Agriculture in Sweden differs by region. This is due to different soils and different climate zones, with many parts of the country being more suitable to forestry. It makes more economic sense to dedicate land to forestry than agriculture in the northern and mountainous parts of the country. The southern tip of Sweden is the most agriculturally productive. Sweden has quite short growing seasons in most parts of the country that limits the species and productivity of agriculture, but the south has the longest growing season, in some parts of the south in excess of 240 days. Wheat, rapeseed and other oil plants, and sugar beet are common in southern Sweden, while barley and oat are more important further north. Barley and oat are grown mostly for animal feed especially for pigs and poultry. The Central Swedish lowland is the traditional centre of agriculture in Sweden. Swedish agriculture in figures The Swedish agricultural sector (forestry and food industry not included) employs 177,600 people, which is 1.5 percent of the Swedish workforce. There are 72,000 farms and other agricultural business, which is half the number of 1970. The average farm has of fields. Dairy farming is the largest sector in economical terms, and is responsible for 20 per cent of the value of the Swedish agricultural production. Pork and poultry production is also relatively large, while sheep and lamb production is quite small. Sheep and lamb production and the production of wool cannot compete with Australian and New Zealand production as these countries have green pastures year-round. History Agriculture and animal husbandry took place in the area (today's Sweden) already during the Stone Age. Barley was the most important crop, but wheat, millet and flax were also cultivated. The christianization of Sweden, around the year 1000, led to improvements in agriculture due to the influx of knowledge of more advanced cultivation methods from southern countries. During the entire medieval period, monasterial gardens served to spread foreign plants suitable for cultivation, and agricultural knowledge. During the time of Gustaf Vasa in the 16th century, who took a personal interest in the improvement of the royal properties, a period of agricultural flourishing started, and Sweden was regularly a cereal-exporting country. This lasted until the wars of Charles XII in the early 18th century, which took a heavy toll on the countryside population and meant that the cereal-producing Baltic provinces were lost. By the