Farming

Farming
Further information: Agriculture
The term farming covers a wide spectrum of agricultural production work. At one end of this spectrum is the subsistence farmer, who farms a small area with limited resource inputs, and produces only enough food to meet the needs of his/her family. At the other end is commercial intensive agriculture, including industrial agriculture. Such farming involves large fields and/or numbers of animals, large resource inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, etc.), and a high level of mechanization. These operations generally attempt to maximize financial income from grain, produce, or livestock.

Traditionally, the goal of farming was to create a profit, and to produce an amount of cultivated material (i.e. corn, wheat, etc) so that the resulting harvest has more worth than the cost of planting such a harvest. The costs could include the acquisition of seeds as well as the time and energy required to tend to such a venture. The resulting product is often used to sustain those who farm as both a food to eat and a commodity to sell.