 
"you mean to say, mr. swenson," we ask, "that you buy chickens at the 
store instead of raising them on your farm?" 
"sure," swenson says. 
"i can buy them cheaper at the supermarket. 
this is the age of specialization. 
i grow wheat. 
let someone else raise chickens. 
it wouldn"t pay me to spend my time and money on raising a few chickens 
for my own table." 
mr. swenson is right. 
farming today is a tricky business. 
the farmer must be very careful of how he manages. 
otherwise, he might go broke. 
he must be a good businessman and an expert farmer. 
good business often means specialization. 
most farmers specialize in one or two crops. 
they grow the cash crop that is best suited to their soil and climate. 
mr. swenson grows wheat because flat, fertile kansas is a good place to 
raise wheat. 
since he grows wheat, mr. swenson buys the kind of agricultural equipment, 
such as the combine, that is necessary for producing large quantities of this 
crop. 
so even his machinery is specialized. 
this is another reason why he sticks to wheat. 
it would be too expensive to buy other types of equipment needed to grow 
lettuce or raise chickens on a small scale in small amounts. 
therefore, even though he is a farmer, mr. swenson buys his chickens at 
the store. 
he lets someone else who specializes in chickens raise them for him. 
"another thing," says bill swenson, "i went to school to learn how to be a 
farmer, spent four years at kansas state university." 
