Yeoman / Farmer

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Isn't this what sets farming apart from other "careers" or at least used to set it apart before it became more corporate and industrial.

The yeoman class was never servant, never gentry, but fitted somewhere in between.

It wasn't just about farming either, it was a social niche and still is.

Is this what people from outside fail to understand? Living the life of a yeoman wasn't necessarily about maximising efficiency, it was more about enjoying a certain amount of independence and freedom. In some ways farming was a sideline and still is for some, a bothersome necessity rather than a raison detre.

You can trace the the yeoman families in this district back to Norman times though the spelling of the names has changed slightly. Pagnell has become Payne etc. Very few are left as landholders, most having being integrated into modern industrial society or their modest holdings merged into large estates that belong to the gentry.

But some remain, preferring a degree of independence over the chance maybe for greater wealth, but at the price of losing ones freedom and becoming a modern day bondsman.

So some people who might appear to be farmers aren't actually farmers first and foremost. They are yeomen who just happen to do a bit of farming. They aren't entirely beholden to it, some aren't particularly interested in it, some enjoy it, some have to do it. This is what sets farming apart.

There never was and never will be yeomen accountants or solicitors.
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
Isn't this what sets farming apart from other "careers" or at least used to set it apart before it became more corporate and industrial.

The yeoman class was never servant, never gentry, but fitted somewhere in between.

It wasn't just about farming either, it was a social niche and still is.

Is this what people from outside fail to understand? Living the life of a yeoman wasn't necessarily about maximising efficiency, it was more about enjoying a certain amount of independence and freedom. In some ways farming was a sideline and still is for some, a bothersome necessity rather than a raison detre.

You can trace the the yeoman families in this district back to Norman times though the spelling of the names has changed slightly. Pagnell has become Payne etc. Very few are left as landholders, most having being integrated into modern industrial society or their modest holdings merged into large estates that belong to the gentry.

But some remain, preferring a degree of independence over the chance maybe for greater wealth, but at the price of losing ones freedom and becoming a modern day bondsman.

So some people who might appear to be farmers aren't actually farmers first and foremost. They are yeomen who just happen to do a bit of farming. They aren't entirely beholden to it, some aren't particularly interested in it, some enjoy it, some have to do it. This is what sets farming apart.

There never was and never will be yeomen accountants or solicitors.

absolutely....thats me.....i also think we are being persecuted to extinction....i don't know why but it's like the rest of society envies us and govt regards our independence as some kind of threat?
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
I think at one time yeomen were fairly well tolerated by the state. They shone out as an example of how you could live a reasonably independent and unhindered life under the government of a just power, whilst not being a part of the ruling elite. The fact that yeomen could exist and farm a small area of land showed that although our governments down the ages could be brutal, there was nonetheless a basic acknowledgement that men had some rights and could be accorded some basic freedoms.

I'm not sure of where we stand today. There seems to be an ever growing pressure to homogenise us all as either clients of an ever expanding state or make us permanently beholden to financial institutions.

I don't think real freedom has ever been in such short supply.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
I think at one time yeomen were fairly well tolerated by the state. They shone out as an example of how you could live a reasonably independent and unhindered life under the government of a just power, whilst not being a part of the ruling elite. The fact that yeomen could exist and farm a small area of land showed that although our governments down the ages could be brutal, there was nonetheless a basic acknowledgement that men had some rights and could be accorded some basic freedoms.

I'm not sure of where we stand today. There seems to be an ever growing pressure to homogenise us all as either clients of an ever expanding state or make us permanently beholden to financial institutions.

I don't think real freedom has ever been in such short supply.
Well they're dam well not gonna turn me gay ...:stop:
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
Now Yeomen are an easy target for the state, they have assets, cannot hide assets easily. Few in number, so easily taxed without public outcry. Law–abiding, so will take it on the chin!
They ought to be careful about taking too many liberties with us - historically 5,000 English and Welsh yeoman farmers shot 'seven bells of sh!t' out of 20,000 French knights at Agincourt
upload_2018-6-21_22-14-25.jpeg

PS @DrWazzock seems to have hit on a description of ourselves that we all identify with(y) - perhaps the forum name needs an update, TYFF, The Yeoman Farmers Forum:scratchhead:
 
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DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
They ought to be careful about taking too many liberties with us - historically 5,000 English and Welsh yeoman farmers shot 'seven bells of sh!t' out of 20,000 French knights at Agincourt
View attachment 684528
PS @DrWazzock seems to have hit on a description of ourselves that we all identify with(y) - perhaps the forum name needs an update, TYFF, the Yeoman Farmers Forum:scratchhead:

Some of us identify with it I'm sure, but there are likely plenty who think the term "yeoman" is everything that is wrong about farming.

Right or wrong it's a real phenomenon in my opinion and one that I identify with.

It is something that is easy to lose as well. We need to remember that.
 

le bon paysan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Limousin, France
They ought to be careful about taking too many liberties with us - historically 5,000 English and Welsh yeoman farmers shot 'seven bells of sh!t' out of 20,000 French knights at Agincourt
View attachment 684528
PS @DrWazzock seems to have hit on a description of ourselves that we all identify with(y) - perhaps the forum name needs an update, TYFF, The Yeoman Farmers Forum:scratchhead:
Didn't bring my bow and arrows just bought it.
 

jellybean

Member
Location
N.Devon
If I also identify with the description of Yeoman and the characteristics that several of you have attributed to that state of being then, at risk of winding some of you up, I suggest that is why I voted to leave the EU. Firstly to regain control of our lives as a nation, then secondly, having achieved that hopefully, to stop the ever increasing erosion of our individuality and liberty by our own government. ( and I never even mentioned the B---- word)
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,292
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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