It was however only these developments in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s that cemented saison's reputation as a 'farmhouse ale': in older sources it is never indicated as such and though there has been a limited tradition in Belgium of brewing on farms or brewing for farm workers, it seems to have been conflated with saison only from the 1980s onwards.
The historical context of saison's reputation as a "farmhouse ale" is that it was only in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s that this association became widely recognized.  Prior sources did not identify saison as such, although there was a limited tradition of farm brewing in Belgium. This association with farmhouse brewing seems to have been conflated with saison from the 1980s onwards.