5. metes and bounds survey is when natural features were used to demarcate irregular parcels of land
3.6. long-slot survey system divided land into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals
3.7. primogeniture in which all land passes to the eldest son
3.8. Villages
3.8.1. Houses in Japanese are so tightly pakced together that only the narrowest passageways remain between them
3.8.2. this village form reflects the need to allocate every possible square foot of land to farming
3.8.3. the US Midwest individual farmhouses lie quite far apart in a dispersed settlement pattern; the land is intensively cultivated but by machine rather than by hand
3.8.4. Europe villages frequently are clustered on hills, leaving the level land for farming
3.8.5. half of the world's people still reside in villages and rural areas
3.8.6. Mexico has experienced rapid economic change since passage of the NAFTA in 1992
3.8.7. corn prices in Mexico fluctuated over time, tortilla prices rose, and then production of corn in Mexico increased
3.9. Functional Differentiation within Villages
3.9.1. the range in size and quality of houses, representing their owners', wealth and standing in the community, reflects social satisfaction
3.9.2. in Africa a higher social position in the community is associated with a more impressive home
3.9.3. the functional differentiation of building within farm villages is more elaborate in some societies than in others
3.9.4. India's villages, the paddy-bin made of mud, often stands inside the house
3.9.5. North American farm is likely to include a two-story farmhouse, a stable, a barn, and various outbuildings
4. HOW DID AGRICULTURE CHANGE WITH INDUSTRIALIZATION?
4.1. the Second Agricultural Revolution was composed of a series of innovations, improvements, and techniques, i this case initially in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and other neighboring countries
4.2. Great Britain's Enclosure Act which encourage consolidation of fields into large, single-owner holdings
4.3. in the 1700s and 1800s, European farmers bred dairy cattle to adapt to different climates and topography
4.4. the black and white Holstein dairy cow came from the Netherlands and is well suited to graze on grass and produce high quanitites of milk
4.5. Scottish farmers bred the red and white Ayrshire breed of dairy cattle to produce milk well suited for butter and cheese and to forage for food in rough, rocky topography
4.6. innovations in machinery that occurred with the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s and early 1900s helped sustain the Second Agricultural Revolution
4.7. later, the internal combustible engine made possible the invention of tractors, combines, and a multitude of large farm equipment
4.8. Understanding the Spatial Layout of Agriculture
4.8.1. when the terrain was flat, that soils and other environmental conditions were the same everywhere, and that there were no barriers to transportation to market
4.9. The Third Agricultural Revolution
4.9.1. the Third Agricultural Revolution is also called the Green Revolution
4.9.2. it dates as far back as the 1930s, it began when agricultural scientists in the American Midwest began experimenting with technologically manipulated seed varieties to increase crop yields
4.9.3. in 1982 IR36 was produced and it was bred from 13 parents to achieve genetic resistance against 15 pests and a growing cycle of 110 days under warm conditions
4.9.4. by 1992, IR36 was the most widely grown crop on Earth
4.9.5. the Green Revolution brought new high-yield varieties of wheat and corn from the United States to other parts of the world
4.9.6. research has already led to methods for producing high-yield casava and sorghum- both which are grown in Africa
4.9.7. research on fattening livestock faster and improving the appearance of fruits is having an impact on North and South America
4.9.8. there is growing concern that higher inputs of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides associated with Green Revolution agriculture can lead to reduced organic matter in the soil and to groundwater pollution
4.10. New Genetically Modified Foods
4.10.1. people have experimented with hybrid crops and cross-breeding of animals
4.10.2. genetically modified organisms are found in 75 percent of all processed foods in the US
4.10.3. with 88 percent of all acres in corn and 94 percent of all acres in soybeans
4.11. The Impacts of Agricultural Modernization on Earlier Practices
4.11.1. subsistence farming continues to be a relatively common practice in Africa, Middle America, tropical South America, and parts of Southeast Asia
5. HOW IS AGRICULTURE CURRENTLY ORGANIZED GEOGRAPHICALLY, AND HOW HAS AGRIBUSINESS INFLUENCED THE CONTEMPORARY GEOGRAPHY OF AGRICULTURE?
5.1. the effects of different climate and soil conditions, variations in farming methods, and technology,, the role of governments and social norms, and the lasting impacts of history
5.2. commercial farming has come to dominate in the world's economic core
5.3. commercial farming is the agriculture of large-scale grain producers and cattle ranches, mechanized equipment and factory-type labor forces, of plantations and profit
5.4. commercial agriculture began in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
5.5. the beef industry of Argentina secured a world market when the invention of refrigerated ships made it possible to transport a highly perishable commodity over long distances
5.6. monoculture is the dependence on a single agricultural commodity
5.7. colonies became known for certain crops, and colonizers came to rely on these crops
5.8. Ghanains still raise cacao; Mocambiquans still grow cotton; ad Sri Lankans still produce tea
5.9. The World Map of Climates
5.9.1. Koppen climate classification is for classifying the world's climates on the basis of temperature and precipitation
5.9.2. climate regions are areas with similar climatic characteristics
5.10. The World Map of Agriculture
5.10.1. Cash Crops and Plantation Agriculture
5.10.1.1. when cash crops are grown on large estates it is plantation agriculture
5.10.1.2. plantation agriculture continues in Middle and South America, Africa, and South Asia
5.10.1.3. in the 1940s and 1950s, the Guatemalan government began an agrarian reform program
5.10.1.4. in 1954, the United States supported the overthrow of the government of Guatemala because of stated concerns about the spread of communism
5.10.2. Commercial Livestock, Fruit, and Grain Agriculture
5.10.2.1. dairying is widespread at the northern margins of the midlatitudes-particularly in the northeastern United States and in northwestern Europe
5.10.2.2. fruit, truck, and specialized crops are found in the eastern and southeastern United States and in widely dispersed small areas where environments are favorable
5.10.2.3. mixed livestock and crop farming is widespread in the more humid parts of the midlatitudes, including much of the eastern United States, western Europe, and western Russia, but it is also found in smaller areas in Uruguay, Brazil, and South Africa
5.10.2.4. commercial grain farming prevails in the drier parts of the midlatitudes, including the southern Prairie Provinces of Canada, in the Dakotas and Montana in the United States, as well as in Nebraska, Kansas, and adjacent areas
5.10.2.5. livestock ranching is the raising of domesticated animals for the production of meat and byproducts such as leather and wool
5.10.3. Mediterranean Agriculture
5.10.3.1. Mediterranean agriculture is the kind of specialized farming occurs only in areas where the dry summer Mediterranean climate prevails:along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in parts of California and Oregon, in central Chile, at South Africa's Cape, and in parts of southwestern and southern Australia
5.10.4. Drug Agriculture
5.10.4.1. because of the high demand for drugs-particularly in the global economic core-farmers in the periphery often find it more profitable to cultivate poppy, coca, or marijuana plants than to grow standard food crops
5.10.4.2. Mexicans now control 11 of the 13 largest drug markets in the United States
5.10.4.3. Drug cartels that oversee the drug trade have brought crime and violence to the places where they hold sway
5.11. Political Influences on Agriculture
5.11.1. one of the most significant contemporary cash crops was cotton
5.11.2. in some cases governments enacted policies that perpetuated preexisting inequalities; in others land reforms were introduced that served to redistribute land to individuals or communities
5.11.3. the latter were common in parts of Central and South America, leading to a substantial reorganization of the rural landscape
5.12. Socio-cultural Influences on Agriculture
5.12.1. one of the most important luxury crops in the world is coffe
5.12.2. retailers who are certified Fair Traders return up to 40 percent of the retail price of an item to the producer
5.12.3. once a producer meets the requirements of organic coffee production and a few other criteria, that producer can be registered on the International Fair Trade Coffee Register
5.12.4. all espresso sold at Dunkin' Donuts in North America and Europe is fair trade certified
5.12.5. fair trade coffee is available at large retail outlets and under corporate brands at Target, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club
5.13. Agribusiness and the Changing Geography of Agriculture
5.13.1. agribusiness is an encompassing term for the businesses that provide a vast array of goods and services to support the agricultural industry
5.13.2. how selective breeding has produced faster growing, bigger chickens
5.13.3. broiler houses are concentrated in northwestern Arkansas, northern Georgia, the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia), east of Washington D.C., the Piedmont areas of North Carolina, and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
5.13.4. during the 1990s, hog production on the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles increased rapidly with the arrival of corporate hog farms
5.14. Environmental Impacts of Commercial Agriculture
5.14.1. in many places fish stocks are declining at an alarming rate
5.14.2. today the western stock is listed as critically endangered and the stock in the Mediterranean is listed as endangered
5.14.3. better regulated organic farming and local food intiatives are clearly on the rise
5.14.4. the popularity of fast-food chains that serve hamburgers has led to the deforestation of wooded areas in order to open up additional pastures for beef cattle, notable in Central and South America
5.15. The Challenge of Feeding Everyone
5.15.1. nearly 1 billion people are malnourished
5.15.2. population growth and the loss of agricultural land help to explain why global food prices have been on the rise for more than a decade
5.15.3. food deserts are areas with limited access to fresh, nutritious food
5.15.4. urban food deserts are typically found in low-income neighborhoods
5.15.5. consumers in urban food deserts were more likely to purchase processed, energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods because of the lower expenses of these foods relative to fresh fruits and vegetables and also to avoid wasting food
5.15.6. in metropolitan areas, obesity rates increased and the rate of fruit and vegetable consumption decreased with increasing distance from grocery stores