What do farmers/ranchers grow in your area?

[BrookValley.]

Commercially, mostly corn and soy. Tobacco used to be big, but not so much any more. I'm starting to see fields of sorghum more regularly. Poultry is huge in other areas of the state.

[Dory]

cattle

cattle

more cattle

wheat

peas

canola (lots of canola)

some barley

oats (always some of those around here but not lots)

hay (that's my dad's summer job is custom baling. Some of it gets shipped overseas)

 

There are a few U-picks with strawberries, raspberries, saskatoons, and sometimes something like chokecherries and rhubarb.

Further north there are a few pig farms. Further south there are a few dairies. My parents used to be dairy farmers many years ago.

 

[JFSinIL]

Corn, some soybeans. There are local dairy farms, and a few small CSA farmers growing lots of veggies, too. But this is mostly corn/soy country.

[Farrar]

Nothing.

 

Any farms within an hour or sometimes more are basically just local produce.  After that, you can start to get to corn.  Lots of corn.  Some tobacco, some apples, some soybeans.  And chickens, apparently, but I had to look that up to know.

[Laura Corin]

What effect do the climate/crops have on the landscape?

 

Here the fields are small, partly because the land rolls and there are natural barriers - steep banks, burns, roads - and partly because the ground is rich and the climate relatively moist.  I remember touring a ranch in Texas and I was struck by how few and far between the cattle were - how much land it seemed to take to support them.  It was a big contrast to the lots-of-cows-in-a-few-acres landscape that I was used to.  I think that farmers here are also given subsidies to leave wide margins fallow at the edges of fields, and to plant and maintain hedges for wildlife - good for the farmers too, as they need pollinators, which feed on the 'weeds'.

 

L

[LostSurprise]

We live at an interesting intersection of biological environments. If we go west, you see cranberry marshes. It's one of the largest cranberry producers in the nation. If we go east, there's prairie chicken grasslands and then lots of potato farms. If we go north, it's rolling grasslands with the standard Midwestern corn/soy/dairy cows and a cheese factory. If we go south it's pine forest, almost all for the paper factories but with lakes and tourists thrown in. 

 

Of course, there are lots of other things, we have a lot of Hmong in the area and they don't specialize, but these are all hundreds/thousands of acres dedicated to one thing or another because that's what seems to work best. 

[LibraryLover]

Eta: misunderstood the question. Sorry! Lots of food and grass fed animals in my agricultural town, but nothing grown on an industrial scale.

[Slartibartfast]

What effect do the climate/crops have on the landscape?

 

Here the fields are small, partly because the land rolls and there are natural barriers - steep banks, burns, roads - and partly because the ground is rich and the climate relatively moist.  I remember touring a ranch in Texas and I was struck by how few and far between the cattle were - how much land it seemed to take to support them.  It was a big contrast to the lots-of-cows-in-a-few-acres landscape that I was used to.  I think that farmers here are also given subsidies to leave wide margins fallow at the edges of fields, and to plant and maintain hedges for wildlife - good for the farmers too, as they need pollinators, which feed on the 'weeds'.

 

L

 

 

If they are managing with very little acreage per cow then they are probably feeding them grain or a lot of hay. If the farm is not feeding them grain/haythen it takes a lot more space.

 

I think that depends on rainfall? Drier conditions require more acreage and Texas is pretty dry in the summer.

[maize]

Corn, wheat, onions, squash, melons, peaches, cherries, cattle, carrots, beets, alfalfa.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Corn, soybeans, dairy cows are the biggest things here in NE Ohio.

[Laura Corin]

If they are managing with very little acreage per cow then they are probably feeding them grain. If the farm is not feeding them grain then it takes a lot more space.

 

I think that depends on rainfall? It is usually two acres per head or 4 acres per head during a dry spell. Texas is more dry than many areas. If it gets very cold then the cows would probably need even more acres.

 

Relatively little grain feeding, as far as I can see.  This (patriotic piece) is about beef cattle:

 

 

 

L

[maize]

Relatively little grain feeding, as far as I can see. This (patriotic piece) is about beef cattle:

 

British beef is certainly better, and not just because the cattle species used in hotter places such as Australia and South America that export here are not as tasty. But by far the most important factor in the taste of beef, the research shows, is the animal's diet. Unlike in America, English cattle are still largely fed on what they would naturally eat - grass and fodder made from it like silage and hay. Grass-fed meat always proves tastier in comparison tests and it's certainly healthier, with more vitamins, less unhealthy fat and beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids. Free-range cattle are also much less of a strain on the environment than cattle reared in feed-lots. Butchers, and some supermarket labels, may be able to tell you if beef is grass fed, and organic beef must be fed on a minimum of 60% foraged material.

 

L

I would expect a lush British farm to be able to support many more cattle per acre than Texas cattle range land. I haven't been to Scotland but I don't think I have ever seen anything greener than the hill country in Wales.

[Laura Corin]

I would expect a lush British farm to be able to support many more cattle per acre than Texas cattle range land. I haven't been to Scotland but I don't think I have ever seen anything greener than the hill country in Wales.

 

Yes indeed - I remember (Texas) Husband's astonishment when London parks stayed green throughout the summer, without irrigation.  Sometimes dodging showers is irritating, but the compensations (greenery and grass-fed beef) are considerable.

 

That was what I was asking about in my follow-up question - the effects of climate on farming and landscape.

 

L

[Desert Strawberry]

Sugar cane

Crawfish

Rice

Beef and dairy cattle

Soybeans

Alfalfa hay

Strawberries

Sweet potatoes

Race horses

[Tangerine]

Corn! Corn as far as the eye can see.

[maize]

Yes indeed - I remember (Texas) Husband's astonishment when London parks stayed green throughout the summer, without irrigation. Sometimes dodging showers is irritating, but the compensations (greenery and grass-fed beef) are considerable.

 

That was what I was asking about in my follow-up question - the effects of climate on farming and landscape.

 

L

We get very little summer rainfall, agriculture here is dependent on irrigation, which in turn is dependent on water reservoirs fed by snow melt from the mountains. Farmers watch winter precipitation levels anxiously. Water rights are strictly regulated. My grandfather was a farmer and many weeks was up night after night setting and adjusting irrigation siphons in the various fields he was working; a water turn might begin at midnight for one field and 2:00 AM for another and if you weren't on site to get the water to your fields you didn't get water at all. Some of that work is automated now but irrigation is still a huge time and labor consumer for farmers.

[Slartibartfast]

Yes indeed - I remember (Texas) Husband's astonishment when London parks stayed green throughout the summer, without irrigation.  Sometimes dodging showers is irritating, but the compensations (greenery and grass-fed beef) are considerable.

 

That was what I was asking about in my follow-up question - the effects of climate on farming and landscape.

 

L

 

I see, most ranchers in the plains states give hay to cattle. Summers are dry and hot in Texas and many of the other plains states.  It also gets much colder in the US than in the UK, cows need more hay in the winter.

[Carrie12345]

Commercial is pretty much corn with a few other things on the side, but I think we have more small farms than commercial operations, and they grow just about everything that can survive our zone.  My local options are not limited, just my finances, lol.

[myfunnybunch]

Cattle

Sheep

Hay

Some grains (wheat and oats), though it's not usual. Mostly for the local market

Strawberries and blueberries

Apples, cherries, peaches.

 

Assorted fruits and vegetables, also mostly for the local/statewide market. When we drive just outside town, it's usual to drive by fields of mixed vegetables, fruits, and flowers with a farm stand attached. There are several within 20(ish) minutes of my home.

 

Also...

 

Grass seed. Our valley is one of the top producers of grass seed. We are all miserable at the height of grass pollen season! :P

Filberts (hazelnuts)

Mint

Christmas trees

 

Cat

[Farrar]

What effect do the climate/crops have on the landscape?

 

Here the fields are small, partly because the land rolls and there are natural barriers - steep banks, burns, roads - and partly because the ground is rich and the climate relatively moist.  I remember touring a ranch in Texas and I was struck by how few and far between the cattle were - how much land it seemed to take to support them.  It was a big contrast to the lots-of-cows-in-a-few-acres landscape that I was used to.  I think that farmers here are also given subsidies to leave wide margins fallow at the edges of fields, and to plant and maintain hedges for wildlife - good for the farmers too, as they need pollinators, which feed on the 'weeds'.

 

L

 

Here there's not much, because, as I said, very little is grown on a large scale until you get out a ways from where I live.  It's the suburban and urban landscapes that are diverting the water, changing the local temperatures with all that asphalt, causing the sewage runoff into the streams if there's too much rain, etc.

 

But I'm always fascinated to see near my grandmother's.  There, the big crops are pecans, melons, cotton, and peanuts.  The peanuts just decimate the ground.  The pecans mean there are groves and groves of perfectly lined up huge trees everywhere.  They're tucked in between the other fields and you can really see the difference.  It's interesting.

[Dory]

What effect do the climate/crops have on the landscape?

 

Here the fields are small, partly because the land rolls and there are natural barriers - steep banks, burns, roads - and partly because the ground is rich and the climate relatively moist.  I remember touring a ranch in Texas and I was struck by how few and far between the cattle were - how much land it seemed to take to support them.  It was a big contrast to the lots-of-cows-in-a-few-acres landscape that I was used to.  I think that farmers here are also given subsidies to leave wide margins fallow at the edges of fields, and to plant and maintain hedges for wildlife - good for the farmers too, as they need pollinators, which feed on the 'weeds'.

 

L

 

Huge effects. Up here we get a lot of moisture through rain  and LOTS of snow. No on has to irrigate up here. Although the weather is temperamental and sometimes we end up with snow in June. It makes it easy to grow good hay crops and raise cattle, but not so easy to grow much else. Corn is a rarity up here because it's pretty iffy on whether we will have enough summer to grow it to maturity. Usually if someone plants corn they aren't planning on a crop of corn so much as they are planning on winter fodder for the cattle and even that I've only seen people do once. They just turned the cows loose in the field when the snow started to fly. We have 10 acres here and I could easily support 5-6 large animals (horses or cows) but I would have to buy hay for the winter.

 

I am not a fan of the beef I've had in the US. I'm guessing what I've tasted is all corn fed. I had never had beef like that until I was in the southern states. Up here grass fed is fairly common and even the cattle that are finished off with grain are still on lots of roughage and the grain is rarely corn.

[Rosie_0801]

 They don't call us the Fruit Basket of the Nation for nothing, and that is why this politician-made drought is so severe. Land is fallow, orchards are dying because the politicians refuse to let water be stored and instead it drains out to the ocean. It does affect the nation's food supply.

 

Why on earth?  :scared:

 

 

I've just come home from my aunt's in Far North Queensland. Down on the flat lands it is all sugar cane, a few different varieties, she said, but sugar cane. Up on the tablelands there's a lot of bananas, mangoes and peanuts, and a couple of tea and coffee plantations.

 

 

Around my place it is mostly sheep and cattle. If I look a little further away, there are walnuts, almonds, peaches, nectarines, peas, canola, berries, wheat and I'm not sure what else.

 

The size of the paddocks for livestock depends on farming methods. Some prefer larger paddocks, some prefer to move them through a series of smaller paddocks.

[Loowit]

Trees - logging, I am not sure it really counts as farming but they do replant and grow them for commercial use

Cattle - mostly for the meat, but some dairy farms

Chicken - for eggs and meat

Berries - lots of variety

Hay

Christmas Trees

 

There are also some smaller farms that sell at farmer's markets things like apples,tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, zucchini, etc.  One of my kids favorite farms to visit when they were a bit younger was a pumpkin farm with a corn maze and hay rides.

[TeacherZee]

Dairy cows

Hay

Corn

Green beans

Alpacas

Blueberries

Grapes

And lately I've seen large fields of the brightest yellow/green, it's almost neon in the late afternoon sun. I have no idea what it is.

It could be rapeseed. That looks neon yellow

[Dory]

I didn't know anywhere grew rapeseed anymore. I thought it had all switched over to canola. I don't think I've seen rapeseed since I was a little kid at my grandparents place. I find it very interesting.

[Laura Corin]

And lately I've seen large fields of the brightest yellow/green, it's almost neon in the late afternoon sun. I have no idea what it is.

 

That sounds like oil seed rape.  It's an acid yellow, like a high-visibility jacket.

 

L

[TeacherZee]

I didn't know anywhere grew rapeseed anymore. I thought it had all switched over to canola. I don't think I've seen rapeseed since I was a little kid at my grandparents place. I find it very interesting.

 

It is grown everywhere in Europe :)

[CountryGirlShake]

Cattle for beef, large fields of potatoes, spinach. Grapes for wineries.  Smaller farms have pick your own blueberries and strawberries, also some CSA farmers.

[Laura in CA]

Ya really wanna know?

 

Peaches (many varieties)

Plums (many varieties)

Nectarines (many varieties)

Pluots (many varieties)

Grapes (raisin and table)

Persimmons(both kinds)

Kiwis

Apples

Apricots

Almonds

Walnuts

Alfalfa

Blueberries

Boysenberries

Strawberries

Oranges (both kinds)

Lemons

Cotton

And probably a lot of other things I don't know. They don't call us the Fruit Basket of the Nation for nothing, and that is why this politician-made drought is so severe. Land is fallow, orchards are dying because the politicians refuse to let water be stored and instead it drains out to the ocean. It does affect the nation's food supply.

 

 

same here :) ... thanks for saving me from typing all that out, seriously! I'll add rice, pomegranates, figs, garlic, artichokes, and tomatoes (I don't think you mentioned tomatoes). it seems every time we drive on Highway 5 we see overflowing tomato trucks going by several times a minute. Once we even counted the trucks ... Anyway, we may be more coastal than you, and closer to the self-proclaimed "artichoke capital of the world" and "garlic capital of the world," among others :D. i agree about the politician-made drought. Maddening!

 

oh, and we have lots and lots of cattle -- dairy and beef -- nearby, as well as tons of hay for sale. The nearby fresh strawberries and pluots from the farmers' markets are amazing. We also drink raw milk from local dairy farms :) . The variety is staggering -- I grew up in western New York (apples?) and have lived in Europe (rapeseed/colza, making the landscape look like Hobbiton, but not much else ...) and New Jersey (nothing as obvious as it is in CA).

[Miss Marple]

Cattle

some sheep/goat

hay/grass (for grazing animals)

 

A side note:  we just returned from a trip to France.  It was so lovely to look out of the train windows on the trip from Nice to Paris and see so many different kinds of crops.  Not sure what they all were, but there were grapes and lavender that I recognized.

 

[wintermom]

I didn't know anywhere grew rapeseed anymore. I thought it had all switched over to canola. I don't think I've seen rapeseed since I was a little kid at my grandparents place. I find it very interesting.

 

Rapeseed and canola are same thing. They've just been calling it canola for 20 - 30 years.

 

[Dory]

Rapeseed and canola are same thing. They've just been calling it canola for 20 - 30 years.

 

 

Canola was bred from rapeseed. They are not the same thing anymore. Generally, “rapeseed†refers to any rapeseed with a high content (at least 45 percent) of erucic acid in the oil. Canola refers to the edible oil crop that is characterized by low erucic acid (less than 2 percent). Rapeseed oil was too strong and is used for industrial purposes. The FDA banned it for consumption in 1956. Canola was bred in the 1970's in Manitoba. The name was coined from Canadian Oil, Low Acid.

[nrg]

Wine grapes, olives, almonds, carrots, bell peppers, other peppers, strawberries.

 

Mostly, almost all, really, is wine grapes.

[Audrey]

I was really thinking about commercial farmers/ranchers.

 

L

 

 

In our area that would be:

 

wheat

barley

canola (rape seed, in British English)

flax

sunflower

buckwheat

soybeans

mustard

oats

potatoes

alfalfa

also, one large commercial berry operation (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, saskatoons, gooseberries) 

 

There are also livestock:

cattle

hogs

a few dairies

a few egg and fryer operations

[Audrey]

Canola was bred from rapeseed. They are not the same thing anymore. Generally, “rapeseed†refers to any rapeseed with a high content (at least 45 percent) of erucic acid in the oil. Canola refers to the edible oil crop that is characterized by low erucic acid (less than 2 percent). Rapeseed oil was too strong and is used for industrial purposes. The FDA banned it for consumption in 1956. Canola was bred in the 1970's in Manitoba. The name was coined from Canadian Oil, Low Acid.

 

 

True, all of that, but I believe Brits and other Europeans call the seed that we use and know as canola "rape seed" still, despite the fact that it isn't really, technically rape seed anymore.  Or, at least... the Brits and Europeans (mostly German and Dutch) who have settled around my locale say that it is referred to as rape over there.  They sometimes will still call it that, but quickly correct themselves.

[Audrey]

FWIW, my favourite crops are flax and canola.  Flax has a tiny blue-purple flower and if you pass a big field in full bloom when there's a little bit of breeze and the sun is high, the reflection of the sun off of the flower and the breeze combines to make the whole field undulate like gentle waves of a deep blue ocean. 

 

Canola planted by the quarter or half or full section is just stunning, especially when you've just driven up the big hill and a whole section is in full bloom.  It's so bright, it's almost blinding. 

 

This year, for the first time, we planted alfalfa for seed instead of hay, so have let it go into full bloom.  It's incredibly pretty -- such a lovely purple flower all over and over.  Usually, you cut alfalfa for hay at 10% bloom, so I've never seen a whole full field like that before.  It's gorgeous.

[maize]

True, all of that, but I believe Brits and other Europeans call the seed that we use and know as canola "rape seed" still, despite the fact that it isn't really, technically rape seed anymore. Or, at least... the Brits and Europeans (mostly German and Dutch) who have settled around my locale say that it is referred to as rape over there. They sometimes will still call it that, but quickly correct themselves.

I am thinking rapeseed is still technically correct, canola being a sub variety just as sweet corn and popcorn are varieties of the same species of plant.

[Dory]

FWIW, my favourite crops are flax and canola.  Flax has a tiny blue-purple flower and if you pass a big field in full bloom when there's a little bit of breeze and the sun is high, the reflection of the sun off of the flower and the breeze combines to make the whole field undulate like gentle waves of a deep blue ocean. 

 

Canola planted by the quarter or half or full section is just stunning, especially when you've just driven up the big hill and a whole section is in full bloom.  It's so bright, it's almost blinding. 

 

This year, for the first time, we planted alfalfa for seed instead of hay, so have let it go into full bloom.  It's incredibly pretty -- such a lovely purple flower all over and over.  Usually, you cut alfalfa for hay at 10% bloom, so I've never seen a whole full field like that before.  It's gorgeous.

 

I've only gotten to see a flax field like that once. It was so gorgeous. Most the guys around here despise trying to deal with it though. There was someone up here that grew a crop of a blue bearded variety of wheat. Most modern wheats don't even have a beard anymore. The blue among the golden was pretty in the fall. I have to admit that I'm a pretty bit fan of wheat crops. I have a lot of pictures of my kids in white dresses and overalls walking through the golden waves.

[ocelotmom]

My area is best known for cantaloupes, though I think that's more because it's unusual than because it's the primary crop. Livestock (especially dairy) and livestock feed (alfalfa, wheat, teff, grass) are the biggest. Beyond that, standard fruits and vegetables that tolerate a wide temperature range and have a relatively short growing season. 

[MarinesWife]

Avocado capital!!

 

My daughter says She thinks very house has at least one avo tree.

[HS Mom in NC]

We're in the low desert part of AZ outside Phoenix.

 

sheep

onions

cattle corn

cantaloupe

citrus

alfalfa

peaches

farther out there are cattle for beef

We had lots of dairies until about 15 years ago but they have moved farther away from the PHX area because the cities have expanded so much.

 

 

We have an irrigation system similar in concept but not scale to what the natives used generations ago, but we also dam rivers for electric power, irrigation and water reserves, so the desert is more harsh now in the areas where the rivers used to flow. Much of the harsh desert has been covered with agriculture and the irrigation systems expanded over the last 150 years.

[Audrey]

I've only gotten to see a flax field like that once. It was so gorgeous. Most the guys around here despise trying to deal with it though. There was someone up here that grew a crop of a blue bearded variety of wheat. Most modern wheats don't even have a beard anymore. The blue among the golden was pretty in the fall. I have to admit that I'm a pretty bit fan of wheat crops. I have a lot of pictures of my kids in white dresses and overalls walking through the golden waves.

 

 

Wheat is beautiful, but I have a special place in my heart for barley fields, too.  It's mostly because my dh attempted to woo me with his acoustic rendition of this.

 

I guess it worked.

[KrissiK]

Why on earth? :scared:

.

There's a small fish called the Delta Smelt and it's not even indigenous to the area. But, we must save it for some reason. Seriously. So we cannot build bigger or better storage facilities for the wet years because for some reason it would wreck the habitat or something for the Delta Smelt. So... we are using up the water in our underground aquifers, which is causing the land to sink. People I personally know are having their wells dry up, towns are running out of water. However, the people in the cities (Bay Area, LA) keep voting these bozos into office who listen to the environmentalists and are literally running this state into the ground. I'm sorry to be on this soap box, but it is a serious issue and for some reason the people in California just think they can keep turning on their faucets and water will come out and that won't be happening for long.

[DB in NJ]

Around here, we grow just about EVERYTHING - hence being known as The Garden State. Contrary to reality TV shows, much of Jersey is green and productive. Within 5 minutes of my house there are farm stands selling

 

tomatoes

Cucumbers

corn

peppers

Zucchini

Peaches

 

On and on it goes. We are also home to the blueberry capital of the world and numerous cranberry bogs.

[ScoutTN]

TN walking horses!

 

Not sure what is grown on a large commercial scale. Lots of small and medium sized farms for both animals and veggies and fruits like melons and berries. Pastured meats, poultry, eggs, grass fed dairy all readily available here. CSAs abound. Farmers grow grain and hay for their animals. We have a moderate 4 season climate with rolling hills, one large and one smaller river nearby and soil that can be a bit clay.

 

Going south or west there are large fields of soybeans, corn or cotton. Going north even an hour puts you in a different climate zone, much colder in the winter and more snow. Going east leads to the mountains, so smaller farms and fields due to terrain.

[Χά�ων]

Cattle

Hogs

Corn

Soybeans

Wheat

Strawberries

Meat chickens

Dairy farms

 

 

There are also several prepper communes and religious communes. Actually, a shocking number of these near by.

[Χά�ων]

Commercially, mostly corn and soy. Tobacco used to be big, but not so much any more. I'm starting to see fields of sorghum more regularly. Poultry is huge in other areas of the state.

Tobacco used to be big here. One guy decided to switch to zucchini. Picture 100 acres of zucchini. Poor guy got more than he expected.

[bluemongoose]

In my area we have (in no particular order):

 

wheat

corn

broccoli

hazelnuts

apples

peaches

pears

hay

sod

nursery trees/shrubs

blackberries

strawberries

blueberries

raspberries

mustard

radishes

peas

clover (honey)

oats

rye

cauliflower

green beans

poppy seeds

onions

garlic

 

Livestock:

Beef cows

Dairy cows

Buffalo

sheep

dairy goats

goats (for yarn)

alpaca (for yarn and showing)

llama (for showing)

Horses (showing, rodeo, or riding lessons)

 

ETA: I keep thinking of more.

 

 

 

 

[athomeontheprairie]

Climate affects crop choice. Hurricanes and their associated flash flooding will occasionally ruin a whole fields worth of something, as the floodplains of the river valleys are where vegetable crops are grown.. Hurricane Irene had so much rain that that harvests were lost...short growing season so no replanting if a late August hurricane comes and wipes out a field.

 

Crop choice affects wildlife .

I live in the midwest. we desperately need rain. when Hurricane season hits in force, we always have mixed feelings. the storms can be devastating for the people in the Gulf, but can be a lifesaver for us. as the storms move inland they bring a much much needed rain. I live on the plains and it is very flat here, we can easily see storms 300-400 miles away, and always enjoy watching the hurricanes approach.

[aggie96]

While tooling around southwest of Houston area, we saw a grass turf/sod "farm".  We pulled over to watch them harvest long rows of it, very weird and very interesting!  Just to the east, there were huge crawfish farms, also, interesting.  And I did not know until recently that we grow rice in Texas.  The kids were excited to discover this right after we had learned about ancient China farming rice along the river.