Data for Agricultural Suitability are presented using the Soil Capability for Agriculture data from the Canada Land Inventory. Within each polygon, the lands are classified with up to 4 dominant capability classes (CLI-A – D, with CLI-A representing the soil class that occupies the majority of the land area within the polygon). While this is a very general method, and cannot tell you for certain how productive a given quarter section may be, it is the best data available and should provide a reasonable insight. The definitions are presented below, and below those I have provided an example of how to interpret the data as presented in the online maps:
| CLI | CLI rating for entire Mapunit |
| CLI-A | CLI rating for part A |
| CLI-B | CLI rating for part B |
| CLI-C | CLI rating for part C |
| CLI-D | CLI rating for part D |
| Class | Definition |
|---|---|
| 0 | Organic soils (Note: This value is letter ‘0’ not the numeral zero) |
| U | Unmapped area |
| 1 | Soils in this class have no significant limitations in use for crops |
| 2 | Soils in this class have moderate limitations that restrict the range of crops or require moderate conservation practices |
| 3 | Soils in this class have moderately severe limitations that restrict the range of crops or require special conservation practices |
| 4 | Soils in this class have severe limitations that restrict the range of crops or require special conservation practices or both |
| 5 | Soils in this class have very severe limitations that restrict their capability to producing perennial forage crops, and improvement practices are feasible |
| 6 | Soils in this class are capable only of producing perennial forage crops, and improvement practices are not feasible |
| 7 | Soils in this class have no capability for arable culture or permanent pasture |
| Modifier | Definition |
|---|---|
| A | Droughtiness or aridity as a result of climate |
| D | Undesirable soil structure, low permeability |
| E | Past damage from erosion |
| F | Low natural fertility |
| H | Adverse climate as a result of cold temperatures |
| I | Periodic innundation by streams and lakes |
| M | Deficient soil moisture |
| N | Salinity |
| P | Stoniness |
| R | Shallowness to bedrock |
| S | A combination of two or more of the subclasses D, F, M and N |
| T | Adverse relief because of steepness or pattern of slopes |
| V | A pattern of wet(W) and moisture deficit (M) soils very intimately associated |
| W | Excessive soil moisture |
| X | An accumulation of two or more adverse characteristics that individually would not affect the class rating |
S0, for example, a CLI entry of 50%CL3M 30%CL4M 10%CL5T4MT 10%CL6TE means:
- 50%CL3M: 50% of the area inside the polygon is classified as Class 3 with the main limitation being deficient soil moisture
- 30%CL4M: 30% of the area inside the polygon is classified as Class 4 with the main limitation being deficient soil moisture
- 10%CL5T4MT: 10% of the area inside the polygon is classifed as Class 5 with adverse relief being the main limiting factor (and within this 10% there are inclusions of Class 4 with limitations of deficient moisture and adverse relief)
- 10%CL6TE: 10% of the area inside the polygon is classified as Class 6 with adverse relief and past damage from erosion being the main limiting factors