I. farm 1 S2 W2 /fɑːm $ fɑːrm/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: ferme 'rent, lease' , from Latin firmus 'firm, fixed' ]
1 . an area of land used for growing crops or keeping animals:
a 300-hectare farm
farm workers
farm animals
Joe had worked on the farm all his life.
a pig/dairy/cattle etc farm
He runs a pig farm in Lincolnshire.
► Say on a farm not ‘in a farm’.
2 . the main house on a farm where the farmer lives
⇨ factory farm at ↑ factory farming , ⇨ ↑ fish farm , ↑ funny farm
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + farm
▪ a 300-hectare/400-acre etc farm
He bought a 300-hectare farm in Shropshire.
▪ a pig/sheep/cattle farm
A pig farm in Dorset is the suspected source of the epidemic.
▪ a dairy farm (=a farm that has cows and produces milk)
Checks are made on milk from local dairy farms.
▪ an arable farm (=a farm where crops are grown)
Tractors represent the single biggest cost on most arable farms.
▪ a fruit farm
He lives on a fruit farm and helps to pick apples.
▪ an organic farm (=a farm where artificial chemicals are not used)
Organic farms can be as productive as industrial farming.
▪ a factory farm (=one in which animals are kept inside, in small spaces, and made to grow or produce eggs very quickly )
Pigs in factory farms are fed a mixture of grains and proteins.
■ farm + NOUN
▪ a farm worker
We rely on migrant farm workers to pick the crop.
▪ a farm labourer British English , a farm laborer American English
The cottages were built for the farm labourers.
▪ a farm building
The farmhouse is separated by hedges from other farm buildings.
▪ farm animals
It is used mainly for feeding farm animals.
▪ farm machinery
In the field, there was a tractor and some other farm machinery.
▪ farm produce
Moldova provides Russia with large quantities of farm produce.
■ verbs
▪ work on a farm
I used to work on a farm when I was younger.
▪ live on a farm
She lives on a farm in Wiltshire.
▪ manage/run a farm
He manages a large dairy farm.
▪ own/have a farm
The family owned a small farm in Suffolk.
▪ grow something on a farm
They grew wheat and barley on their farm.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ farm an area of land, used for growing crops or keeping animals:
a 300-hectare farm
|
a dairy farm
|
a sheep farm
▪ ranch a very large farm in the western US, Canada, or South America where sheep, cattle, or horses are bred:
a cattle ranch in Wyoming
▪ smallholding British English a piece of land used for farming, that is smaller than an ordinary farm:
a smallholding used for organic farming
▪ plantation a large area of land in a hot country, where crops such as tea, cotton, and sugar are grown:
a rubber plantation
|
a tea plantation
▪ homestead a piece of land for farming that was given to people in the past by the US and Canadian governments:
He still farms on the family homestead, a hundred years after his grandfather received it.
▪ spread American English informal an area of land used for farming or ranching:
They have a pretty big spread just south of the Canadian border.
▪ market garden an area of land, often with ↑ greenhouse s on it, used for growing vegetables and fruit:
He runs his own market garden, and sells his produce to the big supermarkets.
▪ orchard an area of land with trees, used for growing fruit:
an apple orchard
|
cherry orchards
▪ allotment British English a small area of land of land, especially in a town or city, which you can use for growing your own vegetables.The land is usually owned by the local council, who charge a very low rent:
We grew the tomatoes on our allotment.
▪ agriculture the practice of farming:
More than 75% of the land is used for agriculture.
▪ arable adjective relating to growing crops:
a lack of arable land
II. farm 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive and transitive]
1 . to use land for growing crops or keeping animals:
The family has farmed here for generations.
The land has been farmed organically since 1995.
2 . farmed salmon/fish/rabbits etc fish and animals that have been raised on farms, and not caught from the wild
farm somebody/something ↔ out phrasal verb
1 . to send work to other people instead of doing it yourself
farm somebody/something ↔ out to
The processing will be farmed out to people in local villages.
2 . to send someone to a different place where they will be looked after – used to show disapproval
farm somebody/something ↔ out to
At the age of 16 she was farmed out to family friends.