Soil Class

[Ache4Acres]

How important is soil class to production of the land?

Can class H soil produce 60 bushel canola?

I can't find any good info on Soil class on SAMA website but I have always felt that soil class is reflected in assessment.

Would you rather own a quarter section of class C soil with sloughs and trees (135 cult acres) or a quarter section of class H that can be farmed corner to corner (160 cult acres) if both are assessed at $90,000?

[bluefargo]

The soil classification system you refer to is
as far as I understand it is strictly a Sask Crop Insurance thing. It must have been based on some science based data base back in the 60's.
It is useful but has its limitations.

[SASKFARMER3]

In dry years gently roll vs flat I'll take roll as low areas yield insane flat 25 in first 200 ft it's 25 yield! Each has its place

[farmaholic]

My soil is like me, it has no class.

I would like better but my family settled here. Nothing stopping me from folding the tent and moving...

[Ache4Acres]

very hard to understand the soil class ratings. I am surprised that some land that is exactly1 mile from other Class B land of mine is listed as Class F, when looking from the road it is possibly one of the nicer looking quarters in the area.

Looking at production numbers I am starting to think soil class is not going to make or break the farm. Other factors like weather, and farming practices are more important

[freewheat]

IMO soil classes were important in the days of low inputs and total reliance on the natural soil productivity. With today's practices, some pretty ugly soil can produce very well. Class goes hand in hand with assessment to a large extent. Often, low assessed land can do very well if treated well, using today's practices, not 1980 ones.

Now, if you are going to mine the soil and use it's natural fertility by summerfallowing with low inputs, you are going to see large differences. But if you apply the nutrients, and show some care and attention to detail, "poor" soil will produce very well, up to and even surpassing supposed "better" soils.

[furrowtickler]

It's there for a reason. In years where moisture is short during the growing season it shows big time.. JMO
There is sandy land here that produced 25 bus/ac and good black land that produced 50 bu/ac - same rain .. do the math. I said it would show up back in mid July and it did. Yes ther are many other factors but even on the same fields same rotation, fertility, blah blah - good soil simply out produced - by a lot here.

[farmaholic]

Can you have a high soil class, like say a "C" in Melfort and SW Sask. Or does the climatic conditions prevalent to an area have no bearing on its classification. Is it based solely on the properties of the soil?

[freewheat]

I asked crop insurance how their classes using letters works. The people I talked to had no idea whatsoever. Looking at my own crop insurance papers, I have no idea either, because it makes no sense at all.

But with soil assessments and with the ARDA classification where they use class 1 through class 7, climate plays a large factor in the ending class.

Soil texture, organic matter, stoniness, climate, salinity, topography, are all part of what creates soil classes.

IE a loam in Swift Current area may only be a class 4 due to climate and moisture holding capacity, but up here, it could well be a class 1.Even a Heavy Clay around Regina can be no better than a class two due to climate restrictions... Move that soil to Indian Head, and it is a class one again.

In this wet area, for a decade now, the class 1 soils have been producing less than the 2's due to excessive moisture on the heavier, flatter soils that are class ones because of texture and topography mainly.

[greybeard]

According to the word on the street it's all fer shit anyway.
Raymore will yield 50% more than Melfort!??