Commercial Agriculture: Crop-based

The system of commercial farming found in developed countries is called agribusiness because farming is integrated into a large food-production industry. Farmers account for less than 2 percent of the U.S. labor force, but around 20 percent of U.S. laborers work in food production and services related to agribusiness—food processing, packaging, storage, distribution, and retailing. Agribusiness also encompasses such diverse enterprises as tractor manufacturing, fertilizer production, and seed distribution.

Most farms are owned by individual families, but most other aspects of agribusiness are controlled by large corporations. Agricultural products are not sold directly to consumers but to food-processing companies. Large processors, such as General Mills and Kraft, typically sign contracts with commercial farmers to buy their crops and animals. Commercial agriculture in developed countries can be divided into six main types: grain, Mediterranean, commercial gardening and fruit, mixed crop and livestock, dairy, and ranching. The first three derive most of their income from the sale of crops and the second three from the sale of animal products.

Grain Farming

The major crop on most farms is grain, such as wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, and millet. Crops on a grain farm are grown primarily for consumption by humans rather than by livestock. Large-scale grain production, like other commercial farming ventures in developed countries, is heavily mechanized, conducted on large farms, and oriented to consumer preferences. Monocropping, which is the practice of growing the same single crop every year after year, is typically practiced. Commercial grain farms sell their output to manufacturers of food products, such as breakfast cereal and bread. The most important crop grown is wheat, used to make bread flour. Wheat generally can be sold for a higher price than other grains, such as rye, oats, and barley, and it has more uses as human food. It can be stored relatively easily without spoiling and can be transported a long distance. Because wheat has a relatively high value per unit weight, it can be shipped profitably from remote farms to markets.

The share of world production of wheat in developing countries has increased rapidly. Much of this increased production results from growth in large-scale commercial agriculture. Developing countries accounted for more than one-half of world wheat production in 2016, compared to only one-fourth in 1960. The United States was the largest producer of wheat in the twentieth century, but it now ranks fourth among all countries, behind China, India, and Russia. China has been the world leader since 1983, and India has been second since 1999.

Wheat Production, 2016

China and India are the leading wheat producers, followed by the United States.

Commercial grain farms are generally located in regions that are too dry for mixed crop and livestock agriculture. Within North America, large-scale grain production is concentrated in three areas:

The winter wheat belt through Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma, where planting is in the autumn and harvesting in the early summer.

The spring wheat belt through the Dakotas, Montana, and southern Saskatchewan in Canada, where planting is in the spring and harvesting in the late summer.

The Palouse region of Washington State.

Wheat’s significance extends beyond the amount of land or number of people involved in growing it. Unlike other agricultural products, wheat is grown to a considerable extent for international trade, and it is the world’s leading export crop. The United States and Canada account for about one-fourth of the world’s wheat exports. The ability to provide food for many people elsewhere in the world is a major source of economic and political strength for these two countries.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Mediterranean agriculture exists primarily on the lands that border the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. Farmers in California, central Chile, the southwestern part of South Africa, and southwestern Australia practice Mediterranean agriculture as well.

These Mediterranean areas share a similar physical environment. Every Mediterranean area borders a sea. Prevailing sea winds provide moisture and moderate the winter temperatures. Summers are hot and dry, but sea breezes provide some relief. The land is very hilly, and mountains frequently plunge directly to the sea, leaving very narrow strips of flat land along the coast.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Olive farm, Crete, Greece.

Most crops in Mediterranean lands are grown for human consumption rather than for animal feed. Horticulture— which is the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers— and tree crops form the commercial base of Mediterranean farming. In the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea, the two most important cash crops are olives and grapes. A large portion of California farmland is devoted to fruit and vegetable horticulture, which supplies a large portion of the citrus fruits, tree nuts, and deciduous fruits consumed in the United States.

Commercial Gardening

Commercial (or market) gardening and fruit farming is the predominant type of agriculture in the southeastern United States. The region has a long growing season and humid climate, and it is accessible to the large number of consumers in the northeast United States. This type of agriculture is frequently called truck farming, from the Middle English word truck, meaning “barter” or “exchange of commodities.”

Truck farms grow many of the fruits and vegetables that consumers in developed countries demand, such as apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Some of these fruits and vegetables are sold fresh to consumers, but most are sold to large processors for canning or freezing. Farms tend to specialize in a few crops, and a handful of farms may dominate the national output of some fruits and vegetables.

A form of truck farming called specialty farming has spread to New England, among other places. Farmers are profitably growing crops that have limited but increasing demand among affluent consumers, such as asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, strawberries, and nursery plants. Specialty farming represents a profitable alternative for New England farmers at a time when dairy farming is declining because of relatively high operating costs and low milk prices.

Truck Farming

Nursery plant farm, Bethel, Connecticut.

Pause & Reflect 9.3.6

Why might wheat be easier to export than produce from truck farming?