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Seasonal human migration is the movement of people from one place or another on a seasonal basis. It occurs most commonly due to seasonal shifts in demand for labor. It includes Migrations such as moving sheep or cattle to higher elevations during summer to escape the heat and find more forage. Human labor often moves with fruit harvest or to other crops that require manual picking.
While the culture of many crops (especially "dry" crops) has become entirely mechanized, others, such as fruits and vegetables, still require manual labor, at least for harvest, and some, such as tobacco, still need manual labor for its culture. Much of the work was once provided by family members or boarding students, but they are less available now, and farms are larger. Now, migrant workers provide much of the hand labor required in agriculture in the US and other countries. Labor contractors arrange with farmers to provide the necessary help at the seasonal time, often with foreign nationals whose employment opportunities are more limited in their home areas.
A number of migratory contractors, known as "custom harvesters", move with their combines to follow the wheat harvest in the United States and Canada. as the season moves north. Some crop dusters are also migratory, following seasonal patterns of need. In the large citrus districts of Florida and California seasonal pickers arrive for collection periods and often move with the changing harvest.
Most commercial beekeepers in the US are migratory, spending winter in warm climates and moving with the spring to follow the bloom, or pollination contracts for almonds, apples, blueberries and other fruits and vegetables that require bees. Migratory beekeeping also is practiced, especially in France, Australia, South Africa and Argentina.
Other activities besides agriculture depend on weather. Thus circuses in the United States formerly spent the winter in warm climates and worked their way north in Spring and south in Autumn. Boomer linemen similarly served the telephone industry, repairing winter storm damage. [1]
Some researchers suggest that snowbirds, Canadian and US citizens who move to warmer climates during the winter, exhibit patterns of seasonal migration. Although they are moving for non-agricultural reasons, they move with the seasons. For example, many residents of Ontario, Canada move to Florida, US during the winter. The practice actually dates back to colonial times, when Bostonians of means would often go (by sea) to Charleston or Savannah for winter. Later, the wealthy in the growing country maintained several seasonal residences and shifted residence with the seasons, to avail themselves of the best time to be at each location, and they named their time there "the season". In British India, Ceylon and Malaya, the cooler hill stations became the place of residence for Europeans during the hot summers, and Simla became the summer capital of the British Raj.
A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain, composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. The term may also refer to the resulting grain itself. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop and are therefore staple crops. Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat, quinoa and chia, are referred to as pseudocereals.
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by humans, and is driven primarily by availability of food. It occurs mainly in the northern hemisphere, where birds are funneled on to specific routes by natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Caribbean Sea.
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions, it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Generally only the herds travel, with a certain number of people necessary to tend them, while the main population stays at the base. In contrast, horizontal transhumance is more susceptible to being disrupted by climatic, economic, or political change.
The red knot is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the great knot. Six subspecies are recognised.
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones located to the north and south of the Tropics. Geographically part of the North and South temperate zones, they cover the latitudes from 23°26′10.9″ (or 23.43637°) to approximately 35° in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The horse latitudes lie within this range.
A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions permit normal plant growth. While each plant or crop has a specific growing season that depends on its genetic adaptation, growing seasons can generally be grouped into macro-environmental classes.
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-intensive activity of the growing season. On large mechanized farms, harvesting uses the most expensive and sophisticated farm machinery, such as the combine harvester. Process automation has increased the efficiency of both the seeding and harvesting processes. Specialized harvesting equipment utilizing conveyor belts to mimic gentle gripping and mass-transport replaces the manual task of removing each seedling by hand. The term "harvesting" in general usage may include immediate postharvest handling, including cleaning, sorting, packing, and cooling.
A polytunnel is a tunnel typically made from steel and covered in polyethylene, usually semi-circular, square or elongated in shape. The interior heats up because incoming solar radiation from the sun warms plants, soil, and other things inside the building faster than heat can escape the structure. Air warmed by the heat from hot interior surfaces is retained in the building by the roof and wall. Temperature, humidity and ventilation can be controlled by equipment fixed in the polytunnel or by manual opening and closing of vents. Polytunnels are mainly used in temperate regions in similar ways to glass greenhouses and row covers. Besides the passive solar heating that every polytunnel provides, every variation of auxiliary heating is represented in current practice. The nesting of row covers and low tunnels inside high tunnels is also common.
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under 0.40 hectares to some hectares, or sometimes in greenhouses, distinguishes it from other types of farming. A market garden is sometimes called a truck farm.
Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, cash crops are also included in the definition.
A farmworker or agricultural worker is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including harvesting, but not to a worker in other on-farm jobs, such as picking fruit.
The climate of Mexico is very varied. The Tropic of Cancer effectively divides the country into temperate and tropical zones. Land that is north of the twenty-fourth parallel experiences lower temperatures during the winter months. South of the twenty-fourth parallel, temperatures are fairly consistent all year round and vary solely as a function of elevation. The north of the country usually receives less precipitation than the south.
Commercial Beekeeping in the United States dates back to the 1860s.
Seasonal migration, locally called the Exode, plays an important part of the economic and cultural life of the West African nation of Niger. While it is a common practice in many nations, Niger sees as much as a third of its rural population travel for seasonal labour, during the Sahelian nation's long dry season. Common patterns of seasonal travel have been built up over hundreds of years, and destinations and work vary by community and ethnic group.
Agriculture in Spain is important to the national economy. The primary sector activities accounting for agriculture, husbandry, fishing and silviculture represented a 2.7% of the Spanish GDP in 2017, with an additional 2.5% represented by the agrofood industry.
Many populations of Lepidoptera migrate, sometimes long distances, to and from areas which are only suitable for part of the year. Lepidopterans migrate on all continents except Antarctica, including from or within subtropical and tropical areas. By migrating, these species can avoid unfavorable circumstances, including weather, food shortage, or over-population. In some lepidopteran species, all individuals migrate; in others, only some migrate.
Moldova is an agrarian-industrial state, with agricultural land occupying 2,499,000 hectares in a total area of 3,384,600 hectares. It is estimated that 1,810,500 of these hectares are arable. Moldova is located in Eastern Europe, and is landlocked, bordering Romania and Ukraine. Moldova's agricultural sector benefits from a geographical proximity to large markets, namely the European Union. As a share of GDP, agriculture has declined from 56% in 1995 to 13.8% in 2013. Data from 2015 estimated that agriculture accounted for 12% of Moldova's GDP. Agriculture as a sector is export-oriented, with the composition of Moldova's total exports containing agriculture and the agri-food sector as a main component. 70% of agri-food exports in 2012 included beverages, edible fruits and nuts, oilseeds, vegetable preparations and cereals. Here, fruits, vegetables and nuts were attributed to 33% of Moldova's exports for 2011–2013. Moldova is also one of the top ten apple exporters in the world. However, because of the long-term emphasis on fruit, vegetables are often imported.
French intensive gardening also known as raised bed, wide bed, or French market gardening is a method of gardening in which plants are grown within a smaller space and with higher yields than other traditional gardening methods. The main principles for success are often listed as soil improvement, raised beds, close spacing, companion planting, succession planting and crop rotation. Originating in France, the practice is popular among urban gardeners and small for profit farming operations.
Climate change in Wisconsin encompasses the effects of climate change attributed to man-made increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin including the environmental, economic, and social impacts.
Birds are an animal group impacted by human-caused climate change. Changes to bird biology, distribution and behaviour are among many effects of climate change, and will vary with the temperature reached over preindustrial levels.
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