Turning It Up With Von

Thunen
Essential Questions
1. How does Von Thunen’s model help explain rural land use
patterns?
2. What factors dictate a farmer’s decision to grow certain
crops?
3. How does von Thunen’s model fit into the world today?
Assumptions of Von Thunen’s Model (Add to notes on P.145-
146)
1. There is only one market available, self-sufficient with no outside influence
(Isolated State).
2. All farmers are market oriented, producing goods for sale. (Not subsistence.)
3. The physical environment is uniform; there are no rivers or mountains.
4. All points at equal distances from the market have equal access to the
market.
5. All farmers act to maximize profits.
6. The dietary preferences of the population are those of Germanic Europeans.
Step 1: Cut out your Thunen Model, the notch with
the dotted lines, and circle with rings.
Step 2: Line up the Thunen Model with circle with
rings
Step 3: Using a paper fastener, attach the Thunen
Model to the circle with rings in the middle. Flatten
the back of the paper fastener.
Step 4: Identify the CENTRAL CITY
Step 4: Identify the CENTRAL CITY

Keep in mind that we

will be focusing on how
far farmers produce
commodities from this
point because it is the
largest market.
Step 5: Number the rings.
Step 6: What items do you see in ring 1? Turn to
your shoulder partner and list all the items.
Step 6: What items do you see in ring 1? Turn to
your shoulder partner and list all the items.

Here are the products found in ring 1:

● Vegetables (broccoli, peppers, and

beans)
● Fruits (apples, strawberries, and
watermelon)
● Herbs/ Medicinal Plants (sage)
● Dairy cow
● Also known as truck farming!

Turn your Model (turn the outer circle to a

blank spot) and identify these products as
Step 7: Why would these products be closest to the
city? Discuss this with your face partner and keep in
mind 1) the cost of land 2) the price of crops and 3)
costs of transportation.
Turn your Model and write: These are labor intensive crops, meaning they need to
be tended to on a daily basis.

Turn your Model and write: These products spoil quickly and require quick
transportation to the market.

Turn your Model and write: Land cost around the city are high, but so are sale
prices for these products
 Step 8: What items do you see in ring 2?

Wood is grown in ring 2.

Turn your model and label this

ring “Forest”
Step 9: Why would ring 2 be forest? Keep in mind 1)
the cost of land 2) the price of crops and 3) costs of
transportation.

Turn your Model and write: Wood is very

heavy and expensive to transport so it must
be close to the city

Turn your Model and write: Labor intensive

Turn your Model and write: Requires a lot

of land and therefore must be cheap
Step 10: What items do you see in ring 3?

Ring 3 consists of field crops like cereal grains.

Turn your Model and label ring 3 as “Field crops,

grains”

Turn your Model and identify this area as labor-

extensive crops
Step 11: Why would ring 3 be field crop grains? Keep in
mind 1) the cost of land 2) the price of crops and 3) costs
of transportation.
Turn your Model: Grain crops are
relatively easy to transport.

Turn your Model: Wheat, rye and corn

are grown in the third ring because
they require lots of cheap land
Step 12: The 4th ring! What do you see in this ring?
Turn your Model and label this ring as
“Livestock Ranching”
Step 13: Why would ring 4 be Livestock Ranching?
Keep in mind 1) the cost of land 2) the price of crops
and 3) costs of transportation.
Turn your model: Labor extensive

Turn your model: (1800s explanation)

Livestock could be walked to market, and
products such as wool, hide, and horn
could be transported without concerns of
spoilage.

Turn your model: Livestock ranching

requires a huge amount of cheap land
 Write on INB Page 208
What’s beyond ring 4 in von Thunen’s time?

Unoccupied
wilderness that is too
far from the city for
any type of agriculture
activity.
 Y axis is the
Von Thunen and The Bid- Cost of Rent
Rent Curve
The von Thunen model is an excellent
illustration of the balance between land cost
and transportation costs. As one gets closer to
a city, the price of the land increases.

The farmer of the Isolated State (only selling to X axis is the Distance
one market) balanced the cost of transportation from Central Place
Central
and products profit to the most cost-effective Place
distance from the market. Dairy &
Horticulture
This is what the bid-rent curve shows! Forest
Wheat
Grazing
 Table Talk:
What contemporary variables affect the spatial arrangement
of Von Thunen’s land use model?
● Government policies and diverse
markets enable corporations to
operate at a global scale. This means
that cities are not isolated and farm
products are not limited to the area
around the central city.
● Advancements in transportation such
as railroads, airplanes, refrigerated
trucks, and shipping allow products to
be produced farther from the central
city.
● Forest and firewood no longer need
to be close to population centers.
There are alternative ways to heating
and cooking now.
 Table Talk:

Apply Von Thunen’s model to the following images.

Assume that New York City is the single market in the United
States, the country’s terrain is flat, and climate conditions are London, England
the same.
 Table Talk:

United States

Figure A represents what the agricultural land use would be if the most basic assumptions were applied, namely the market located at New
York, crops being ranked by comparative rent paying abilities. Although this representation has some level of concordance with reality, it
inaccurately portrays agricultural land use in the United States.
Figure B includes climate variations, where the north is colder than the south. This has a significant impact on agricultural land use as even if for
a location a crop would have a higher rent paying ability, another crop would be grown because climatic conditions forbids it. The resulting
agricultural land use has a much higher level of correspondence with reality.
 Table Talk:

Apply Von Thunen’s model to the following images.

Von Thunen later modified
his model because at the time
he saw how some roads were
better than others, railways
existed, and navigable water
routes greatly reduced the
friction of distance between
the places they served.
Therefore, he introduced a
navigable water way into his
model, and found that
because produce would be
hauled to docks on the
stream for transport, each
zone of production would
elongate along the stream. London, England
Answer these on your extra page added to
P146.
1. How does von Thunen’s model help explain rural land use
patterns?
2. What factors dictate a farmer’s decision to grow certain
crops?
3. How does von Thunen’s model fit into the world today?