This is largely a cash-crop area. Cotton, corn, soybeans, and wheat are major crops, but rice is important locally in Arkansas and in Louisiana, and strawberries are important in Louisiana. Feed grains and forage are grown on dairy farms. About 16 percent of the area is in pasture or hay. About 46 percent is in forest of mixed pine and hardwoods.
Lumber is the major forest product, and some pulpwood is harvested.
The present trend is toward the conversion of the pasture and forest to cropland. About 3 percent of the area is used for urban development or other purposes. There is an increase in urban development near the metropolitan areas. The sharply dissected plains have a thick loess mantle that is underlain by unconsolidated sand, silt, and clay, mainly of marine origin. Valley sides are hilly to steep, especially in the west.