LAND CAPABILITY

The suitability of land for use without permanent damage. Land capability, as ordinarily used in the United States, is an expression of the effect of physical land conditions, including climate, on the total suitability for use, without damage, for crops that require regular tillage, for grazing, for woodland, and for wildlife. Land capability involves consideration of the risks of land damage from erosion and other causes and the difficulties in land use owing to physical land characteristics including climate.

The quality of soil resources for agricultural use is commonly expressed as land capability classes and subclasses, which show, in a general way, the suitability of soils for most kinds of field crops. Soils are grouped according to their limitations when they are used to grow field crops, the risk of damage when they are used, and the way they respond to treatment. Capability classes, the broadest groups, are designated by Roman numerals I through VIII, with I being the best soils and VIII being the poorest.