AP Human Geography › Agribusiness
The largest effect of increased mechanization in modern agriculture has been __________.
a reduced need for farm laborers
an increased reliance on immigrant labor
a diversification of agricultural crops
a division of arable land among more individual farmers
a lack of reliance on cash crops
Since the late nineteenth century, agricultural production has come to rely increasingly on mechanized means of production and farm equipment. This has greatly shifted the way crops are grown, with more cash crops grown in large monoculture plots by large corporations. Most significantly, all of these changes mean that fewer and fewer farm laborers are needed to grow the same amount of crops.
In the past century the average size of farms in the United States has __________.
increased dramatically
increased slightly
remained roughly the same
decreased slightly
decreased significantly
In the past century the average size of farms in the United States has increased dramatically. This general trend can be applied globally and to most of human history as well. This is because it is more profitable and efficient to farm on larger scales than it is to farm on smaller scales. The general trend is that more and more agricultural land is being consolidated into fewer and fewer hands and larger tracts of property.
Each year more and more agricultural land is owned by __________.
multinational agribusiness
nationalized agribusiness
small-scale farming collectives
individual families
military organizations
Each year a larger and larger share of the world’s agricultural land is owned by multinational agribusiness. These multinational corporations buy up agricultural land in the developing world at a rapid rate and control almost every step in the process of producing, shipping, and selling agricultural products.
Who is responsible for coining the term "agribusiness"?
Goldberg and Davis
John Carnegie
Tarkington and Gallen
Peter Goldsmith
John Davis and Ray Goldberg wrote the book A Concept of Agribusiness in 1957 through the Harvard Business School. In 1952, Harvard Business school launched their own program studying the connection between agriculture and business. The research conducted by Davis and Goldberg is the first product of research from this school of study.
Which of the following is an example of tertiary economic activity in agribusiness?
A company that finds buyers for fair trade coffee and facilitates the purchase from Guatemalan coffee farmers for a percent commission
A factory that buys fruit from local growers and manufactures juice, canned goods, and vitamin supplements
A Florida orange grower who sells his oranges to a local food processing plant every season
A private biotech research company that is genetically engineering a variety of oranges that can be grown in temperate climates
An economist who informs subsistence farmers in underdeveloped countries of market patterns and which crops will be most profitable at a given time
Tertiary economic activity is the act of serving as an intermediary between producers and consumers to facilitate trade. Finding buyers for fair trade coffee and initiating the trade between them and consumers for a cut of the profit best fits this definition.
What is the best term for the range of activities that deal with modern food production?
Agribusiness
Globalized farming
Agrinomics
Farming economics
The term agribusiness was created to refer to the many processes that surround the economics of farming. The processes include the actual farming of the crop, to later sales, marketing and distribution.
What is an example of an agribusiness?
A company made of groups of cranberry and grapefruit growers that produces juices.
A pharmaceutical company that produces antibiotics
A company that manufactures steel and other building supplies
A car insurance company
The only option that involves agriculture is the company that produces the fruit juices.
Which of the following is the best example of primary economic activity?
A logger in the Pacific Northwest who risks his or her life falling trees for $25,000 a year before taxes
A lumber mill in Port Angeles, WA that manufactures lumber, wood chips and various timber products from locally fallen trees
A stockbroker who is currently investing in lumber products in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Asia
A land grant research college in Georgia that has developed an experimental tree farm in an attempt to study sustainable timber harvesting
A freelance marketer who connects logging companies with manufacturers interested in purchasing raw timber to produce lumber and a wide range of paper products
Primary economic activity is defined as the act of directly harvesting natural resources. Logging tree stands for a living would be the best example of all provided choices.
The growth of agribusiness has led to a decline in __________.
small-land holdings
government interference
All of these
agricultural efficiency
Agricultural production
The growth of agribusiness, particularly multinational corporations, in the previous half-century has led to a marked decline around the world in small-land holdings and family-run farms. Agricultural production and efficiency have both increased and government interference is fairly consistent.
Which of the following provides the best example of quinary economic activity?
Researchers at a public land grant college developing hybridized corn that will increase yields and grow in colder climates
Subsistence farmers in China selling rice and vegetables grown on their respective plots of land in a free market
A supermarket chain buying produce from large food producers and repackaging the product with recognizable brands to sell them to local consumers
A stockbroker investing in a company's development and marketing of a pest-resistant soybean
An entrepreneur who buys apples from local farmers and produces apple juice for resale
Quinary economic activity is defined as research and higher education. Developing seeds at a public land grant college best fits this definition, because research is being applied to increase economic activity in another sector.