Geography 417
California for Educators

California Agriculture

Why is this important?

• Agriculture is a primary industry.

• Primary industries form the basis of industrial production in the state.

• Primary industries are an important source of employment for the state.

• Primary industries are also an important source of basic income for the state, important to the economic health of California.

California’s Natural Resources
and Primary Industries

A primary industry involves the extraction of wealth from the natural environment. These activities are the most basic elements of any economic system. They include these industries:

– Agriculture

– Forestry

– Energy

Introduction

• Effective agricultural practice is the taproot of civilization.

• Without agricultural surplus, urbanization and industrialization is not possible.

• Political and military power is often rooted in the ability to produce agricultural surpluses.

Agriculture

• What makes California agriculture unique?

• Where are the principal agricultural regions?

• What crops are produced?

• What is the value of agricultural production in the state?

• What are the costs of our type of agriculture?

I. Agricultural Regions

• Defined by the type of crops grown, the style of labor and the use of land.

• California has multiple agricultural areas, but four are most important:

– Market Gardening

– Mediterranean

– Commercial Grain/ Livestock Fattening

– Dairy

Why of Where?

• The big question geographers ask.

• Why do they grow certain crops where they grow them?

• Why does California grow what it does?

• List some variables:

– 1

– 2

– 3

Von Thunen’s Model (fig)

Von Thunen in Practice-Uruguay (map)

Von Thunen: US

Market (Truck) Gardening

• Mostly in the first world

• Generally specialized for urban markets

• Dependent upon seasonal (immigrant) labor

• New Jersey, Meatchicken, California

>50% fruits, nuts and vegetables

• Where in California would this type of farming make the most sense?

Vegetable Harvest (fig)

Mediterranean Agriculture-Crete Greece (fig)

Mediterranean Agriculture

• Comes under the heading of specialty agriculture in Calfornia.

• What are some of the typical Mediterranean crops?

Commercial Grain Farming

• Where is the corn belt; wheat belt; rice belt in the United States?

• Are there international competitors?

• Where in California?

Wheat Harvesting-(fig)

Terrain and Profit (fig)

• What does one need to know to apply this in California?

Commercial Livestock Fattening

• Hogs and Cattle brought in for fattening

• In areas of the Great Plains of the US

• Much of the corn and soybeans grown in the US goes to feed cattle.

• Is this efficient?

• Where in California?

Feedlot-Colorado (fig)

Commercial Dairying

• Upstate New York, Wisconsin, New England, California.

• #1 agricultural industry in state.

• Why so big in California?

• Butter, Cheese or Milk?

• Also employs the feedlot system

• Where in California?

Livestock Ranching

• Includes both Cattle and Sheep ranching

• US and Canada (Beef)

• Frequent conducted on what type of land?

• Per acre profit?

• Where in California?

Hay Farming (fig)

California Agricultural Statistics

• One of the top industries in the state

• 1 in 10 jobs

• $20+ billion annually

• $4 billion worth of exports per year.

• Accounts for 10% of US farm revenue

• 1/3 of CA’s 100 million acres agricultural

• Fresno County alone has $2 billion farm economy

Top 5 Agricultural States

California $24.5 (billions)

Texas $13.3

Iowa $11.0

Nebraska $8.7

Illinois $7

• Top farming state for over 50 years.

More Statistics

• 25% of agricultural production exported.

– Pacific Rim (55%), Canada (18%), Europe (9%), Mexico (5%).

• 25% of agricultural production goes to other states.

• 66% of fruits exported

• 80% of canned fruits/vegetables for export.

• California produces more than 90% of world’s almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwi, olives, raisins, and walnuts.

Exports

• Beef, cotton main exports - grape products, almonds, fish and oranges

• Greatest increases

– poultry/eggs, pistachios, fish/seafood, dairy, lemons

• Japan top market (25%)

• Followed by

– Canada

– European Union

– Korea

– Hong Kong

Top 15 Farm Products by Value

• Milk and Cream

• Grapes

• Nursery Products

• Cattle and Calves (+)

• Cotton (-)

• Lettuce (+)

• Almonds (-)

• Hay (+)

• Tomatoes, processing (+)

• Flowers & Foliage (+)

• Strawberries (+)

• Oranges (8)

• Chickens

• Rice

What’s missing?

Leading Counties by $ Value

• Fresno-Cotton, Grapes, Poultry

• Tulare-Milk, Oranges, Grapes

• Monterey-Lettuce, Broccoli, strawberries

• Kern - Grapes, Cotton, Almonds, Carrots

• San Joaquin- Milk, Grapes, Tomatoes

• Merced- milk, almonds, chickens

• Riverside - Dairy, Potatoes, Eggs, Lemons

• Stanislaus- milk, almonds, chickens

• SD - Avocados, Flowers, Eggs, Nursery

• Imperial - Cattle, Alfalfa, Lettuce, Cantaloupe

Local:

• Ventura - Lemons, Celery, Avocados, Strawberries

• San Ber. - Dairy, Beef, Alfalfa, Eggs

• Santa Barbara- Strawberries, Nursery, Broccoli

• LA – Nursery Products

• Orange - Nursery, Strawberries

So Cal Ag (fig)

Why California?

• Prime valley flatlands

• Fertile soils

• Moderating effects of oceans

• Lengthy growing season

• Unique microclimates - sole producer

• Abundant Irrigation

Agricultural History

• Colorado Indians were farmers, irrigators

• Tallow and hides were important early exports dating from the late Spanish period

• Rail connections make non-perishables an important agricultural export

• By 1900, perishables become a valuable export.

• Specialty crops emerge in 20^th c. (fruits, nuts, vegetables).

Modern Agricultural History

• Small farms begin disappearing after WWII.

• 41% decrease in # of farms

• Why?

• 10% now account for 75% of total farm revenue.

• Encroachment of sprawl.

• Decrease in total agr. acreage

Migrant Workers

• Reason for CA high productivity

• 2/3 of agricultural workforce

• Labor force migrates w/seasons

• 65-70% born in Mexico, other Latin Amer. countries

• Political/economic crises

• Top countries - Mexico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador

• Many undocumented

• Anti-immigrant sentiment

Cesar Chavez

• What to say about Chavez?

Impact on Environment

• What are the major impacts both positive and negative of Agriculture?

Negatives

• Water use

• Drought - water shortages

• 80% of developed water

• 85,000 farms in California

• Pays less for it

• Pressure to reduce use

• Alfalfa, Cotton and pasture land take the most water.

Water Pollution

• Because farms use pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, many of the waterways draining out of farm lands are badly polluted.

• Eutrophication is an unintended consequence that has repercussions thousands of miles away.

Positives

• Provides valuable environmental resources to wildlife and migratory waterfowl;

– open space and habitat

– important food source

• Cultivated lands cleanse atmosphere via photosynthesis

• Sacramento Valley rice fields - oxygen for LA

• 1 acre rice "scrubs" ~23,000 pounds carbon dioxide from atmosphere (= 1 car/year).

Migrating waterfowl (fig)

Major planter of trees

• Currently ~150 million trees

• ~520 million with grapevines

• Benefits wildlife

• Aesthetic benefits of open space contribute to overall quality of life.

Pests: Medfly

• State cannot afford to let fly become established.

• Attacks >250 species of fruits, berries and vegetables.

• Established infestation would imperil $25 billion/yr agricultural industry

Agricultural Landscapes

• Cadastral and Field Patterns

• Different strategies for dividing land, each with different political aims and outcomes; each with different ecological costs and benefits.

Metes and Bounds

• Characterized by irregular patterns on the land.

• Created in a nearly random pattern by surveyors, land speculators and buyers.

• Can be found in much of the 13 original colonies, except in New England where they had a village farms system.

Land survey patterns (fig)

Township and Range

• Devised in the US by Thomas Jefferson who wanted to promote democracy through equitable distribution of land.

• (6)40 acres and a mule ideology…

• Found in much of the US west of the Appalachian Mountains.

• Not particularly environment-friendly.

• Dominates landscapes in the Midwest, flatter parts of California.

Cadastral Systems

What cadastral strategy is this?

Forestry

• Where are the forests?

• How important is forestry to the California economy?

• Which trees are most valuable?

• Environmental issues?

– How much old growth is left?

– What are sustainable harvests?

Where are
the forests?
(fig)

• figure

How important is forestry to the California economy?

• California is the third largest producer of forest products in the US, after Oregon and Washington.

• California forest products companies produce more than $14 billion worth of products every year.

• Since 1987, 60 sawmills, plywood plants, veneer plants, pulp mills and board plants have closed in California.

• They are the leading employer in many Northern California counties.

Sawmill (fig)

Which trees are most valuable?

Douglas Fir provides the largest number of logs, but Ponderosa Pine and Coast Redwood provide the highest dollar values because of their exceptional quality.

Environmental Issues

• How much old growth is left?

• Less than 10% of the original old-growth forest is left and much less than that of old growth redwood.

• What are sustainable harvests?

• Most of California’s forests are second or third growth forests, many of which were clear-cut.

• Today environmentalists and forests scientists still can’t decide whether trees should be harvested every 30, 40, or 50 years. Also, most argue that clear cutting must stop.

Clear Cutting (fig)