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Pastoral farming is the main form of agriculture in the Lake District.

Farms and Farming

Explore how different types of farms work, why some grow crops while others keep animals, and how geography shapes the food produced in rural areas.

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Fascinating Fact:

Mixed farming combines both crops and livestock, allowing farmers to spread risk, recycle nutrients, and make more efficient use of land and labour.

In GCSE Geography, farms are studied as systems with inputs, processes and outputs. You will look at different types of farming, factors that influence where farms are located, and how modern technology is changing food production.

Key Terms

Input: Something put into a farm system, such as labour, machinery, seeds, fertiliser or capital.
Process: An action that takes place on a farm, for example ploughing, sowing seeds, milking cows or harvesting crops.
Output: The products that leave the farm, like milk, meat, vegetables, grain or eggs, as well as any profit made.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What do you learn about farms in GCSE Geography?

In GCSE Geography you learn how farms operate as systems, the different types of farming, and how factors like climate, relief, soil and markets affect what is produced.

What factors influence where farms are located in the UK?

Farm location in the UK is influenced by climate, soil quality, relief, access to roads and markets, the price of land, and government policies that support certain types of farming.

How is modern farming changing rural areas?

Modern farming uses more machinery, chemicals and technology. This can increase yields and efficiency, but it may reduce jobs, affect wildlife and change the appearance of rural landscapes.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Which of the following is/are example(s) of nomadic farming?

Slash and burn agriculture

A farmer who moves their cows from field to field to find the best grazing

Market gardening

All of the above

This is a form of agriculture often practised in tropical rainforests. It has to be nomadic because the soils become too poor to grow crops after only a few seasons of growing

2 .

Which of the following is the most likely reason that pastoral farming is the main form of agriculture in the Lake District?

There are many main roads and motorways that farmers can use to get their animals to market

The climate is too wet and cold and the soil is too poor to grow crops

The farmers in the Lake District have never learnt how to grow crops

People in the Lake District don't eat vegetables

In this case, it is the physical factors of climate and soil fertility that means the land use in the Lake District is best suited to pastoral farming

3 .

A subsistence farmer is a farmer who ...

grows crops to sell at a local market

raises animals only

raises animals and grows crops to feed the family

makes a large profit from selling their produce

Subsistence farming is important in LEDCs

4 .

In LEDCs, a change to growing cash crops can help the economy. Which combination of words best describe this type of farming?

Sedentary, commercial, arable, intensive

Nomadic, commercial, mixed, intensive

Sedentary, subsistence, arable, intensive

Sedentary, subsistence, arable, extensive

There are positives and negatives to changing land use from subsistence farming to growing cash crops

5 .

Which of the following is an example of sedentary farming?

Slash and burn agriculture

A farmer moving their cattle from one place to another to find the best grazing

A market gardening business

Buying farm land in a different part of the country

Sedentary means staying in one place

6 .

Intensive arable farming has become more mechanised since the end of the Second World War. This means ...

there are now more people available to repair broken down tractors

robots are used instead of people to do the farm work

more machines are being used to help with the farm work

farmers find it easier to change from arable to pastoral farming

Mechanisation allows large farms to operate economically

7 .

In a LEDC, which of the following is not a disadvantage of converting from subsistence to commercial farming?

Less land to grow food for local people

Commercial farming often requires the use of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides

Food can be exported to improve the economy of the country

Water shortages as limited local supplies are used to irrigate the commercial crops

If not used carefully, fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides can pollute drinking water supplies and damage fragile local ecosystems

8 .

Which of the following is a good description of extensive farming?

The farm gives a low yield of produce from a large area

The farm gives a high yield of produce from a large area

The farm gives a low yield of produce from a small area

The farm gives a high yield of produce from a small area

Pastoral hill farms are a good example of extensive farming. The grazing land is poor and cannot support a high density of animals

9 .

A Masai farmer lives in Africa on the Serengeti plain. There is a long rainy season but for four months a year, the Serengeti region experiences a dry season during which the grass dies off and the water supplies are extremely limited. The farmer takes his cattle to a different region, several days away, where there is a good water supply and grass. He keeps a small herd of cows to provide his family with meat and milk. Which of the following would describe this type of farming?

Sedentary, commercial, pastoral, extensive

Nomadic, commercial, arable, intensive

Sedentary, subsistence, mixed, intensive

Nomadic, subsistence, pastoral, extensive

Any answers with sedentary and commercial in them must be incorrect. This sort of farming is more likely to take place in LEDCs

10 .

Which of the following happens on arable farms?

The farmer grows only peppers and courgettes

The farmer raises animals for sale at market and grows a few crops to feed their family

The farmer raises pigs and cows

The farmer grows crops

An arable farm is one that grows crops