Farm

A farm is an area of land, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of farming, the production and management of food, either produce or livestock (see also ranching). It is the basic production facility in food production.[1] Farms may be owned and operated by a single individual, family, or community, or by a corporation or company. A farm can be a holding of any size from a fraction of a hectare to several thousand hectares.

A business producing tree fruits or nuts is called an orchard; a vineyard produces raisins, wine or table grapes. The stable is used for operations principally involved in the production of horses and other animals and livestock. A farm that is primarily used for the production of milk and dairy is a dairy farm. A market garden or truck farm is a farm that raises vegetables, but little or no grain. Additional specialty farms include fish farms, which raise fish in captivity as a food source, and tree farms, which grow trees for sale for transplant, lumbering, or decorative use. A plantation is usually a large farm or estate, on which cotton, tobacco, coffee, or sugar cane, are cultivated, usually by resident laborers.

The development of farming and farms was an important component in establishing towns. Once people have moved from hunting and/or gathering and from simple horticulture to active farming, social arrangements of roads, distribution, collection, and marketing can evolve. With the exception of plantations and colonial farms, farm sizes tend to be small in newly-settled lands and to extend as transportation and markets become sophisticated. Farming rights have been the central tenet of a number of revolutions, wars of liberation, and post-colonial economics.