The Great Depression In Farming 1870-1900

The Golden Age of Farming came to an abrupt end in 1870. Factory workers and people that lived in towns probably did not notice what was happening in the farming community. They would only have been aware of a cheap and plentiful supply of food in the shops. They might have also mentioned that the weather had been a bit wet as well. The most likely response from an average town worker during the 1870s would have been a shrug of his shoulders and a total lack of concern as long as there was food at prices that he could afford.

Farmers were worried though. The weather was especially bad in 1879 and there had been a large number of bad harvests during the 1870s. The problem was so bad that suffering landowners asked Parliament to set up a number of Royal Commissions to look into the state of agriculture in 1879. There were more problems that just the weather!!!

These Royal Commissions showed that there were a lot of factors that sent British farming into it’s worst ever depression.

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