extensive farming

The small pig farm in Swiss mountains. The land here is mostly rock and the slopes are very steep - likely unusable for agriculture, but can provide impressive conditions for pigs

Extensive farming (as opposed to intensive farming) is an agricultural production system that uses little inputs on vast areas of land, such as the Great Plains.

Extensive farming most commonly refers to sheep and cattle farming in areas with low agricultural productivity.

Geography

Extensive farming is found in the mid-latitude sections of most continents. The nature of extensive farming means it requires less rainfall than that of intensive farming.

Just as the demand has led to the basic division of cropping and pastoral activities, these areas can also be subdivided depending on the regions rainfall, vegetation type and agricultural activity within the area.

Economic Viability

Agriculture General Agribusiness · Agriculture Agricultural science · Agronomy Animal husbandry Extensive farming Factory farming · Free range Green Revolution History of agriculture Industrial agriculture Intensive farming · Organic farming Permaculture Sustainable agriculture Urban agriculture Particular Aquaculture · Christmas trees · Dairy farming Grazing · Hydroponics · IMTA Intensive pig farming · Lumber Maize · Orchard Poultry farming · Ranching · Rice Sheep husbandry · Soybean System of Rice Intensification Wheat Issues Animal rights · Animal welfare Antibiotics Battery cage · Biosecurity · BSE Crop rotation Ethical consumerism Environmental science Foie gras Foodborne illness Foot-and-mouth disease Genetically modified food Gestation crate Growth hormone Pesticide Veal crates Water conservation Weed control Large corporations Bernard Matthews Cargill ContiGroup Companies McCain Foods Limited Maple Leaf Foods Monsanto Philip Morris Smithfield Foods Tyson Foods Wayne Farms Categories Agriculture by country Agriculture companies Agriculture companies, U.S. Biotechnology Farming history Livestock Meat processing Poultry farming

Subsidies

see Agricultural policy

Infrastructure

Rural Life

see Rural sociology

See also

• Intensive farming
• Canadian Wheat Board
• Forest gardening
• Permaculture
• Polyculture

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