Agriculture: Types of farming

Daniel lives on a small farm in the countryside. His family grow vegetables and fruit trees. The family also keep a few hens for eggs and some sheep for meat, milk and wool. What Daniel and his family produce is enough for themselves. Only occasionally do they have some extra produce left over, to sell.

Growing crops, such as grains and vegetables in fields is called arable farming. Crops require mostly flat and fairly sheltered land, with fertile soil and a suitable climate. Land that is not ideal for arable farming, because of steeper slopes or less fertile soil, can often be used for rearing animals instead. Farming that focuses on rearing animals is called pastoral farming. Daniel’s family does both: arable farming and pastoral farming.

This combination is called mixed farming. One of the advantages of mixed farming is that animals are a good source of food and income, even if the crop yield is bad. Animals also provide farmers with manure, which can be used as fertiliser to enrich the soil and increase crop yield. Bits of plants that are not eaten by humans can be fed to livestock, so nothing goes to waste. Mixed farming is often practised by farmers like Daniel’s family, who need whatever they produce on the farm for themselves, and have little or nothing to sell.

This is called subsistence farming. Subsistence farming is common in many areas of the world, and is typical for farmers who don’t own much land. Subsistence farming relies on farmers growing a variety of crops on their land, which is called polyculture. It is a good idea to use polyculture to get as good a harvest as possible. Crops get more from the soil if they are not always grown in the same place.

However, subsistence farming like this requires a lot of labour. Most of the work is done by humans by hand, with relatively simple tools and machines, as it’s often not possible for the farmer to buy advanced equipment. The opposite of subsistence farming is commercial farming. The purpose of commercial farming is to make money through selling crops or animal products. Commercial farming is done on a large scale, to increase yield and profits.

Commercial farms use advanced technology and machinery. This requires fewer people and less manual labour. This type of farming often focuses on one type of crop, grown as a monoculture. Growing crops in monocultures makes farming and harvesting more efficient. One type of commercial farm that grows crops entirely for sale is called a plantation.

Plantations are usually located in tropical areas. They are large farms which focus on crops that sell very well and bring high profits, so called cash crops. Cash crops grown on plantations include for instance bananas, sugar cane, soya, cocoa, tea, rubber trees, cotton. Although commercial farming usually uses machinery, much work on plantations is often still done by hand. Farming can also be divided into intensive and extensive.

Grazing cattle on a large area of pastureland is an example of extensive farming. This type of farming uses little labour and little money in relation to the area of farmed land. Extensive farming produces relatively low output per unit of land area. Intensive farming, on the other hand, focuses on a small plot of land, uses much labour and costs much money, to produce high output. Most commercial farms use intensive farming methods to maximise production and generate more profit.

Types of farming and methods used differ, depending on geographical conditions, how much money, labour and technology is available, or what products sell well. But almost all the food you find on your plate does come from a farm.