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Northern America: North America Agriculture Profile

2012/08/15

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NNorth America Agriculture Profile

About 14%  of the land in North America is used for growing crops, with a slightly higher percentage used as permanent pasture. About 71%  of the farmland is in the United States; about 15%  is in Canada; 10 per cent in Mexico; and nearly all of the remainder in Central America.

The United States and Canada are by far the chief producers of agricultural products. In general, farms in the United States and Canada are privately owned, highly mechanized, and large in area. Farms of more than 1,000 acres (405 hectares) are common. In general, farms in the United States and Canada use large quantities of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals.

Large, modern farms and plantations in parts of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean produce a number of commercial crops, mainly for export. However, subsistence farming on small plots predominates. In many cases the land is worked by either tenant farmers or sharecroppers.

The largest share of the cropland in North America is devoted to the growing of cereals, particularly wheat and corn, which account for about a third of the cropland. Nearly a fifth of the world's wheat and almost half of the corn are grown in North America.

The continent's richest farmland is found on the eastern Great Plains, stretching southward from south-central Canada into the United States, and in the so-called Corn Belt of the midwestern United States. Wheat is the main crop of the Great Plains. The Corn Belt produces large amounts of hay, soybeans, and various cereals, in addition to corn. Central Mexico is also a major corn-growing area.

Virtually every kind of fruit and vegetable is grown somewhere in North America. In the United States and Canada, much of the fresh produce supplied to large cities comes from nearby farms that specialize in growing fruits and vegetables. The subtropical and tropical areas of North America are noted for the commercial production of citrus fruits, winter vegetables, cotton, sugarcane, coffee, and bananas. Chief foods grown in these areas for local use are corn, beans, sweet potatoes, various other vegetables, and fruits.

About one-tenth of the cropland is under irrigation. Nearly 70 per cent the irrigated land is in the United States, mainly in California, Texas, and the mountain states from Montana to Arizona and New Mexico; much of the rest is in Mexico. Sugar beets, cotton, and fruits and vegetables are among the crops grown on irrigated land.

A large share of the cereals grown in North America goes to feed livestock. The Corn Belt, for example, is also the chief hog-raising area—much of the corn grown here is used for feed. The raising of beef cattle is a major activity in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Most of the cattle are raised on grazing land, and before marketing are fattened on a rich grain diet. North America is known for the high-quality beef produced in this way. Poultry raising, for both meat and eggs, and dairying are widespread activities. Large-scale, highly mechanized facilities produce the major share of the milk, eggs, and poultry in the United States and Canada. In much of the rest of North America, animals are raised on a small scale by traditional methods.

Forests

Great forests cover about a third of North America and constitute a leading world source of lumber and wood products. Most of the forestland is concentrated in the United States and Canada.

A vast coniferous forest of spruce, pine, fir, and hemlock stretches from Newfoundland to Alaska. Similar forests in the western mountains yield much commercial timber. Also important are mixed forests of conifers and deciduous trees in southeastern Canada and pine forests in the southeastern United States. Most of the wood cut is used for lumber or processed into pulp for the paper industry.

Tropical forests in Mexico and Central America are little used commercially. Logging operations are hampered by inadequate transportation facilities and the scattered occurrence of valuable trees, which include mahogany, rosewood, and balsa.

Fishing

North America's coastal waters produce a great variety and abundance of fish. Of outstanding significance are the Grand Banks, off eastern Canada; the lobster fishery off Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New England; the shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Mexico; and the salmon and tuna fisheries of the Pacific. In addition large quantities of menhaden are caught off the middle Atlantic coast of the United States. Chesapeake Bay is noted for its shellfish.

The North American fishing fleet consists of both coastal and oceangoing vessels. Large, mechanized vessels account for a large percentage of the catch, especially in the United States.

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North America admin 03/12/2014 - 09:16