Arable land is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops. Alternatively, for the purposes of agricultural statistics, the term often has a more precise definition:Arable land is the land under temporary agricultural crops, temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow. The abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation is not included in this category. Data for 'Arable land' are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable.
Modern mechanised agriculture permits large fields like this one in Dorset, England
Fields in the region of Záhorie in Western Slovakia
A field of sunflowers in Cardejón, Spain
Water buffalo ploughing rice fields near Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia
A meadow is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable conditions, but are often artificially created from cleared shrub or woodland for the production of hay, fodder, or livestock. Meadow habitats, as a group, are characterized as "semi-natural grasslands", meaning that they are largely composed of species native to the region, with only limited human intervention.
Wildflower meadow in the Bavarian Alps
Living meadow, Bitsa Park, Moscow
An uncut hay meadow.
Montane hay meadows with haystacks.