| Term | Definition |
| Commercial Livestock Production | the mass raising of livestock for the purpose of selling and not necessarily for local consumption |
| Mixed and Specialty Crop Farming | Crops including items like peanuts and pineapples, which are produced, usually in developing countries, for export |
| Transhumance | The movements of livestock according to seasonal patterns, generally lowland areas in the winter, and highland areas in the summer. |
| Extensive Subsistence Agriculture | An agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area. |
| Origins of Agriculture | Through time nomadic people noticed the growing of plants in a cycle and began to domesticate them and use for there own use. Vegetative planting likely was originated in SE Asia and seed agriculture originated in W. India, N. China and Ethiopia (Sauer). |
| Hunting and Gathering | The killing of wild animals and fish as well as the gathering of fruits, roots, nuts, and other plans for sustenance. |
| Fertile Crescent | Area located in the crescent shaped zone near the southeastern Mediterranean coast (including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey), which was once a lush environment and one of the first hearths of domestication and thus agricultural activity. |
| Negative Impacts of the Green Revolution | led to the degradation of soil resulting to the loss in production of fruits, vegetables etc. It is a disadvantage to small scale farmers because they cannot afford the new tech. It has also led to pollution due to the excessive use of fertilizers. |
| The Boserup Hypothesis | The hypothesis that population growth compels subsistence farmers to consider new farming approaches that produce enough food to take care of the additional people. |
| Commercial Grain Farming | Commercial grain farming is the farming of grain for the purpose of selling mass quantities of it. Grain is an important part of the world's diet. In Central USA there is a lot of grain farming going on. |
| Primary Economic Activities | economic activities in which natural resources are made available for use or further processing, including mining, agriculture, forestry, and fishing |
| Capital-Intensive vs. Labor Intensive Agriculture | Capitol: uses mechanical goods, such as machinery, tools, vehicles, and facilities to produce large amounts of agricultural goods- requiring very little human labor.
Labor: Type of agriculture that requires large levels of manual labor to be successful |
| Extensive vs. Intensive Agriculture | Extensive : small input costs, wide pastures for animals for grazing /lower yields, large swaths of land required
Intensive: high yield per acre (less land to produce the same amount)/energy requirements, pesticides/herbicides |
| Maladaptive Diffusion | diffusion of an idea or innovation that is not suitable for the environment in which it diffused into (e.g., New England-style homes in Hawaii, or Ranch-style homes in northeast US). |
| The Green Revolution | The development of higher yield and fast growing crops through increased technology, pesticides, and fertilizers transferred from the developed to developing world to alleviate the problem of food supply in those regions of the globe. |
| Tropical Plantations | Grow crops such as sugarcane and coffee. Widespread throughtout the tropics, in Africa, Asia, the Carribean, and Central and South America |
| Intensive Subsistence Agriculture | Intensive agriculture is the primary subsistence pattern of large-scale, populous societies. It results in much more food being produced per acre compared to other subsistence patterns. It is characterized by high inputs of labor per unit land area |
| Commercial Agriculture | all agricultural activity generated for the purpose of selling, not necessarily for local consumption |
| Agriculture | the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products |
| Industrial Revolution's Effect on Agriculture | The rapid economic changes that occurred in agriculture and manufacturing in England in the late 18th century and that rapidly spread to other parts of the developed world. |
