Commercial farming in developed regions; farm organisation

In developed regions, farming is commercial and uses a lot of capital, skill and science.

Mixed farming combines crops and animals in roughly equal importance. Fields grow wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder and root crops, and crop rotation keeps the soil fertile. It needs high capital for machinery, buildings and fertilisers, and skilled farmers. It is found in the developed parts of the world: north-western Europe, eastern North America, parts of Eurasia, and the temperate southern continents.

Dairy farming is the most advanced and efficient type of animal rearing. It is capital-intensive (sheds, storage, feeding and milking machines) and labour-intensive: animals need care all year round, so there is no off-season as in crop farming. Dairy farms are found near cities, the markets for fresh milk. Better transport and refrigeration now let them be farther away. The main regions are north-western Europe, Canada, and south-eastern Australia and New Zealand.

Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialised. The region around the Mediterranean Sea supplies citrus fruits, and is famous for viticulture, the growing of grapes, for fine wines. Olives and figs are grown too. Its great advantage is that it grows fruit and vegetables in winter, when they are in great demand in European and North American markets.

Near cities, other specialised farming thrives:

• Market gardening and horticulture: high-value crops such as vegetables, fruit and flowers, for city markets.
• Truck farming: regions specialising in vegetables, at the distance a truck can cover overnight to reach the market.
• Factory farming: livestock, especially poultry and cattle, reared in stalls and pens, fed on manufactured feed and carefully watched for disease.

How farms are organised:

• Co-operative farming: farmers voluntarily pool their resources to farm more efficiently, while keeping their own land. Denmark has been so successful that practically every farmer belongs to a co-operative.
• Collective farming: farmers' land, livestock and labour were pooled under social ownership, keeping only small plots for their own use. It was introduced in the former Soviet Union, where the collective farms were called Kolkhoz.