mploys a far larger percentage of the population, with it being the basis of the economy in many rural areas. 28,24% of state land is used for agriculture, mostly raising corn, wheat, alfalfa, sorghum and squash. There is also intensive farming in areas of a number of important crops. Much of the large scale farming is irrigated and is supported in part by the state government, with loans and help with infrastructure such as water and roads. However, most farmland is seasonal, meaning it is worked only during the rainy season. Grains such as barley, wheat, oats and alfalfa are almost exclusively planted on irrigated land along with certain vegetables such as broccoli, garlic, carrots, lettuce, onions and cauliflower. Most nonirrigated land is planted with corn, followed by beans mostly for auto or local consumption. Leading cash crops are beans, cabbage, alfalfa, onions, lettuce and sorghum.
Within agriculture, production of crops has decreased while the production of animal products has increased. Crops as a percentage of agricultural production dropped from 34% in 1988 to 25.8% in 1993. One of the leading milk producers in the country, Quer�taro farms also breed livestock and dairy cows. Livestock production is important and growing, mostly consisting of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and domestic fowl. Quer�taro is one of the top producers of chicken in Mexico. The largest producers of livestock in the state are Jalpan, Cadereyta, San Juan del R�o and Quer�taro.
Forest land is one of the state�s two main natural resources. These forests contain commercial species such as pine, oak, cedar, juniper, mesquite and more. Most of these are found in and around the Sierra Gorda area. There is about 70,000 hectares of possible productive land but only 17,000 have been studied for management. Land actively involved in forestry operations equals 9,358m2, most of which is in the municipalities of Landa de Matamoros and Amealco de Bonfil. 20.7% is used for
