Cotton and grain sorghum are the major cash crops. Other principal crops are small grain, corn, soybeans, and johnsongrass and other hay crops. Wheat and soybeans are important local crops in the north, and corn is an important crop in the south. Native pecan orchards are common along the flood plains. The present trend is toward a decrease in cropland on the more sloping and eroded soils and an increase in pasture.
Beef cattle are the principal livestock.
The area is mostly a nearly level to gently rolling dissected plain. Nearly level to gently sloping uplands merge into narrow valleys that have more sloping valley walls. Large rivers that cross the area have broad but shallow valleys. Significant tracts of hilly land are along the Austin chalk escarpment near the western side of the area. Average annual precipitation -750 to 1,150 mm.