European Agriculture: Characteristics, Landscapes, and Factors
Characteristics of Agricultural Activity
Key characteristics of agricultural activity include:
- A relatively small population is employed in agriculture, although this varies. The low numbers in Western countries contrast with higher numbers in Eastern and Southern countries. This reflects the varying levels of industrialization.
- Production techniques vary. Western Europe utilizes modern techniques, including mechanization, fertilizers, and genetic selection, leading to high-intensity agriculture. Many Eastern and Southern countries still use traditional techniques, resulting in lower production.
- The size of holdings varies. There are large corporate farms (e.g., the Paris Basin, the Po Valley, the Guadalquivir Valley), family farms in Western Europe and the Mediterranean, and smallholder farms in some countries.
- Production is abundant, specialized, and market-oriented.
Agricultural Landscapes
European agricultural landscapes are specialized based on the physical environment and market demand.
Oceanic Agricultural Landscape
Western Europe specializes in pasture, forage crops, and cereals, primarily used as feed for intensive livestock farming (milk or meat).
Mediterranean Agricultural Landscape
This landscape is diverse. Drylands are dedicated to the Mediterranean trilogy: fallow rotation with cereals or legumes, vines, and olives. Irrigation is used for intensive agriculture, fruit orchards, and industrial crops.
Mainland Central and Eastern European Agricultural Landscape
This landscape varies with latitude. The coldest northern areas feature logging of coniferous forests. The central area is dedicated to livestock (meat) and cereals. Steppe areas in the south are dominated by rainfed cereal monoculture and industrial crops in irrigated areas. In the tundra-polar regions, nomadic reindeer breeding persists.
Mountainous Areas
The main activities are cattle ranching, sheep farming, and logging.
Factors Influencing Agricultural Landscapes
Factors influencing agricultural landscapes include:
Physical Factors
Physical factors are not always favorable for agriculture. For example, Spain has high altitudes and steep slopes. The climate is characterized by low and erratic rainfall and extreme temperatures. The soils are often of mediocre quality.
Human Factors
Human factors influencing agricultural landscapes include:
- The active population is sparse and aging, due to rural exodus.
- Agricultural technology has been modernized with machinery, fertilizers, seeds, and livestock breeds.
- The size of land ownership presents stark contrasts between large and small properties.
- Production specializes in agricultural products with higher yields in each region. Employment is likely to intensify through technical development and is aimed at selling products on the market.
Elements of Agricultural Landscapes
The elements of agricultural landscapes include:
Plots
Plots are grouped into farms, which tend to decrease in number but increase in average size. The average size was 23.02 hectares.
Land Uses
- Agriculture focuses on cereals and legumes, olives, vines, industrial products, and horticulture.
- Livestock provides meat and milk (bovine, ovine), pork, poultry, and eggs.
- Logging specializes in certain species of hardwoods and conifers, providing wood, pulp, resin, and cork.
Rural Settlement and Habitat
The rural settlement is dispersed on the periphery (Peninsula, Balearic, and Canary Islands) and concentrated in the interior of the peninsula, in small cores in the north and large in the south. Rural habitat includes various models of houses according to their material and plan.