the farmer died

A phrase used to reflect a major change in management that, up until that point, had been the same for a long time. For example, if there is executive turnover at a dot-com resulting in a change of business plans (or M&A of the company), then it can be said, the farmer died.

Historical perspective: The phrase comes from a time when a farmer made all of the decisions regarding his land, and when he died, someone else decided what to grow or whether or not to sell the operation.