Julia Anne Strickland, age 14, of Dodge City, Kan., for her question:
JUST WHAT IS A DIVERSIFIED FARM?
In the United States and Canada, farmers often grow several kinds of crops and also raise livestock at the same time. This type of farm is called a diversified or mixed farm. These farms differ from the kinds where only one crop is grown, such as cotton or wheat, or those that operate as dairy farms, fruit farms, poultry farms, ranches or truck farms.
Diversified farms generally grow corn, hay, oats and soybeans, and raise beef cattle and hogs. Most diversified farms are of the moderate size, ranging from 100 to 400 acres.
This type of farming operation is usually owned by one family. Members of the family, using modern farm machinery, do all or the bulk of the farm work. They feed some of their crops to the cattle and hogs and sell the rest. The animals are usually sold to meat packers.
Many machines are needed on a diversified farm. The tractor ranks as the most important of all. It pulls the plow, drill, cultivator, corn picker, combine and hay baler.
The tractor also supplies power to the mechanical loader that lifts large bags of fertilizer, bales of hay, or other heavy loads.
The buildings on a diversified farm include several barns that shelter the animals. Sheds protect the farm machinery from damage in bad weather. A silo stores much of the food for the livestock. The farmer's family house is also usually located on the farm grounds.
Most of the farms on the fertile prairies of the Midwestern United States and southern Canada are diversified farms.
Truck farms are large vegetable gardens. Some are as large as farms that raise grain, but most of them are much smaller. Most vegetables must be cultivated frequently and many kinds have to be harvested and packed by hand.
Farmers operating dairy farms produce milk while those with poultry farms deliver eggs and chickens to market. Cattle and sheep are raised on ranches. Climate has much to do with the fruit farm.
Farmers with diversified farms must work all through the year, since there are many seasonal jobs that must be done. The same holds true with farmers on other types of farms.
During the fall, the fruit farmer must fertilize the ground between the trees. In winter, dead or weak branches must be cut from the fruit trees. During spring and summer, the trees are sprayed with chemicals. After the fruits ripen, they must be picked and sorted and then packed in boxes or crates for shipment to market. Most fruits must be packed carefully by hand.
The farmer with a dairy farm must milk his cows each morning and each evening. He usually also grows alfalfa and grains to feed his herd.
Poultry farmers who raise their chickens for their meat usually keep the chickens in wire cages indoors. The birds never touch the ground. The cages have automatic feeding and watering machines and the chickens are fed a special diet to speed their growth. Hens that are raised for their eggs usually stay in cages, too. The eggs roll onto a moving belt from the cage's sloping floor and are carried to a room where they are sorted by size.