These large farms usually specialize in one crop or one type of crop and often are run by giant parent corporations. Such farms are part of the current trend toward more controlled and cost-effective agriculture, called agribusiness.

             The goal in agriculture has almost always been increased production and decreased labor. In the early 1900s the American farm, for example, was run by the muscles of people and of draft animals. Today machines of great size and complexity, some computerized, accomplish in hours what took many of those people and animals days to complete.

             There are still family farms similar to those of an earlier era even in the most industrialized nations, but they are becoming fewer every year. There are also small-scale agricultural systems in many emerging nations of the world. But the trend almost everywhere is toward larger farms that are mechanized and that utilize the latest scientific agricultural methods to provide products more efficiently.

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             There is a great range in agricultural production around the world. Some countries, using high technology and advanced methods, produce more through agriculture than they need or can use, while others underdeveloped and poorer never produce enough to sustain their populations.

             The farming systems that maintained ancient civilizations in Asia Minor or in the New World are incapable of supporting populations in those areas today. In underdeveloped Africa, farming techniques are improving but are not even as advanced as those of the ancient Babylonians or the Incas.

             Nations with more advanced agriculture often attempt to help such areas improve farm productivity. This aid is often invaluable, but sometimes questionable for the long term. Agricultural systems are intimately connected to places and peoples. Propelling such areas into modern agricultural cropping techniques may be a shock to the local culture. Advanced technologies may not be advisable under the climatic and soil conditions of the area.