Factors affecting farming

Physical factors

A hill farm
Like other primary industries, farming is highly dependent on physical inputs such as:
• Weather and climate
• Slope or relief of the land
• Soil fertility
• Water and drainage
These inputs are naturally occurring, so farmers must work with the physical factors of their
farm's location. They can intervene in these inputs - for example by growing crops in a polytunnel
(plastic tunnel greenhouse) to protect them from frosts and improve plant growth. However, such
human interventions require extra inputs in the form of money or work.
Physical factors will determine which type of farming takes place in a particular area. Climate and
relief are the dominant factors in determining which crops will grow and which animals are suited
to the landscape.

Human factors

A market garden
Like physical factors, these vary according to the type of farm and the country where the farm is
located. Factors include:
• Government policy - eg EU subsidies and loans and US tax reductions.
• Labour - some farms require more labour than others, eg a market garden will employ more
labourers than a hill sheep farm.
• Finance - money is needed for wages, seed, buildings, animal feed, fertilisers, pesticides
and machinery.
TEST AGRICULTURE
What is commercial farming?
When a farmer rears animals and grows crops to sustain his family
Rearing animals and growing crops to sell at market for a profit
When a farm has to be sold because it doesn't make enough profit
A group of people buying a farm together as a cooperative
Selling a farm for a good profit
4. What are the key areas of employment in the primary sector?
Teaching, education and schools
Construction and building
Manufacturing and production
Banking and financial services
Farming, mining and fishing
5. Which of the following is not a factor which influences farming?
Government grants
Labour
Climate
Power supply
 The Arable Farming System
As with other types of farming arable farming is influenced by human and physical factors. The
diagram below demonstrates some of these factors.

Arable crops such as oat and wheat require good soils and a warm climate to be grown successfully.
To be grown and harvested successfully they require flat land that allows machinery such as
combine harvesters to be used. As such this type of farming is concentrated in the east and south of
the UK where the climate, soil and relief of the land allow it to be profitable.
Seven Year Crop Rotation
Arable farmers often utilise crop rotation methods to maximse their crop growth. Crop rotation
involves changing what crops are grown in fields each year for a period of time - commonly seven
years.

The reason for this is to prevent crops stripping the nutrients from the soil. As different crops
require different nutrients rotating the crops grown every year means that the fields are productive
for longer and the soil remains healthier.