Since the late nineteenth century, agricultural production has come to rely increasingly on mechanized means of production and farm equipment. This has greatly shifted the way crops are grown, with more cash crops grown in large monoculture plots by large corporations. Most significantly, all of these changes mean that fewer and fewer farm laborers are needed to grow the same amount of crops.

Quaternary economic activity refers mostly to information on market trends and the trade of goods. An economic consultant who recommends purchases for large companies best fits this definition.

Quinary economic activity is defined as research and higher education. Developing seeds at a public land grant college best fits this definition, because research is being applied to increase economic activity in another sector.

Tertiary economic activity is the act of serving as an intermediary between producers and consumers to facilitate trade. Finding buyers for fair trade coffee and initiating the trade between them and consumers for a cut of the profit best fits this definition.

Primary economic activity is defined as the act of directly harvesting natural resources. Logging tree stands for a living would be the best example of all provided choices.

A “luxury crop” is a crop that is grown to serve some purpose other than sustaining human life. All of these crops are consumed for reasons other than nutrition and so are called “luxury crops.”

The cultivation of drugs, like marijuana and opiates, for the purpose of sale on the black market is referred to as “narco-agriculture.” "Aquaculture" refers to the farming and cultivation of fish, crustaceans, and other sea life in controlled, designated environments. "Black market agriculture" refers to the sale of conventional agricultural products (like corn or wheat) for sale in non-sanctioned marketplaces, usually to avoid price-controls, taxes, or tariffs. Although the farming of poppies has been associated with the production of opiate drugs, this is too specific a term to be correct in this instance (the growing of marijuana or coca plants also fall under the umbrella of "narco-agriculture"). "Horticulture" simply refers to the intentional cultivation of plants.

Each year a larger and larger share of the world’s agricultural land is owned by multinational agribusiness. These multinational corporations buy up agricultural land in the developing world at a rapid rate and control almost every step in the process of producing, shipping, and selling agricultural products.

In the past century the average size of farms in the United States has increased dramatically. This general trend can be applied globally and to most of human history as well. This is because it is more profitable and efficient to farm on larger scales than it is to farm on smaller scales. The general trend is that more and more agricultural land is being consolidated into fewer and fewer hands and larger tracts of property.

The growth of agribusiness, particularly multinational corporations, in the previous half-century has led to a marked decline around the world in small-land holdings and family-run farms. Agricultural production and efficiency have both increased and government interference is fairly consistent.