Production specialization is most apparent in vegetables, nursery and greenhouse products, fruits, poultry, cattle, and now hogs. Production specialization occurs at the farm unit in order to take advantage of increasingly specialized machinery and to gain efficiencies from devoting knowledge and energy to one commodity. Thus today, the farm owner is not always the farm manager and the farm manager may not perform the bulk of the labor.
Concentration is illustrated by production occurring in fewer but larger units.
Between 1969 and 1982, the number of super farms increased six times. Vertical and Horizontal Integration Horizontal integration occurs when firms operate similar kinds of businesses in different places Vertical integration occurs when the same firm controls all aspects of production, processing, and marketing of a product. Control may be through direct ownership, leasing of resources, or legal contracts with others who provide necessary resources Vertical integration allows a company to control the quantity, quality, and price of its inputs and allows a firm to extract profits at every stage of the production process. Montfort contracts with local farmers for corn silage and green chopped alfalfa, providing seed, technical assistance, and harvesting assistance for the majority of these crops. The company also owns and operates grain elevators in Nebraska and Kansas.