Food from the land: different landscapes, different harvests

PDF version [PDF, 2.5 Mb, viewer]

How landscape controls agriculture

Any farmer will tell you that different landscapes are suited to different types of agriculture. For example, flat plains (floors of ancient glacial lakes) with rich soils are ideal for growing wheat and canola. Rolling hills of glacial deposits are suitable for pasture or grain farming, depending on the proportions of clay, silt, sand, pebbles, and boulders and on the amount of local precipitation. The floors of major valleys have rich stream deposits of silt and clay and provide important sites for market-garden farming where irrigation water is available.

Seeing patterns in the complexity: modern management of the land

Because landscapes are complex, land management is also complex. Computer-based geographic information systems (GIS) can store complex information in 'layers' that can be combined to produce a map useful for land management. Which areas are best for cultivation? for pasture? for conservation? The map shown here combines topographic data (shape of the land) with earth-material and satellite data in order to illustrate slope, earth materials, and land cover, each of which affects the potential use of the land.