What are some characteristics of commercial farming?

A hydroponics farm is an example of commercial farming and when I visited a hydroponics farm, i saw that they grow plants like balsam, spinach, kangkong and basil (these are only a few examples, there are lots more) and they use a special nutrients solution to water the plants daily. The essential nutrients come from 16 elements, which are split up into Macro-elements (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Sulphur and Magnesium) and Micro-elements (Iron, Chlorine, Manganese, Boron, Zinc, Copper and Molybdenum). Hopefully this does not confuse you as they really use a lot of hi-tech things, like Nutrients Film Technique and stuff like that. I am also learning about it now.