Prior to the 1500s, most farmers in Europe were peasants, practicing subsistence farming on small land holdings. Even through the Renaissance, the techniques and productivity of farming and general agriculture had changed very little in Western Europe since Roman times. Most peasants produced about 20% more crops than they needed to feed their own families, livestock and have for next year’s seed.

Rise of Commercial Farms

Commercialized farming began in Great Britain and The Netherlands as early as 1600. The Netherlands began reclaiming land from the sea with the use of polders. They also discovered that crop rotations helped remove different chemicals from the soil. They began commercialized growing of turnips (good food for sheep in the winter) as well as peas, beans and clover. Clover gave nitrogen to the soil, which improved its fertility, though no one at the time understood the science behind it. As a result by 1700, 90% of cheese produced in The Netherlands was exported.

Thanks to the use of iron ploughs, seed drills and irrigation projects in Great Britain, farms there began to export much more than the previous 20%. Other areas also had commercial farms. Denmark exported around 80,000 heads of cattle a year to Germany, while in Spain exported wool from over 3 million sheep- though they eventually lost this lead to German wool and imported cotton.

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