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Abstract
Agriculture and forest industries are major contributors to the Arkansas economy. As such, the impacts of COVID-19 on the agriculture sector, forest sector, and overall economy of Arkansas differed by county and region of the state. Using IMPLAN data for 2019, 2020-Q2, 2020-Q3, and 2020, we compared the direct effects of the pandemic on agriculture and forestry sectors for all 75 counties in Arkansas and the entire state. Differences in pandemic effects were found to vary based on the type and intensity of agriculture and/or forest activity across counties. For this study, we focus on counties that appear to exhibit disproportionate economic shifts within sectors related to the production and/or processing of agricultural and forest products throughout the first year of the pandemic. For these select counties, we evaluate and discuss key factors driving observed economic shifts.