A. Because the owners are losing money on tenant farmers.
Explanation:
George Steinbeck's Great Depression based novel "The Grapes of Wrath" tells the story of a tenant family who were driven out of work and home due to the economic hardship. Also, the drought and agricultural hardships also led to their unemployment.
Chapter 5 of the book shows the scene where the tenant owners came to the workers to tell them of the news. The farmers had been reluctant to even initiate the talk even though they were eager to know what made their masters come. At the same time, the owners were also reluctant to start the topic, some of them even felt bad to be doing this to them. But they know they has to ask them to leave because they know they are losing a lot of money on the farmers. And a new productive way had also been devised, making machines take the place of the farmers, and they will also be more efficient and less cost effective.