The Real Agricultural Revolution: The Transformation of English Farming, 1939-1985

Paul Brassley; Michael Winter; Matt Lobley; David Harvey

doi:10.1017/9781800103535

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 British agriculture was largely powered by the muscles of men, women, and horses, and used mostly nineteenth-century technology to produce less than half of the country's temperate food. By 1985, less land and far fewer people were involved in farming, the power sources and technologies had been completely transformed, and the output of the country's agriculture had more than doubled. This is the story of the national farm, reflecting the efforts and experiences of 200,000 or so farmers and their families, together with the people they employed. But it is not the story of any individual one of them. We know too little about change at the individual farm level, although what happened varied considerably between farms and between different technologies.

Based on an improbably-surviving archive of Farm Management Survey accounts, supported by oral histories from some of the farmers involved, this book explores the links between the production of new technologies, their transmission through knowledge networks, and their reception on individual farms. It contests the idea that rapid adoption of technology was inevitable, and reveals the unevenness, variability and complexity that lay beneath the smooth surface of the official statistics.

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
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Contents
pp v-vi
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Figures and Tables
pp vii-viii
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Preface and Acknowledgements
pp ix-x
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Abbreviations
pp xi-xii
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1 - Introduction: Exploring Agricultural Change
pp 1-23
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2 - The Organisation of Agricultural Science, 1935–85
pp 24-45
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3 - Knowledge Networks in UK Farming, 1935–85
pp 46-87
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4 - Agricultural Policy, 1939–85
pp 88-110
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5 - Dairy Farming
pp 111-162
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6 - Land and Capital
pp 163-182
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7 - Labour and Machinery
pp 183-198
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8 - Specialisation and Expansion
pp 199-215
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9 - The Declining Enterprises: Pigs and Poultry
pp 216-243
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10 - Conclusions
pp 244-263
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Bibliography
pp 264-282
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Index
pp 283-288
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The Real Agricultural Revolution

The Transformation of English Farming, 1939-1985

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Figures and Tables
pp vii-viii

Preface and Acknowledgements
pp ix-x

Abbreviations
pp xi-xii

1 - Introduction: Exploring Agricultural Change
pp 1-23

2 - The Organisation of Agricultural Science, 1935–85
pp 24-45

3 - Knowledge Networks in UK Farming, 1935–85
pp 46-87

4 - Agricultural Policy, 1939–85
pp 88-110

5 - Dairy Farming
pp 111-162

6 - Land and Capital
pp 163-182

7 - Labour and Machinery
pp 183-198

8 - Specialisation and Expansion
pp 199-215

9 - The Declining Enterprises: Pigs and Poultry
pp 216-243

10 - Conclusions
pp 244-263

Bibliography
pp 264-282

Index
pp 283-288

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The Real Agricultural Revolution

The Transformation of English Farming, 1939-1985

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