Mixed Farming

Mixed farming includes both arable and livestock farming. However, it has many forms depending on different and interrelated factors including the level of technology available, the relative financial rewards for crops and livestock, farmers’ perceptions of risk and their attitudes about farming (e.g., organic/nonorganic), political conditions, the national and international policies of governments, climatic and other physical variables, and the availability of labor.

All these factors, and others, may have effects at different scales. For example, individual fields on a farm may be mixed; a farm may have some fields that are arable and some in pasture for livestock; a region may have some farms that specialize in cereals and others that specialize in livestock. These systems are not static but may change over time in ...