Discuss the location and characteristics of commercial mixed farming and Mixed Cropping as an economic activity around the world.
Mixed farming refers to the combination of cultivation of crops and domestication of animals. This type of farming provides greater security to the cultivators because commercial grain farming or monocropping suffers from risks of crop failures and market fluctuation. Most land is dedicated to crop cultivation while small part is used for cultivation of animals.
In mixed cropping, more than one crops or sequence of crops are cultivated. Oats, barley and rye are the important secondary crops in the spring wheat region of North America. These crops provide fodder for the working horses and cattle. Clover and alfalfa supply green fodder as well as hay. Rye is an important rotation crop in areas of light soils. Flax is another important crop of the wheat belt. It is grown for seed and it is grown usually on land that has been used for pasture for a number of years. Maize, called corn in the US, is the most important secondary crop in the eastern part of the winter wheat region. In fact maize is the most important crop in the area to the east of the winter wheat region of US. This region is often called the corn-belt.