Farming in the early Middle Ages tended to increase production through expanding the area of land cultivated, particularly from the forested and waste areas. Surplus production was quite limited, especially after feudal dues were given or paid, leaving peasant farmers making only slightly more than subsistence levels in most of the county. Poor harvests in 1315, 1316 and 1322 pushed food prices up and probably weakened the population's resistance to disease. The Black Death arrived in Worcestershire in 1348–9. Outbreaks in 1361, 1369 and 1375 together reduced the population by around a third, as in other parts of England. Some villages were abandoned entirely, sometimes leaving churches alone with no supporting settlement.