Arkansas

A

2

Livestock

Arkansas ranks first among the states in production of broilers and is also a leading producer of turkeys and eggs. Poultry and poultry products generate over two-fifths of all farm income. Poultry farms are found throughout western Arkansas on marginal land in the highlands. Cattle raising and dairying, conducted mainly in the northwestern and northern sections of the state and in the lower Arkansas River valley, have become important in Arkansas since the 1920s. The quality of cattle has been greatly improved, and ranchers have shown great interest in the Santa Gertrudis, a sturdy breed developed in Texas and well suited to Arkansas’s hot summers.

B

Forestry

The forests of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain contain considerable oak forests along with cypress, water tupelo, black and sweet gum. South of the Arkansas River in the Ouachitas and the Gulf Coastal Plain, the vast coniferous forests of loblolly and shortleaf pine supply saw mills. In the Ozarks, oak and hickory forests once formed the basis of a thriving woodworking industry. While the oak and hickory forests remain, the woodworking industry has diminished.

C

Mining

Development of its rich mineral resources has helped to bring industrial growth to Arkansas. Two mineral fuels—petroleum and natural gas—account for much of the state’s income from mining. Beds of high quality bituminous and semianthracite coal underlie about 4,100 sq km (about 1,600 sq mi) of the Arkansas River valley in the western part of the state. There are also vast deposits of lignite in central and southwest Arkansas whose uses were explored in the 1980s. Natural gas occurs in the upper western Arkansas River valley, and it also flows in great quantities from oil wells in southwestern Arkansas. There, however, since the gas is of a type that needs to be processed before burning, most of it is converted into gasoline or other valuable by-products and is not used as a fuel itself.

Arkansas became a petroleum-producing state in the early 1920s, when oil fields were discovered near El Dorado, in the southern part of the state. The chief producing regions are now Lafayette, Columbia, and Union counties.

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Arkansas leads the nation in the production of bromine, used in gasoline antiknock mixtures and other chemicals. The state also has important deposits of building stone. Most of the good building stone is found in the Ozark Mountains. Also mined in Arkansas are significant quantities of limestone, barite, and silica. Bauxite deposits, which are concentrated in central Arkansas, are no longer mined commercially.

Arkansas has one of two diamond mines in the United States, the other being located near Fort Collins, Colorado. The diamonds of Pike County, in southwestern Arkansas, were found in 1906 in the pipe of an ancient volcano. The mine was worked from 1908 until 1925, when it became inactive. In 1971 it became the Crater of Diamonds State Park, where visitors may keep any diamonds they find. Some sizable gem stones have been found, but most are of industrial quality.

D

Manufacturing

Industry is the state’s largest source of income. Until the 1940s most of Arkansas’s industry was based on the local output of forest, farm, and mine. However, in the second half of the 20th century the importance of such industries declined, and the state experienced a great upsurge in the production of consumer goods. Many textile and leather plants were opened in the state, as well as factories to produce electrical machinery, fabricated metals, and transportation equipment. Still, in terms of value added by the manufacturing process, the turning of Arkansas’s natural resources into goods remains the leading industry. The processing of food products far exceeds any other industrial activity in value, particularly the preparation of meat and the packaging of fruits and vegetables. Following in importance are the production of lumber and wood products and the milling of paper, both dependent on the forests in the state. The principal industrial centers are Little Rock, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff, and the Fayetteville-Springdale area.

Wood processing and furniture making are important in central and western Arkansas, notably at Pine Bluff and Fort Smith, and also in many Ozark towns, such as Rogers in the northwest. Paper products are made at Camden, Pine Bluff, Crossett, Ashdown, and other centers in the southern pine belt. El Dorado, also in the south, is a center of oil refineries and chemical plants.

Rice processing, cotton ginning, and the manufacture of cottonseed oil are old, established industries at Stuttgart, Jonesboro, and other cities and towns of the northeast and east. Many food processing plants have been built to accommodate the poultry production. These plants are located in the small- to medium-sized towns in the Ozarks, along the Arkansas River valley, and in western Arkansas. However, many new plants, making such items as electronics equipment, air conditioners, shoes, and light metal goods, have been established in the state.

E

Electricity

The federal government has developed hydroelectric power in the Arkansas, White, and Ouachita river basins. The largest and most famous of the dams is Bull Shoals on the White River. Additional dams, built as part of the Arkansas River Navigation Project, provide for improved flood control as well as expanded power production. The first nuclear power plant in the region was established at Russellville. Conventional steam-powered plants fueled by coal generate 61 percent of the electricity produced in the state, nuclear power plants provide another 29 percent, and the remainder comes from hydroelectric facilities.