Agricultural History Review, Volume 71 Part 1 (2023), pp. 21–44

This article explores why the Market Harborough area, historically famous for the summer fattening of livestock, was transformed by the development of the railways in the mid-nineteenth century. Railway development not only further enhanced its reputation as an oasis of high-quality grassland famed for the fattening of beef cattle but also underpinned its role as an important centre for fox-hunting. In spite of the emergence of foreign competition in agricultural produce in the 1870s and the subsequent impact of the First World War, beef fattening in conjunction with fox-hunting continued to prevail in the area. It also investigates the impact of the state-directed ploughing-up campaign and centrally-directed food production campaign of the Second World War. The demand for high-quality grass-fed beef declined after 1945 and much of the area pursed less specialized forms of livestock production.