1. Open-field method of the Middle Ages

• Land was divided into several large fields. Then separated into small strips and given to the peasants
• No fences/hedges hence the name "open field"
• It was communal farming
• Problem: hardly enough food grown to survive because of soil exhaustion
• Soil exhaustion: plants take nutrition out of the soil to the point where certain plants can no longer grow in that area

2. Crop Rotation

• Solution: planted fallow (grasses/clover) to restore nutrients
• Peasants staggered crop rotations so some crops were always a available
• Effects:
• New crops (fodder) were a great source of food for animals especially in the winter months
• Farmers could raise more animals and therefore get better quality food
• Leading to a better diet

3. Agricultural Revolution

• 1650-1850
• European peasants replaced fallow with crops (crop rotation to replenish soil)
• Used nitrogen rich crops (turnips, peas, potatoes, and beans) instead of fallow
• New crops= more animals= more meat= more manure= more fertilizer
• Redused leisure time
• stepped up the pace of work
• Redirected the labor of women and children away from the production of goods for household use and toward wage work
• This reduced their economic self-sufficiency, but increased their ability to purchase consumer goods

4. Low Countries–Accomplishments of the Dutch

• Many accomplishments in agriculture were led by the Dutch
• Holland was very populated, had steady growth in many towns/cities/markets, and could easily drain marshes/swamps to empty out fields.
• Location lead to easy flooding

5. Enclosure

• Farmers wanted to experiment with new crop rotation
• Problem: Scientists and landowners thought these farmers needed to fence in their experimental fields
• Solution: Enclosure (fencing in fields)
• Results: peasants were stripped of their pastureland
• Crop production greatly increased
• Text

6. Proletarianization

• Enclosures had taken away the public land that the peasants planted on
• Result: peasants had to earn wages by working for the landowners

7. Jethro Tull

• 1674-1741
• English inventor whose ideas include:
• Using horses instead of slow oxen for more efficient plowing
• Drilling seeds into fields instead of scattering them
• Selectively breeding livestock

8. Charles Townshend

• Discovered a revolutionary way to rotate crops without lying a field fallow
• Method: planting a different crop every year to restore nutrients in the soil
• Example: wheat one year, corn the next, and then turnips to renew the nutrients in the field

9. Robert Bakewell

• 1725-1795
• Agriculturist
• Used selective breeding and interbreeding
• Improved animals for meat production

10. Industrious Revolution

• 1600-1700s
• Families in Northwest Europe started doing wage work
• Labor for women helped grow the textile industry

11. Barriers to population Growth 1600's

Plague: bubonic plague

War: 30 year's war

Famine: struggles in agricultural technology

12. Reasons for Population Growth 1700's

• Agricultural revolution: food more available to larger populations
• New foods such as the potato became a main crop for the poor in many countries (such as Ireland)
• Improved food transportation: better roads/canals
• Better diet: increased immunity to diseases
• The bubonic plague disappeared after 1720
• Improved sanitation
• less destructive wars on civilian populations

13. Cottage Industry and the Putting out system (Positive and Negative)

• A cottage industry: primarily manufacturing industry which including many producers working part-time from their homes (farmers in the winter months or women and children between work at home)
• Positive:
• Merchant-capitalists in cities were able to get cheap labor in the countryside
• The rual peasants were able to get work in the off season
• Peasants are able to work out of their homes
• Negative:
• Put the guilds out of business
• Disagreements over weights of materials and quality of cloth occured between cottagers and merchants
• Merchants often were unable to control the unorganized rual labor

14. Urban Guild System (positive and negative)

• Guild: an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. (Stone cutters, glass makers, and locksmiths) Very ellite and you had to be selected to get in.
• Positives:
• Specialization: higher quality of product
• Members recieved certain privileges
• Negatives:
• Required to undergo a long apprenticeship
• Could not use any new technology until it was approved the leaders of the guild

15. Adam Smith and economic liberalism

• Adam Smith's belifs:
• Freedom is vital to any economy's survival
• Freedom to own land and the right to keep profits is essential for businesseses
• Entreprunerueship is one way to become very wealthy
• People will work hard if they believe they will be rewarded

1. Revolutionary Tools in the Last 50 Years

Genetic engineering offers the possibility of making plants and animals hardier, more resistant to disease, and more productive. Also in developed countries, farmers began using computers to keep farm accounts, to monitor crop prices and weather conditions, to help decide when to irrigate and plant, and to automate the application of fertilizers and pesticides. In addition, remote control farm equipment, gps, and sensing devices have reduced the workload and made farming more proactive.

Recently iphone apps have been used to control irrigation and grain storage systems. As well as share information in social media.

2. Agricultural Production in Developed Nations Today

Agriculture is a major industry in the United States. As of the 2007 census of agriculture, there were 2.2 million farms. Modern agriculture in the U.S. ranges from the common hobby farms, small-scale producers to large commercial farming covering thousands of acres. The US produces so much food that it exports the excess to other countries and uses some to manufacture fuel. Major crops include corn, soybeans and wheat.

3. Agriculture in Less Developed Nations

Agriculture in these countries is sub-sufficient and suffers because of lack of support, lack of skilled labor, and political instability. In these countries, up to 90% of the population has to farm to live, and they grow on lindividual plots about the size of a football field. This is most similar to pre- Agricultural Revolution style farming in Europe. The lack of modern innovations and resources keeps these countries in poverty.

4. Causes for Food Shortages and Potential Solutions

Some causes of food shortages are problems with war, political environment, climate, soil quality, and other biological factors. Some potential solutions include changing labor, social and cultural factors, and political and economic factors. One solution to the political problem is for governments to increase support of their nations' agricultural industries by increasing access to modern resources and innovations. In addition, to fight the biological problems, using sustainable farming has been shown to increase agricultural production by 80%.

5. How Climate Change Affects Farmers

• Extreme weather is now more common which affects plant growth. This could be changes in temperature and rainfall that make growing more or less productive in a particular area.
• Drought and Flooding that is unusual for an area can cause problems
• Carbon dioxide level changes also affect plant growth.
• Pest and disease problems have increased which can decrease agricultural yield.
• Climate change has hurt areas located at low latitudes on the globe and helped those in the northern latitudes.