British Agricultural Revolution 1600-1870

Recent historical research has challenged previous ideas about the timing and nature of a British agricultural revolution when agricultural improvers and landowners led the way in increasing farming productivity. New measurements of work occupations and agricultural output show that food production rose significantly before the eighteenth century, as did pre-factory manufacturing. There was also a 'second agricultural revolution' in the nineteenth century. These changes allowed more food to be produced by a lower proportion of the workforce, releasing labour to propel the growth of manufacturing in the period before and during the Industrial Revolution.