Small grains and hay crops for livestock are the main crops. Peach and apple orchards are important locally. Pastures are mostly of tame grasses and legumes but native grasses grow on the prairie outliers in the west. Ridgetops of these deeply dissected sandstone and shale plateaus are narrow and rolling. Valleys are narrow and steep sided and have steep gradients.
Local relief is in tens of meters.
Average annual precipitation - 1,150 to 1,325 mm. Maximum precipitation is in spring and in fall, and the minimum is in midsummer. The moderately high precipitation is adequate for crops and pastures. Shallow wells are the principal source of water for domestic use. Small ponds on individual farms provide water for livestock, and springs are numerous on the mountainsides and in the valleys.