ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the early use of the term ‘good farmer’ in an Anglo context. Here we look at the earliest origins of the term in the English literature as the ‘good husbandman’, through the eyes of three 16th century agricultural authors – John Fitzherbert, Thomas Tusser, and Barnabee Googe. These texts reveal that early concepts of the ‘good farmer’ were not directed to production or tidy farming, but more to the ‘good farmer’ as a citizen – moral, upstanding, family oriented, and godly. In the 18th century the term ‘good farmer’ was usurped by the agricultural improvers to promote their view that customary farming practices (‘bad’) should be replaced by scientific agriculture (‘good’). In the United States (and other settler colonies) in the 19th century the notion of the ‘good farmer’ was applied in an attempt to create a prosperous and virtuous rural society – as we explore through the eyes of George Carver Washington (with regard to African American farmers) and Seamann Knapp. As with the United Kingdom, however, the 20th century concept of a ‘good farmer’ moved from a predominantly family and community focus to a commercial role – with the moral imperative of producing food for an increasingly urban society.
