Chapter 10 - Human Geo Notes by Jackson Welsh

Agriculture
Notes by Jackson Welsh

- Climate determined by latitude

- Prosper determined by agricultural success
Agricultural success determined by climate and resources
- Therefore, latitude determines prosper

Hunting and Gathering

- People moved with plant and animal growth

- Settlements not permanent
- Small populations within hunting bands
- Few technological improvements
- 250 000 hunters and gatherers today
They live in the periphery

1st Agricultural Revolution

- 1st Agricultural revolution called the Neolithic Revolution

Happened 10,000 - 8,000 BC
Vegetative planting developed first
- This is planting a piece of a plant, thereby creating a clone of the plant
Seed agriculture developed next
- Planting seeds as we do today
Led by Carl Sauer

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Chapter 10 - Human Geo Notes by Jackson Welsh

- Animals like goats, pigs, and sheep were domesticated about 8,000 years ago
- Took a while to develop
- Only a few species have been domesticated, even today

WHY THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION WAS IMPORTANT:

- Increase in food supplies
- Rapid increase in total human population
- Job specialization
- Distinction between settled people and nomads
- Widening of gender-specific activities
Men: agricultural production and animal domestication (farming)
Women: child bearing, food prep, care for the home

2nd Agricultural Revolution

- Technological revolution
- NEW THINGS:
Seed drill
New crops: potatoes and corn
Advancements in livestock breeding
New soil prep methods and fertilizers
- Higher yields per farmer per acre
- Late 1600s to early 1800s
- Made it possible to feed rapidly growing cities
- LEADS TO AND IS CONNECTED TO:
Industrial Revolution
Tractors and other farming machines
Better transportation and storage crops (refrigerators, etc)
Industrially produced farming chemicals:
- Fertilizers
- Weed killers
- Pesticides

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Chapter 10 - Human Geo Notes by Jackson Welsh

- Less worrying about food

- Wealthy landowners in England enlarged farms via enclosure:
Fenced or hedged blocks of land to experiment
Mass produced to sell cheaper
- Rich get richer; poor move to the cities

Johann Heinrich von Thnen

Wrote Der Isolierite State (the isolated state)
Foundation of location theory
Model outdated since forests no longer needed as much due to gas heating vs wood
heating
See worksheet

Alonsos Land Rent Theory

Closer you are to the urban core, the higher land rent is
Likewise, the farther you are, the less the land costs
Less applicable now because of new transportation technologies
- Especially because people can now work from home

MDC vs LDC
Key differences:
- Purpose of farming
MDC: for money
LDC: for food
- Percentage of farmers in labor force
5% of population in MDCs farm, on average
Compared to 55% in LDCs
- Use of machinery
MDC: use lots of machines because we can afford them. Less farmers required.
LDC: use fewer, less money, less technology. More farmers required.
- Farm size
MDC: Megafarms - very large farms to make lots and lots of cash crops
LDC: Small, regular, family farms just to help sustain a family or team of people.

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Chapter 10 - Human Geo Notes by Jackson Welsh

- Relationships to businesses
MDC: sells most crops to companies to make all that money $$$
LDC: typically eat their own food, may sometimes sell to a local market

Agribusiness - Integration of different steps in the food processing industry: food processing
packaging, storing, distributing, and retailing

Subsistence Agriculture
FARMING THAT IS DONE FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF FEEDING YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY
- Farmers hold land on common
- Self-sufficient

Extensive: Large areas of land, minimal labor input per land area
PASTORAL NOMADISM:
- Wandering but controlled livestock dependent on natural growth
- Requires most land per person sustained
- Frequently found in areas of Asia, highlands, Sarah and Sahel.

Intensive: Small areas of land, lots of labor per land area

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