Soil Capability

The suitability of land for use without permanent damage. Land capability, as ordinarily used in the USA, 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.

Land capability class: One of the eight classes of land in the land capability classification of the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service; distinguished according to the risk of land damage or the difficulty of land use; they include:

Capability classes, the broadest groups, are designated by numerals 1 through 8. The numerals indicate progressively greater limitations and narrower choices for practical use. The classes are defined as follows.

Class 1 -- soils have few limitations that restrict their use.

Class 2 -- soils have moderate limitations that reduce the choice of plants or that require moderate conservation practices.

Class 3 -- soils have severe limitations that reduce the choice of plants or that require special conservation practices, or both.

Class 4 -- soils have very severe limitations that reduce the choice of plants or that require very careful management, or both.

Class 5 -- soils are not likely to erode but have other limitations, impractical to remove, that limit their use.

Class 6 -- soils have severe limitations that make them generally unsuitable for cultivation.

Class 7 -- soils have very severe limitations that make them unsuitable for cultivation.

Class 8 -- soils and miscellaneous areas have limitations that nearly preclude their use for commercial crop production.