British Agricultural Revolution

The British Agricultural Revolution was a big jump in how much food Britain could grow. It happened between the mid-1600s and the late 1800s. During this time, farmers found ways to grow more food using less land and fewer workers.

Because there was more food, the number of people in England and Wales grew quickly. In 1700, about 5.5 million people lived there. By 1801, that number had grown to over 9 million.

1693 illustration of a farm in the Scottish Lowlands

The British Agricultural Revolution helped make the Industrial Revolution possible. As farms became more efficient, fewer workers were needed on the land. This freed up people to move to cities and work in factories.

Farmers also changed the way they planted crops. Instead of leaving fields empty, they used a special method called the Norfolk four-course system. This method included planting turnips and clover. Turnips could grow in winter and helped the soil. Clover added important nutrients back into the soil, which helped crops grow better.

Terminology

The term "British" means the changes started in Britain, but they spread to many other places like France, Prussia (Germany), Russia, East Asia, and North America. This period is called the Second Agricultural Revolution because, like the very first farming revolution long ago (the Neolithic Revolution), it happened in many places around the same time.

Historians in Britain think this revolution began there, but historians in the Netherlands have a different view. Between 1500 and 1650, Dutch farmers produced more food with fewer workers. By 1650, over 60% fewer people were needed to farm. From 1500 to 1750, the Netherlands changed faster than Britain did. Some people called the Netherlands the "school room" of the modern agricultural revolution. One important tool from the Netherlands, the "Dutch" light plough, was brought to Britain by landowners who had lived there and returned in the 1600s.

The word "revolution" here means that farmers got more food from the same land and with less work. These changes happened slowly over time, with new tools and methods appearing bit by bit.

Major developments and innovations

The British Agricultural Revolution brought changes to farming. Important developments included:

Conjectural map of a mediaeval English manor. The part allocated to "common pasture" is shown in the north-east section, shaded green.

Using a four-year crop rotation system with crops like turnips and clover instead of leaving land empty.
Creating new farm tools like better ploughs and seed drills.
Choosing the best animals for breeding to improve crops and livestock.
Closing shared lands to create private farms.
Building better roads, canals, and railways to move goods.
Draining wet lands to make them suitable for farming.
Growing more farms overall.

One key change was the Norfolk four-year crop rotation. This system helped keep soil healthy and increased food production. Farmers planted different crops each year, which helped the soil stay rich. They also grew turnips and clover, which improved the land and provided food for animals.

Farmers also began using new tools and methods. Better ploughs made farming easier, and new ways of breeding animals led to bigger and healthier livestock. Many farms grew, and new roads and railways helped move food to more people.

Crop yield net of seed
(bushels/acre)
Year	Wheat	Rye	Barley	Oats	Peas & beans	Growth rate (%/year) ‡
1250–1299	8.71	10.71	10.25	7.24	6.03	−0.26
1300–1349	8.24	10.36	9.46	6.60	6.14	−0.032
1350–1399	7.46	9.21	9.74	7.49	5.86	0.61
1400–1449	5.89	10.46	8.44	6.55	5.42	0.08
1450–1499	6.48	13.96	8.56	5.95	4.49	0.48
1550–1599	7.88	9.21	8.40	7.87	7.62	−0.16
1600–1649	10.45	16.28	11.16	10.97	8.62	−0.11
1650–1699	11.36	14.19	12.48	10.82	8.39	0.64
1700–1749	13.79	14.82	15.08	12.27	10.23	0.70
1750–1799	17.26	17.87	21.88	20.90	14.19	0.37
1800–1849	23.16	19.52	25.90	28.37	17.85	0.63
1850–1899	26.69	26.18	23.82	31.36	16.30	—
Est. ave. seed sown	2.5	2.5	3.5– 4.3	2.5– 4.0	2.5– 3.0

History

16th to 18th century

Before the seed drill was invented, people planted seeds by hand. This way of planting often lost many seeds to birds, insects, and mice. The seed drill, first used in the mid-16th century and improved by Jethro Tull in 1701, helped plant seeds more evenly and at the right depth. But early seed drills were expensive and not used much until better farming tools were made later.

19th century

New types of plant food were discovered in the 1800s. For example, large amounts of natural plant food found in the Atacama Desert in Chile were brought to Britain. Other plant foods came from bird droppings called guano and from fossils found in South East England. These helped crops grow better.

More land was used for growing crops like potatoes, and farming became more efficient. But even with these improvements, food production could not keep up with the quickly growing population.

After wars ended, Britain started importing more food from other countries. This led to changes in laws to protect local farmers, but these laws were later removed. Wet weather and diseases sometimes affected crops and animals in the 1870s. The biggest challenge was the arrival of cheaper food from places like the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, made possible by new ships and railways. By 1900, much of the meat eaten in Britain came from other countries.

Significance

The Agricultural Revolution was an important time for farming in Britain. It started in the mid-1600s when better farming ideas spread. By the 1800s, farming became much more productive. This growth helped Britain’s population grow and supported its rise as an industrial leader.

When farming improved, fewer workers were needed to grow food. This allowed many people to move to cities and work in factories, helping start the Industrial Revolution. As more people lived in cities, big changes happened. Power shifted from landowners to business owners and governments, marking a change to a new Industrial Age.