1.7.3 Type-of-farming regions
Land use and type-of –farming are closely related but sufficiently different to create problems when distinctions are drawn between the two. Chisholm (1962) argued that type-of-farming classifications should be based on individual farms, including a wide range of variables, notably the production and management of the farm as well as information on yields, crops and livestock. In practice, though, many of the widely used classifications have been based on a restricted set of variables (Aitchison, 1992). For example, the one most frequently used, devised by Derwent Whittlesey (1936), focuses on five criteria:
-crop and livestock associations;
-intensity of land use;
-processing and disposal of farm produce;
-methods and degree of farm mechanization;
-types and associations of buildings and other structures associated with agriculture.