Which statement best describes trends in Australian mixed farming over the last 40 years?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Australian mixed farming has shifted toward cropping-dominant systems, with fewer livestock and larger farms.

Relevant knowledge points: mixed farming combines crops and livestock on the same properties. Over recent decades technological change (mechanisation, improved seed and herbicides), market incentives (higher returns to cropping), and policy/economic pressures (economies of scale, consolidation) have driven many farms to increase crop area and intensity while reducing sheep and cattle numbers. Farm sizes have grown as smaller operations were absorbed and producers specialized.

Step-by-step reasoning:
1. Mechanisation and labour-saving technologies (bigger tractors, harvesters, GPS guidance) reduced the need for labour per hectare and made large contiguous cropping areas more efficient. This supports consolidation into larger farms and a move toward cropping.
2. Crop breeding, fertiliser regimes and improved weed and pest control increased cropping profitability relative to low-return livestock enterprises, encouraging conversion of grazing to cropping or to crop–pasture rotations with reduced stocking rates.
3. Market forces (global cereal markets, deregulation) and risk management pushed producers to scale up cropping to capture economies of scale, further reducing the prevalence of mixed livestock-dominant systems.
4. Empirical agricultural statistics from Australia show increased crop area and yields in many mixed-farming regions, declining livestock numbers per farm in those same regions, and larger average farm sizes.

Why the correct answer is correct: it directly reflects these combined trends—greater emphasis on cropping, fewer livestock enterprises, and farm consolidation.

Why the other options are incorrect:
- "Cropping area declined and livestock increased strongly": contradicts observed expansion and intensification of cropping in many mixed-farming zones.
- "Labour per hectare increased strongly": actually labour per hectare generally fell due to mechanisation and efficiency gains.
- "Nitrogen fertiliser is slowly being replaced by legumes": legumes are used in rotations, but they have not broadly replaced synthetic N fertilisers; fertiliser use remains important for high-yield cropping.

Final confirmation: the correct answer is "Systems became more cropping-dominant, with fewer livestock and larger farms," matching the provided answer.

Which statement best describes trends in Australian mixed farming over the last 40 years?单项选择题

类似问题

You own a bond that pays $64 in interest annually. The face value is $1,000 and the current market price is $1,021.61. The bond matures in 11 years. What is the yield to maturity?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

It will cost $9,600 to acquire an ice cream cart that is expected to produce cash inflows of $3,600 a year for three years. After the three years, the cart is expected to be worthless. What is the payback period?

A 3.25 percent Treasury bond is quoted at a price of 99.04. The bond pays interest semiannually. What is the current yield?

更多留学生实用工具

智能学习助手

风格化写作助手

论文查重助手

文献引用助手

课堂转译助手

课堂笔记助手

Quiz搜索助手

学校历年真题

智能刷题助手

智能匹配练习

希望你的学习变得更简单