ARTHUR YOUNG – A LESSON FOR MODERN POLITICIANS
- farmersfriendlincs
- Jul 11
- 2 min read
Arthur Young described Long Sutton in 1771 as follows:
“Long Sutton common is one of the most famous tracts of land in this country; it contains 3500 acres of saltmarsh. The right of commonage is unlimited; 30,000 sheep; 1000 horses and 300 beasts, are annually kept upon it, and many of them sold from it fat, which is certainly very extraordinary. But the whole would let for 24s. an acre without the expense of a shilling.”
Arthur Young was City born in Whitehall. With him being ill as a youngster and his father dying when he was young, his mother placed him in charge of the small family estate at Bradfield Hall, an estate encumbered with debt. This started his interest in Agriculture that he was to combine with his writing. Once married he took his own farm in Essex, but due to financial difficulty had to move to a farm in Hertfordshire. He was largely unsuccessful in farming, but his interest was aroused and he studied, read, observed and asked questions. In this role he became a reporter on Parliamentary matters and Agriculture for the Morning Post from 1773.
Arthur Young became a great economist and authority on agriculture. Like one of my heroes, the American self-taught economist Jane Jacobs he believed strongly in observation and first hand experience of others. He combined this with travel and political observation, being a first hand observer of the French Revolution. That this was combined with Agriculture greatly suited the times as it was recognized that hunger and food availability and affordability helped ignite the French Revolution and the Monarch and his government recognized the need to prevent such an issue in Britain. This is a political issue to this day where the requirements of an urban population are balanced against the abilities of British farmers to fulfill consumers needs whilst surviving financially.
Arthur Young toured much of England and wrote detailed accounts of what he found. I like many things about Arthur Young that I would like to see in any Minister of Agriculture, the Environment or Food and Farming today, that is: A recognition that one size does not fit all in farming; the ability to listen to farmers and truly understand them; an open mindedness and an inquisitive nature beyond his own interests; a social understanding of farming and rural life; the ability to observe and take note. Sadly throughout my life time these skills have often been lacking and are perhaps at their worst with the incumbent ministers in 2025.
