Three-field system

Under this system, the arable land of an estate or village was divided into three large fields: one was planted in the autumn with winter wheat or rye; the second field was planted with other crops such as peas, lentils, or beans; and the third was left fallow (unplanted).

Previously a two-field system had been in place, with half the land being left fallow.

[2] With more crops available to sell and agriculture dominating the economy at the time, the three-field system created a significant surplus and increased economic prosperity.

The legume crop needed summer rain to succeed, and so the three-field system was less successful around the Mediterranean.

[4] In his 1769 work Lehre vom Gyps als vorzueglich guten Dung zu allen Erd-Gewaechsen auf Aeckern und Wiesen, Hopfen- und Weinbergen,[5] Johann Friedrich Mayer was one of the first Germans to advocate for new ways of expanding beyond the medieval three-field.