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TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > History > To what extent was this a boom time for British agriculture?

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• There was stability in the price of wheat and other prices rose steadily, but not spectacularly.
• The best growth in prices lay in livestock-related areas.
• A steady increase in major elements of farming was bound to have a good impact on farmers generally.
• As real wages rose nationally, and in particularly urban areas, and with a growing m/c spending an increasing proportion of their income on quality food, there was certain to be an increase in demand for meat, all types of dairy produce, and of course wool.
• Rural depopulation could be absorbed by the growing demand for labour in the towns and factories, so the problems caused by mechanisation and the switch to live-stock based farming, which used less labour than crop farming, was not too noticeable. Also the huge drainage works absorbed a lot of labour.
• The huge urban demand for milk, which rail could meet, also lead to a shift in the use of the labour force to milking and transportation.
• With excellent market conditions and a growing population and rail making access to towns easy, prices rose steadily in most parts of farming produce (20%-50%). So when a severe depression came in the 1870s this period was looked back on as a period of prosperity.

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