The province has well-developed universities and training institutions. The western and southern areas are semi-desert. Thirty-one per cent of the potentially arable land of South Africa is found in the Free State. However, employment in the agricultural sector has been adversely affected by droughts in recent years. The main agricultural product of the northern Free State is maize, while the southern, arid region is sheep country.
Dairy farmers are present throughout the province.
Ninety per cent of the country's cherry crop is produced in the Ficksburg district, while the two largest asparagus factories are situated in this district. Soya, sorghum, sunflower and wheat are also cultivated, especially at Bethlehem, where farmers specialize in seed production. About 40 per cent of the country's potato production comes from the high-lying areas of the Free State. Industry Mining provides the Free State with its main economic base. On approaching the towns of Welkom, Odendaalsrus, Virginia and Allanridge, the horizon is broken by the forms of mine dumps and headgear.