Farm vs. Plantation — What's the Difference?

A tract of land for raising crops and livestock.

A large estate for producing a single cash crop.

A place for raising specialty products like mushrooms.

Historically linked to slave labor in the American South.

A term for a system of raising data, as in server farm.

Often part of larger corporate agricultural systems.

An area dedicated to renewable energy sources, like wind or solar.

Usually situated in tropical or subtropical climates.

An establishment for aquaculture.

An organized agricultural operation often requiring intensive labor.

A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used for specialized units such as arable farms, vegetable farms, fruit farms, dairy, pig and poultry farms, and land used for the production of natural fiber, biofuel and other commodities.

A plantation is a large-scale estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops. The crops that are grown include cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane, opium, sisal, oil seeds, oil palms, fruits, rubber trees and forest trees.

An area of land and its buildings, used for growing crops and rearing animals

An estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are grown.

Make one's living by growing crops or keeping livestock

Colonization or settlement of emigrants, especially of English and then Scottish families in Ireland in the 16th–17th centuries under government sponsorship

Send out or subcontract work to others

An area under cultivation.

Allow someone to collect and keep the revenues from (a tax) on payment of a fee

A group of cultivated trees or plants.

A tract of land cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production.

A large estate or farm on which crops are raised, often by resident workers.

A tract of land devoted to the raising and breeding of domestic animals.

A newly established settlement; a colony.

An area of water devoted to the raising, breeding, or production of a specific aquatic animal

A large farm; estate or area of land designated for agricultural growth. Often includes housing for the owner and workers.

A facility for the generation of energy by converting it from a particular source, usually by means of multiple electric generators

An area where trees are planted, either for commercial purposes, or to adorn an estate.

A place where a group of similar devices or storage containers are set up

(historical) The importation of large numbers of workers and soldiers to displace the local population, such as in medieval Ireland and in the Americas; colonization.

(Baseball) A minor-league club affiliated with a major-league club for the training of recruits and the maintenance of temporarily unneeded players.

(historical) A colony established thus.

The system of leasing out the rights of collecting and retaining taxes in a certain district.

The act or practice of planting, or setting in the earth for growth.

A district so leased.

The place planted; land brought under cultivation; a piece of ground planted with trees or useful plants; esp., in the United States and West Indies, a large estate appropriated to the production of the more important crops, and cultivated by laborers who live on the estate; as, a cotton plantation; a coffee plantation.

To cultivate or produce a crop on (land).

An original settlement in a new country; a colony.

To cultivate, breed, or raise (plants or animals).

An estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale (especially in tropical areas)

To pay a fixed sum in order to have the right to collect and retain profits from (a business, for example).

A newly established colony (especially in the colonization of North America);

To turn over (a business, for example) to another in return for the payment of a fixed sum.

Garden consisting of a small cultivated wood without undergrowth

To engage in farming.

A place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock.

A tract of land held on lease for the purpose of cultivation.

A location used for an industrial purpose, having many similar structures.

(computing) A group of coordinated servers.

(obsolete) Food; provisions; a meal.

(obsolete) A banquet; feast.

(obsolete) A fixed yearly amount (food, provisions, money, etc.) payable as rent or tax.

(historical) A fixed yearly sum accepted from a person as a composition for taxes or other moneys which he is empowered to collect; also, a fixed charge imposed on a town, county, etc., in respect of a tax or taxes to be collected within its limits.

(historical) The letting-out of public revenue to a ‘farmer’; the privilege of farming a tax or taxes.

The body of farmers of public revenues.

The condition of being let at a fixed rent; lease; a lease.

(historical) A baby farm.

(intransitive) To work on a farm, especially in the growing and harvesting of crops.

(transitive) To devote (land) to farming.

(transitive) To grow (a particular crop).

To give up to another, as an estate, a business, the revenue, etc., on condition of receiving in return a percentage of what it yields; to farm out.

To lease or let for an equivalent, e.g. land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds.

To take at a certain rent or rate.

To engage in grinding (repetitive activity) in a particular area or against specific enemies for a particular drop or item.

To cleanse; clean out; put in order; empty; empty out

The rent of land, - originally paid by reservation of part of its products.

The term or tenure of a lease of land for cultivation; a leasehold.

The land held under lease and by payment of rent for the purpose of cultivation.

Any tract of land devoted to agricultural purposes, under the management of a tenant or the owner.

A district of country leased (or farmed) out for the collection of the revenues of government.

A lease of the imposts on particular goods; as, the sugar farm, the silk farm.

To lease or let for an equivalent, as land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds.

To give up to another, as an estate, a business, the revenue, etc., on condition of receiving in return a percentage of what it yields; as, to farm the taxes.

To take at a certain rent or rate.

To devote (land) to agriculture; to cultivate, as land; to till, as a farm.

To engage in the business of tilling the soil; to labor as a farmer.

Workplace consisting of farm buildings and cultivated land as a unit;

Be a farmer; work as a farmer;

Collect fees or profits

Cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques;

Yes, farms often grow multiple types of crops and animals.

Generally, plantations are larger and more specialized.

Plantations are often owned by corporations or large entities.

A plantation is a large estate focused on a single cash crop.

Typically, plantations focus on mass-producing a single crop.

Generally, plantations require more labor due to the scale of operation.

A farm is land used for diverse agricultural activities.

Yes, farms can range from small plots to large operations.

Often, farms supply local markets but can also produce for wider distribution.

Yes, plantations aim for mass production of cash crops.

Farms can be family-owned or part of larger corporations.

Yes, aquaculture establishments are commonly referred to as fish farms.

Yes, terms like "server farm" apply to collections of servers for data storage and management.

Yes, there are modern plantations, often part of larger corporate systems.

Farms can vary in historical context, whereas plantations often have specific historical ties to slavery.