The map shows the distribution of dairy farms across the Lower 48 of the United States. Each dot on the map represents approximately ten dairy farms.

A. Identify ONE type of boundary data shown on the map.

B. Identify the region of the United States where most dairy farms are located.

C. Identify ONE spatial pattern shown on the map.

D. Describe the characteristic land use associated with the spatial pattern shown on the map.

E. Describe TWO geographic features not shown on the map that would help explain the patterns of dairy farming shown on the map.

A. The map depicts political boundary of various US states.

B. Wisconsin

C. Dairy farms are located near the Great Lakes

D. Land is devoted to Corn cultivation and cultivation of nutritious grasses.

E. Vegetation and Rainfall

Explanation:

A. The map consists of Political boundaries of the US states and the US mainland. In Geographical terminology, a political boundary refers to the imaginary line separating two or more than two political units. From the map, it is clear that most of the political boundaries of the US states are geometrical. They normally follow a particular line of longitude or line of latitude. E.g. State of Colorado is delimited by latitude 37° N to 41°N which defines its political boundary.

B. In the map, the state of Wisconsin has the highest concentration of the dairy farms when compared to the other states. The state is known to be amongst the leading dairy producer in the US and is nicknamed as “America’s Dairyland”. The high concentration of dairy farms in Wisconsin can be attributed to the proximity of the region to great lakes, optimum temperature and growing season, nutritious feed availability and superior breed of milch cattle.

C. One spatial pattern visible in the map is that most of the dairy farms are located in the vicinity of the great lakes along the North-Eastern part of the US. This high concentration of dairy farms in the region around Great lakes is due to the optimum temperate weather beneficial for dairy production, nutritious alfalfa grass and corn that is grown for feed purpose and success of the commercial dairy operation in these regions.

D. One characteristic land-use feature associated with the dairy farms is the use of large swaths of land to grow corn and nutritious alfalfa grass. Earlier, these lands were devoted to the cultivation of temperate wheat. However, the success of commercial dairy farming in the region has led to the introduction of extensive farming methods where large farms are devoted to corn and alfalfa production. Application of manures, usage of machines is very high and the overall yield of the farms is very high but yield per unit of land is low.

E. Two geographic features not shown on the map that corroborates to the above concentration pattern are-

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