Commercial Agriculture
large-scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces, and the latest technology
Agribusiness
a trend where large corporations buy and control many different steps in a food processing industry. encompasses everything from the farming to the consumer
Commodity Chains
an network of labor and production processes beginning with the extraction or production of raw materials and ending with the delivery of a finished commodity
Agribusiness purposes
consumer demand drives decisions
Effect of Commercial Agriculture on Small Family Farms
farmers have a guaranteed market as long as the product is uniform and meets the delivery timeline. Poor farmers cannot keep up with the times and move to urban areas. Family farms are contracted out to larger corporations.
Effect of Commercial Agriculture on Cultivation Regions
multi-cropping is replaced with monoculture, land is cleared and vegetation is lost in areas to facilitate agriculture and trade, erosion can be a problem along with increased use of soil chemicals, loss of food security
Original Food Chain
farmer sells to processor sells to distribution sells to store sells to consumer
Vertical Coordination of Agriculture
blending of primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary economic activities
Global Supply Chain
consists of the continuous buying and selling of goods and services, covers all the steps to get a good or service from the supplier to the customer
Patterns of Global Food are affected by
-Political systems
-infrastructure
-patterns of world trade
Economies of Scale
the more units you produce, the cheaper each unit costs to produce
Mechanization of Agriculture
equipment that allows farmers to work efficiently with very high yields
Factory Farms
focus on raising the maximum number of animals possible on a given piece of land
Feedlot
animals are fed so that they can recover from their transportation with the goal of reaching the maximum weight before being sold
Luxury Crops
high value cash crops not part of a staple diet
Cattle Ranching/Livestock Ranching
extensive, distribution, associated with lands that are often too harsh for raising crops
Mediterranean Agriculture
warmer climate temperatures year round and less rain, citrus, grapes, olives, figs, dates, and almonds
Market Gardening
produces a large diversity of crops grown on a small area of land during a single growing season, fruits, vegetables, flowers, small scale farms that sell to local consumers
Truck Farms
fruits mainly, year round growing season, large scale commercial farms for long distance consumers
Horticulture and Fruit Farming
intensively cultured, high-value luxury crops, food crops, flowers and ornamental plants, nutrition and aesthetics. The science and art of producing, improving, marketing, and using fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants
Aquaculture
water agriculture, technology can increase the yields
Agriculture Policy
governments can create policies making it more favorable to grow certain crops
Subsidies
a form of government sponsored financial aid to support an industry or program, designed so that the government can influence crop production and stabilize the price of crops
Farm Bill
-85% of the money in this goes to food stamps to generate crop demand
Farm Crisis
an event or situation that dramatically decreases farm profits
-natural:firsts, prolonged winters, droughts, flood
-Man Made:over working of land, war, too much product on market
Malnutrition
a prolonged unbalanced diet does not allow your body to receive proper nutrition
Markets
where does the facility need to be located in relation to the market?
Economies of scale
how does cost of production influence profitability?
Transportation
what type of transportation is available that can properly transport products and what is the cost of that transportation?
Policies
are there government policies in existence that make it more attractive to grow certain crops or coat processing facilities in certain areas?
Hunger Crisis/Famine
cataclysmic food shortages with natural or human causes, how could this influence the crops a farmer might grow?
3rd Agricultural Revolution
-Mechanization
-Chemical farming with synthetic fertilizers
-Globally widespread food manufacturing
Mechanization
increased use of machines in agriculture
Chemical Farming
became widespread in the 50s in the US, 60s in Europe, and 70s in the periphery: herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides)
Globally Widespread Food Manufacturing
adding value to agricultural products through processing, canning, refining, packaging, and packing
Contract Farming
an agreement between farmers and processing and/or marketing firms for the supply and purchase of agricultural products by way of legal agreements
Agricultural Industrialization
the process whereby the farm has moved from being the centerpiece of agricultural production to being part of an integrated multilevel industrial process that includes production, storage, processing, distribution, marketing, and retailing
Green Revolution
a term coined in the late 1960s to refer to the changes in agricultural production with so-called miracle seeds
High-Yield Seeds
seeds that were bred to respond to fertilizers and produce an increased amount of grain per acre planted, led to the reduction in the varieties of seeds being used in many areas of the world
Hybrid Seeds
created by cross pollinating two different but related plants in order to create a plant variety that would stand up to a farmers micro-climate
Increased Chemical and Mechanized Farming
saw a replacement of human farm labor with machines, chemical farming to increase yields became widespread
Biotechnology
genetically modified, concern that consumption of large quantities of GM may reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics and could destroy long-standing ecological balances of agriculture, concern that GM plants/animals could interbreed and contaminate natura
Genetically Modified Organisms
opposition: health problems, export issues, and dependence on the United States
support: higher yields, increased nutrition, resistance to pests
Organic Farming
can benefit the environment, but only have modest impacts on the majority of the worlds people and places
-has little effect on the production of staple foods
-concerns over standards and sustainability
-pricing out of smaller farms due to subsidies favor
Aquaculture debates
has provided about 30% of the total fish harvest in recent years, fastest growing sector of the world food economy, concerns over water pollution from fish waste, transfer of disease to wild fish, and genetic damage to wild fish from escaped fish that hav
dietary laws and food preference
some regions of the world may have food preferences or even dietary laws due to religious reasons
Organic Farming/Agriculture
-no genetic modifications
-free of pesticides
-free of antibiotics
-free of synthetic hormones
-no artificial fertilizers
-must feed on completely organic crops
Fair Trade
giving farmers fair market prices for their products, provides a decent living wage and guarantees the right to organize
Value-Added Specialty Foods
food is processed on the farm and significantly increases in value as more money goes to the farmer
Regional Appellations
some foods are associated with a local or regional geographic name for the product, bring higher prices at market
Eat Local Movements
minimizing the distance between production and consumption, helps preserve local snd small-scale farmland, reduces fossil fuel consumption, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and supports the local economy
Bio Revolution
the extension of scientific innovation such as genetic modifications and agricultural biotechnology to all plant and animal products
Biotechnology
technology designed to manipulate seed varieties to increase crop yields, result of the 3rd agricultural revolution, the use of living organisms to produce/change a plant or animal product