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Extensive Commercial Farming
Livestock Ranching
- Livestock ranching in US originally began as open range where the land was not divided by fences
- Some units are 7k squ/ kms and are in areas or poor quality grazing as less than 500mm of rainfall per year
- Irrigation made it possible for farmers to grow additional fodder crops
- Workforce on ranches is small and productivity of workers is high
- Cattle raised for 2 years before being sent to corn belt for fattening and slaughter
- Pampas of South America have about 7500mm of rainfall per year
- This support better quality grassland in USA
- Around 20,000 cattle are kept
- Natural advantages for cattle ranching - summers are warm, moist, winters are mile
- This allows almost continual plant growth
Wheat Farming
- The grasslands of the 3 prairie provinces, Alberta Sasketchewan and Manitoba are used for spring wheat
- Mixed farming has been noticeable since 70s
- Spring wheat is planted in spring and harvested after a short growing season, while winter wheat grown in warmers areas, is planted in winter and harvested in the autumn
- Prairies have physical characteristics which have advantages:
- The summer growing season is short, 90 days minimum required
- Short summer warm over 15 degrees C with long hours of daylight
- Black chernozem soils are deep and fertile
- Land is relatively flat which aids mechanisation and transport
- Severe winter frosts break up the soil
Some disadvantages are:
- Droughts occur occasionally
- Hail and early cold snaps can ruin crops
- Without vegetations cover, the soil is vulnerable to erosion
- In drier areas wheat may be grown by dry farming methods which involve leaving the land fallow in alternate years to regain soil moisture
- Wheat farming -> capital intensive on prairies therefore productivity per worker is high
Yields have increased over last 40 years due to factors:
- Amalgamation of farms into larger more economic units
- Improved seed varieties which are drought and frost resistant
- More use of strip farming
- Improved dry-farming methods
- Selective irrigation
- Improved fertilisers and pesticides
