Agriculture, Food Production, & Rural Land Use - AP Human Geography

John Davis and Ray Goldberg wrote the book A Concept of Agribusiness in 1957 through the Harvard Business School. In 1952, Harvard Business school launched their own program studying the connection between agriculture and business. The research conducted by Davis and Goldberg is the first product of research from this school of study.

The term agribusiness was created to refer to the many processes that surround the economics of farming. The processes include the actual farming of the crop, to later sales, marketing and distribution.

The only option that involves agriculture is the company that produces the fruit juices.

The study of agribusiness is referred to as agribusiness management. This name comes from the combination of agricultural economics and and management studies.

The Agricultural Revolution of East Asia took place first in China, in the fertile valleys of the Yangtze River. From there it spread eastwards to Korea and Japan and southwards to Southeast Asia. The term "agricultural hearth" refers to early settled agricultural regions (usually along rivers).

The “Neolithic Revolution” is another name for the First Agricultural Revolution, which began in the Fertile Crescent of the near Middle East, and then gradually spread outwards into Europe and North Africa.

The United States and Brazil together account for almost ninety percent of the world’s production of ethanol fuel and are by far the biggest uses of ethanol to fuel motor vehicles. Brazil’s government has made it an official policy and ethanol usage continues to rise in Brazil.

“Ethanol” is an ethyl alcohol produced from corn and grain. In recent years it has started to be used to fuel motor vehicles, particularly in the United States. Ethanol is neither used as an antiseptic nor as a form of water treatment.

Goats, sheep, and camels all originated in southwest Asia and are one part of the reason why many of the earliest agricultural societies and human civilizations arose in this part of the world. Throughout the history of civilization goats and sheep have been important for sustaining and clothing human populations, and camels have been vital to facilitating trade and long-distance travel.

A “feedlot” is the name given to livestock farming that has been concentrated into a relatively small area. Animals in feedlots are fed hormones to accelerate their growth and are generally kept in extremely close proximity to other animals of their kind. This has numerous benefits for the farmer, but of course raises moral and environmental questions. Chickens are most likely to be raised in feedlots because they can survive without any space and respond dramatically to hormone treatments.

“Winter wheat” is a type of wheat crop that is planted in the late fall that stops growing during the winter before resuming growing in the spring. It is generally harvested in the early summer.

A "cash crop" is an agricultural crop that is purposely made strictly to be sold in a market environment for as much money as possible. Most cash crops, which include cotton, opium, grains, and many other products, are grown in a monoculture environment, where they are the only product grown on a piece of land. By their nature, cash crops are not a form of subsistence farming, as they are always produced to be used beyond a grower's own home and family.

When farmers grow a few lucrative crops, they cash cropping. Cash cropping involves growing one or a few crops that can be sold for a relatively high price.

A cash crop is a crop like coffee or tobacco; something that is grown for profit and to meet some luxury rather than to sustain the population. Cash crops are primarily grown on plantations in the developing world. Cash crops, while generally grown in the developing world, are most often exported to the developed world.

Due to rising concerns about overfishing and the ability to control the supply of fish, aquaculture has become the main source of fish and shellfish in the world. Aquaculture typically happens in manmade ponds or sections of rivers and seas that are bracketed off to keep the fish under control. Aquaculture is now one of the largest sectors of agriculture in most advanced nations.

A salmon farm in Scotland and a kelp farm in southern California are two examples of the raising of fish and marine plants in controlled environments. This is called “aquaculture.”

“Aquaculture” is the name given to all farming and rearing of fish and marine plants that does not fall under the category of fishing. A salmon farm in which the salmon are reared and harvested in a controlled environment is an example of aquaculture.

Mixed-crop farming, livestock ranching, dairy farming, and grain farming are all historically prevalent in the United States of America.

“Hydroponics” is the name given to the method of growing crops in nutrient solutions instead of in soil. This allows food to be grown in arid climates and increases the geographic range in which many crops can be grown. It is common, for example, in desert climates where the soil is harsh and unforgiving.

A “combine,” also commonly called a “combine harvester,” is used to harvest crops such as wheat, corn, oats, and barley. Its name is derived from the fact that it “combines” the three steps of harvesting in one machine - reaping, threshing, and winnowing. Combine harvesters are commonly used in the developed world, but remain uncommon in the developing world.