Farmers Character Analysis in The Wealth of Nations

Smith uses the term “farmer” to refer to the people who live on, manage, and live off the revenue from agricultural land (as opposed to the landlords who own it or the laborers who actually work it). Agriculture produces far more value in rude produce than it requires in capital investment, so Smith considers farmers to be the most productive of all workers and argues that whether or not they improve their land is the single most important factor in promoting economic growth.

Farmers Quotes in The Wealth of Nations

The The Wealth of Nations quotes below are all either spoken by Farmers or refer to Farmers. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

No equal capital puts into motion a greater quantity of productive labour than that of the farmer. Not only his labouring servants, but his labouring cattle, are productive labourers. In agriculture, too, Nature labours along with man; and though her labour costs no expense, its produce has its value, as well as that of the most expensive workmen. [...] The labourers and labouring cattle, therefore, employed in agriculture, not only occasion, like the workmen in manufactures, the reproduction of a value equal to their own consumption, or to the capital which employs them, together with its owner’s profits, but of a much greater value. Over and above the capital of the farmer, and all its profits, they regularly occasion the reproduction of the rent of the landlord. This rent may be considered as the produce of those powers of Nature, the use of which the landlord lends to the farmer.

Related Characters: Farmers, Landlords

Page Number and Citation: 462–463

Explanation and Analysis:

Smith compares the activities of the four major groups that employ capital—farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers—and concludes that farming offers the greatest returns to the economy because investment in agriculture is the most productive use of capital. As he explains here, resources spent on agriculture virtually always return a large surplus. Farming is not just a form of human labor, he argues, but rather the marriage of human effort with the work of nature—and humans get to keep everything this marriage produces. While most other activities are not productive to generate rent for the landlord until society is very advanced, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempor

The inhabitants of the town, and those of the country, are mutually the servants of one another. The town is a continual fair or market, to which the inhabitants of the country resort, in order to exchange their rude for manufactured produce. It is this commerce which supplies the inhabitants of the town, both with the materials of their work, and the means of their subsistence. The quantity of the finished work which they sell to the inhabitants of the country, necessarily regulates the quantity of the materials and provisions which they buy. Neither their employment nor subsistence, therefore, can augment, but in proportion to the augmentation of the demand from the country for finished work; and this demand can augment only in proportion to the extension of improvement and cultivation.

Related Characters: Farmers, Manufacturers

Page Number and Citation: 484

Explanation and Analysis:

Book III focuses on the history of economic development in medieval Europe, with a focus on the relationship between cities and rural areas. Smith’s thesis is that the feudal land ownership system encouraged people to congregate and invest in cities, which in turn led manufacturing and commerce to grow faster than agriculture. Even though agriculture is the most productive way to invest capital, Europe’s urban investments did eventually bear fruits for the countryside because, as Smith explains here, the city and country are always economically connected. In a way, the relationship between the city and the countryside is just another Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum.

The man who employs either his labour or his stock in a greater variety of ways than his situation renders necessary, can never hurt his neighbour by underselling him. He may hurt himself, and he generally does so. Jack-of-all-trades will never be rich, says the proverb. But the law ought always to trust people with the care of their own interest, as in their local situations they must generally be able to judge better of it than the legislature can do.

Related Characters: Grain Inland Traders, Farmers, Wholesalers

Page Number and Citation: 669

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Smith is criticizing Europe’s historical ban against the wholesale grain trade. This ban forced farmers to sell their own grain to consumers, which may seem like a way to make the market more efficient by eliminating middlemen, but actually has just the opposite effect. Namely, it forces farmers to act like a “jack-of-all-trades,” performing multiple occupations when they would have done better by focusing on one. This is because the separation between farmers and traders is an important element of the division of labor. It makes the market more efficient by letting farmers just sell their harvest Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae ea

Farmers Character Timeline in The Wealth of Nations

The timeline below shows where the character Farmers appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Capital Accumulation and Investment Theme Icon

...investors on profit. But many people mix more than one of these sources, such as farmers who own the land they plant and artisans who purchase their own materials. In more... (full context)

...to measure and exactly meet demand, but their success depends on the industry. For instance, farmers often cannot predict how much they will produce each year with a constant amount of... (full context)

...more productive because they are healthier and better fed. In years when provisions are cheap, farmers often want to hire more workers, so wages rise. In years with higher provision prices,... (full context)

Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon

...on imported goods also unjustly enrich tradespeople in towns by protecting them against foreign competition. Farmers, common laborers, and landlords generally don’t have associations, so they end up paying the price... (full context)

...rent is a monopoly price. In other words, rent is based primarily on “what the farmer can afford to give,” which in turn depends on the demand for whatever they’re producing.... (full context)

...rent in some such areas in the Scottish highlands has tripled in the previous century. Farmers working on improved land can choose to produce either a lot of grain or a... (full context)

...up. But if any of these land uses ever becomes less profitable than food production, farmers will turn back to grain and livestock. (full context)

...The division of labor enables some people to take up other occupations while others remain farmers. While all people consume similar amounts of food, the wealthiest demand more luxurious clothing, lodging,... (full context)

...they mistake historic silver-denominated grain prices for market prices, when they were really conversion prices. Farmers used to pay rent “in kind,” by giving the landlord a portion of whatever they... (full context)

...In improved countries, policies that reduce wool and/or hide prices naturally raise meat prices, as farmers must cover their rent and profit for raising animals with the revenue from selling those... (full context)

...their tools (like a weaver’s loom). Smiths, millers, and miners have even more fixed capital. Farmers have both significant fixed capital (in the form of agricultural tools) and significant circulating capital... (full context)

...a whole is divided into wages, rent, and profit. Any estate’s gross rent (what the farmer pays) is more than its neat rent (what the landlord retains after the cost of... (full context)

...into smaller portions for distribution to customers. People who work in these four kinds of activity—farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers—are productive laborers. (full context)

...to the nation is equal to their profits. Wholesalers spend their capital buying goods from farmers and manufacturers. In the process, they replace those farmers’ and manufacturers’ initial capital, and their... (full context)

...of capital adds more to the economy in manufacturers’ hands than retailers’ or wholesalers’. But farmers put even more capital into motion and add even more to the nation’s annual produce... (full context)

...there is still so much fertile, uncultivated land that successful artisans actually prefer to become farmers. In other countries, where fertile land is less available, artisans instead expand their businesses by... (full context)

...their own capital for the landlord’s benefit. Eventually, a new farming system took hold, with farmers using their own capital stock to cultivate land and simply paying rent to the landlord. (full context)

Long-term leases give farmers an incentive to improve the land, but they often don’t because landlords can too easily... (full context)

...started accumulating a stock of resources and strategically directing it towards economically productive activities. Hardworking farmers moved from the country to the city in search of safety, bringing their capital with... (full context)

...Policies that support grain exports, while prohibiting both grain and meat imports, greatly enrich English farmers. France has grown somewhat slower, while Spain and Portugal have succeeded in foreign commerce but... (full context)

...for rude produce. For instance, massive cattle, salt, and grain imports would not bankrupt British farmers. The bounty on grain exportation might increase exports in most years, but to compensate, it... (full context)

...more profitable kinds of trade. Britain’s grain bounty might have increased exports, but it led farmers to waste their capital producing grain instead of other commodities. (full context)

As this bounty doesn’t help farmers maintain more workers with the same amount of grain, it only increases nominal grain prices,... (full context)

...result, reputable people avoid the grain-trading profession. Historically, European countries banned grain trading, which forced farmers to sell their grain directly to consumers, but also banned manufacturers from selling their goods,... (full context)

...policies unjustly violated people’s natural liberty. Specifically, the grain policy discouraged land improvement by forcing farmers to split their capital between agriculture and trade. It thus backfired, making grain scarcer and... (full context)

In reality, wholesale merchants support farmers and manufacturers by permitting them to specialize, invest all their capital in efficient production, and... (full context)

...are the third kind of grain merchants. They contribute to the nation by ensuring that farmers can produce as much grain as possible, without flooding the domestic market. To this end,... (full context)

...banned grain exports, and devastated French agriculture. The agriculturalists divide people into three groups: landlords, farmers (or the “productive class”), and manufacturers and merchants (or the “unproductive class”). Agriculture requires landlords... (full context)

...rude produce and supplying people with manufactured and imported goods. This indirectly supports landlords and farmers by enabling them to focus their time, energy, and capital on agriculture. (full context)

...so-called unproductive classes live off society’s agricultural surplus, it is unwise for them to oppress farmers and landlords. Similarly, unproductive merchant nations like Holland and Hamburgh support but also live off... (full context)

...to call artisans, manufacturers, and merchants unproductive. Even if they don’t produce a surplus like farmers, they still generate enough revenue to replace their capital investment and living expenses. This distinguishes... (full context)

...and they can even overtake powerful civilizations. In simple settled nations, where most people are farmers and there is little trade, most adult men are physically able to fight in a... (full context)

...of generosity to others. To increase this surplus, the clergy started renting its land to farmers—who started making incomes of their own, became independent, and turned against the increasingly vain, wasteful... (full context)

...rent. For instance, Venice taxes all land at 10% of its rent (or 8% for farmers who cultivate their own land). This is more equal than a constant land tax, but... (full context)

...taxes payable in rude produce, like the church’s tithe, may look like income taxes on farmers, but they’re really land taxes on landlords. Farmers always predict them in advance and factor... (full context)

...profit rates or pay less in interest, and they pass these costs on to either farmers (if they’re investing in land) or consumers (if they’re manufacturers). (full context)

...and other relevant conditions. These assessments are never accurate. More often, they’re biased and unpredictable. Farmers won’t reasonably under-cultivate their lands or pass costs onto consumers, so this tax just reduces... (full context)

...Employers pass higher labor costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices, while farmers pass them on to landlords in the form of lower rents. In manufacturing, such taxes... (full context)

...classes. Those on domestically-produced luxuries affect everyone. Since the vast majority of people are poor farmers, tradesmen, and small-time merchants, their expenses and wages account for most of society’s consumption and... (full context)

...won’t lower rents and profits for barley land. Even if barley rents and profits fell, farmers would start growing something else, since barley land can easily be used to grow other... (full context)

...annuities because they are easier to sell. But most of the French crown’s are wealthy farmers, tax collectors, and bachelors who care more about living luxuriously than passing on a fortune. (full context)

Farmers Character Analysis

Farmers Quotes in The Wealth of Nations

Book 2, Chapter 5 Quotes

Book 3, Chapter 1 Quotes

Book 4, Chapter 5 Quotes

Farmers Character Timeline in The Wealth of Nations