Land Classification and Use

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Land Classification and Use
Original Power Point Created by Lybb
Calloway Modified by Georgia Agricultural
Education Curriculum Office June 2002
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Land is more than soil

• Natural and artificial characteristics of an area
  to be used for agricultural or other purposes
• Includes renewable and nonrenewable resources
  plus improvements

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Land

• The surface of the earth not covered with water
• Maybe temporarily or permenently covered with
  water
• A pond for aquaculture is considered land

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Cropland

• Used for growing crops
• Crops grown typically improve the tilth of the
  land

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Major Characteristics of Cropland

• Soil - Large impact on productivity. Soil
  texture, nutrients and internal structure
• Climate - average of water conditions over a long
  time
• Topography - form or outline of the surface of
  the earth
• Water supply - amount of water available for crops

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• Subsurface conditions - Soil textures, hardpans
• Pollution - can prevent plant growth

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Alternative Uses

• Best land use is determined by how the land will
  give the most benefits to people.
• Which use will give the highest returns
• What will happen if productive cropland is used
  for other purposes?

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Land Capability

• Suitability of land for agricultural uses.
• Usage should not cause damage to the land
  although nutients maybe removed

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Arable land

• Land that can be used for row crops
• Can be tilled
• Alternatives include pasture and forest crops

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Land Improvement

• Four common practices to improve arable land
• Irrigation
• Erosion Control
• Drainage
• Forming (land forming)- surface is smoothed or
  reshaped.

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Soil Tilth

• Physical condition of the soil that makes it easy
  or difficult to work
• Poor tilth has hard clod
• Maybe very wet or very dry

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Capability Factors

• Characteristics of land that determine its best
  use
• Surface texture
• proportion of sand, silt, clay down to about 7
  inches
• three major classifications
• sandy
• loamy
• clayey

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Internal drainage

• Permeability- movement of water and air through
  soil
• Directly related to nutrient content
• Classified as very slow, slow, moderate and rapid
• water quickly soaks into sandy soil with high
  permeability
• soils with clay have slow permeability

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Soil Depth

• Thickness of the soil layers
• Requirement depends upon type of crop to be
  produced
• Four soil depths are used
• very shallow - less than 10 inches
• shallow - 10 to 20 inches
• moderately deep - 20 to 36 inches
• deep - over 36 inches
• Shallow soils are often the result of erosion

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Erosion

• Loss of topsoil by wind or other forces
• Four categories
• very severe erosion- 75 or more and large
  gullies are present
• severe erosion - 75 of soil has eroded but no
  large gullies present
• moderate erosion- 25 to 75 of soil has eroded
  with small gullies present
• none to slight erosion - less than 25 of soil
  has eroded and no gullies are present

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Slope

• The rise and fall of the elevation of the land
• Measured in percents
• Important in determining the best use of the land

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Surface Runoff

• Water from rain, snow, or other precipitation
  that does not soak into the ground
• Can be reduced by conservation practices
• chopping stalks
• terraces
• ground cover

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Land Capability Classes

• Assigning a number to land
• Eight classes used
• I to VIII with I being the best arability
• Class I to IV can be cultivated
• V to VIII tend to have high slope or low and wet

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Classes

• Class I - Very good land
• Very few limitations
• deep soil and nearly level
• can be cropped every year as long as land is
  taken care of
• Class II - Good land
• has deep soil
• may require moderate attention to conservation
  practices

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• Class III - moderately good land
• crops must be more carefully selected
• often gently sloping hills
• terraces and stripcropping are more often used
• Class IV - fairly good land
• lowest class cultivated
• on hills with more slope than class III
• Class V - Unsuited for cultivation
• can be used for pasture crops and cattle grazing,
  hay crops or tree farming
• often used for wildlife or recreation areas

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• Class VI - Not suited for row crops
• too much slope
• usually damaged by erosion with gullies
• can be used for trees, wildlife habitat, and
  recreation
• Class VII - Highly unsuited for cultivation
• has severe limitations
• permanent pastures, forestry, wildlife
• slope is usually over 12 percent
• large rock surfaces and boulders may be found
• very little soil present

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Class VIII

• Cannot be used for row crops or other crops
• often lowland covered with water
• soil maybe wet or high in clay
• aquatic crops maybe grown there
• used for waterfowl habitat