Commercial farming involves growing crops or raising livestock to sell for profit. There are several types of commercial farming: mixed crop and livestock farms grow both crops and animals; ranching specializes in grazing livestock; dairies produce milk and dairy products; and large-scale grain farms primarily cultivate grains for export. Plantation farming produces crops like coffee, sugar, and cotton on large estates, often in developing countries, for export markets.

1. Commercial Farming

2. Definition:
Commercial farmers produce
their crops to sell them in the
marketplace
Commercial farming types
include mixed crop and
livestock farming, ranching,
dairying, and large-scale
grain production
Plantation farming is a form
of commercial farming
Mainly practiced in less
developed countries

3. Mixed Crop and Livestock
farming
Definition
Involves a farm that grows crops and
raises animals
Most crops grown on mixed farms
are used to feed the farm’s animals
Provides manure fertilizer for sale as
well as goods
Most of mixed farm’s income comes
from sale of its animal products
Reduces farmer’s dependence on
seasonal crops
Devotes nearly all land to crops but
3/4ths of income comes from sale of
animal products
Exists widely throughout Europe and
Eastern Northern America
Usually farms are near large, urban
areas
Most mixed farms practice crop
rotation

4. Definition
Commercial grazing, or the raising of
animals on a plot of land on which
they graze
Ranching is usually extensive
Cattle and sheep are most
common animals on ranches
Practiced in areas where the
climate is too dry to support
crops
Semi-arid, arid land
Western U.S, Argentina, southern
Brazil, and Uruguay
In U.S. part of pop culture
Also on coast of Latin America and
Northern Mexico
Declining in importance
Began declining in U.S. in 1880s
Partly because of low grain prices and
because of U.S. meat quality
standards
Many U.S. ranches are being
converted into “fattening” farms

5. Definition
Growth of milk-based products
for the marketplace
Dairy farms closest to the
marketplace usually produce
the most perishable, fluid-
milk products
while those father away
produce goods such as cheese
and butter
Most economically
productive type of
commercial agriculture
practiced near cities in the
northeastern U.S,
southeastern Canada, and
northwestern Europe

6. Dairy Farms usually very
small and capital intensive
Uses a lot of machinery in the
farming process
Labor-intensive uses more
human labor
The milkshed is the zone
around the city’s center in
which milk can be produced
and shipped to the
marketplace without
spoiling
Growth in transportation
technology has increased
area of the milkshed
Improved technology and
feeding systems have led to
increases in the amount of
milk produced per cow

7. Definition
Where the grains are most
often grown to be exported to
other places for consumption
Wheat is the dominant grain
on large-scale grain farms
World’s largest export crop
Common in Canada, U.S.,
Argentina, Australia, France,
England, and the Ukraine
U.S. largest grain producer
Within North America,
large-scale grain
production is concentrated
within three areas
Winter-wheat belt
Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma
Spring-wheat belt
Dakotas, Montana, Southern
Saskatchewan Canada
Palouse region
Washington State

8. Large-scale grain farms grew
during Industrial Revolution
Farms are usually highly mechanized,
capital-intensive operations
Several technological innovations
precipitated the growth of large-
scale grain farming:
McCormick Reaper 1830s
Cuts standing grain in the field
Combine Machine
Completes all three processes:
Reaping, threshing, and cleaning

9. Definition
Involves large-scale farming
operations that specialize in farming
of one or two high-demand crops for
export, usually to more developed
regions
Called plantations or agricultural
estates
Introduced in tropical and
subtropical zones by European
colonizers
Seeking to produce crops such as:
Coffee, tea, pineapples, palms,
coconuts, rubber, tobacco, sugar cane,
and cotton

10. Today, plantation farming is
largely reflective of global power
structures
Most exist in low-latitude regions of
Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Most owned by companies from
more developed countries
Often take the best land from natives
Most plantations exist in a
location that has easy coastal
access for export

11. Through modern plantations
have integrated advanced
technology, still labor-
intensive
Large number of seasonal
workers used
Form of plantation
agriculture remains in the
subtropical and tropical U.S.
Migrant workers used for labor

12. Predominant type of
agriculture in the Southeast
United States
Region has a long growing
season and humid climate and
is accessible to the large
markets
New York, Philly, Washington D.C.
Often called “truck farming”
Truck means “bartering or
exchange of commodities”
Grow fruits and vegetables
Sold fresh to consumers
Highly efficient large-scale
operations
Labor costs kept down by
hiring migrant workers
Many undocumented