Earliest dates at the Traditional Ballad Index are just the earliest known at the time of compiling, and are intended as a rough guide only.

THE FARMER FEEDS US ALL
(Words and Music by Knowles Shaw, 1834-1878)

You may talk of all the nobles of the earth,
Of the kings who hold the nations in their thrall,
Yet in this we all agree, if we only look and see,
That the farmer is the man that feeds us all.

Then take him by the hand,
All ye people of the land,
Stand by him whatever troubles may befall;
We may say whate'er we can,
Yet the farmer is the man,
Yes, the farmer is the man that feeds us all.

There's the President who occupies the chair
Of the nation in the mighty Congress hall,
And the members, too, are great, who are sent from ev'ry State,
But the farmer is the man that feeds them all.

There are Governors and legislators, too,
Who have pledg'd themselves to heed the peoples' call,
Yet it seems they all agree, and can raise each member's fee,
While the farmer is the man that feeds them all.

There are speculators all about, you know,
Who are sure to help each other roll the ball,
As the people they can fleece, and then take so much apiece,
While the farmer is the man that feeds them all.

Then the preacher who can preach his sermons long,
And the lawyer and the doctor -servants, all;
There's the tailor and the smith, and I tell you 'tis no myth,
That the farmer is the man that feeds them all.

Now the Patrons true, are coming to the fight,
And their armies, too, are not the weak and small,
So, God bless them, while we sing, that the farmer is the King,
For the farmer is the man that feeds us all.

From the rising to the setting of the sun,
Great monopolies are surely doomed to fall,
Then onward in the fight, and we'll battle for the right,
While the farmer is the man that feeds us all.


From The Century of Song, vol. II, comp. Adam Geibal (Philadelphia, 1897).  Knowles Shaw was born on October 13, 1834 in Butler County, Ohio, and wrote a number of hymns and Sunday School song books.  He became known as "The Singing Evangelist"; he also wrote Bringing in the Sheaves.  An edition of The Farmer Feeds Us All, arranged by Thomas à Becket Jr., appeared in 1874, so the song dates from at least then.