The factor that resulted in less available farmland and more privatized farmland during the Industrial Revolution was enclosure. Enclosure was the process of consolidating small landholdings into larger, more productive farms through the use of fences and hedgerows. This practice often drove small farmers off their land and led to the privatization of previously communal or open-access land. This resulted in less available farmland for small farmers and contributed to the consolidation of land ownership among wealthy landowners.
