What Class of Land Is Easiest to Farm? Class I Explained

Class I is the easiest class of land to farm. In the US system, Class I soils have slight limitations, so little restricts how they are used (USDA NRCS). In the 2022 National Resources Inventory, about 84% of Class I rural land was cropland, against 62% of Class II and 41% of Class III. This guide shows what each of the eight land capability classes means, how much of each the US has, and what it costs to farm harder land.

It also compares the US scale with the ones used in Canada, England and New South Wales, adds three charts built from the NRCS survey, and ends with a calculator for testing whether extra drainage or terracing pays on your own field.

What the eight land capability classes mean

The land capability system groups soils by how well they can grow common field crops and pasture without wearing out over time. NRCS says the classes run from I to VIII, and the numbers show progressively greater limitations and narrower choices for use (NRCS, 2022 National Resources Inventory). Each soil also gets a subclass letter that names the main problem: e for erosion, w for wetness, s for root-zone limits such as stones or shallow soil, and c for climate.

The class is not a rating of a farmer’s skill or of profit. It describes the land. The table below uses NRCS wording and adds the 2022 survey acreage on non-federal rural land.

Source for the wording: USDA NRCS land capability classification pages. Source for the acres: NRCS, 2022 National Resources Inventory Summary Report, Table 13. “Cropland” in that table does not include land in the Conservation Reserve Program or pasture.

Chart

Share of each class used as cropland

percent of the class’s rural land in cropland, 2022

▶ Why land classification matters for the environment, the economy and everyday life. · 20:06

What class of land is easiest to farm? Class I

USDA’s Economic Research Service describes Class I as land with no significant limitations for raising crops, while Classes II and III suit cultivated crops but carry limits such as poor drainage, a limited root zone, climate restrictions or erosion risk (USDA ERS, Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators). NRCS adds that Class I soils get no subclass letter, because the soils of this class have few limitations (NRCS Field Office Technical Guide).

In practice, Class I fields are the ones where a farmer can plan crops by price and rotation rather than by what the soil allows. Slight limitations means terraces, drainage works and soil-saving measures are seldom the main job, though no field is free of all care. Farmers who run intensive farming systems often look for this kind of land first.

The survey acreage backs this up. Of the Class I land in the 2022 survey, 23.0 million of 27.5 million acres were in crops. Class I was also the class with the highest share of its area in cropland.

Easiest to farm is not the same as most profitable

USDA’s Economic Research Service warns that land in Classes I to III or designated as prime farmland does not always have the highest value of crop production per acre, and that some high-return land is not classed as I to III. It explains that the class and prime designations reflect suitability for row crops, while location, climate and irrigation can favor fruit and vegetables, so some top-earning land sits outside Classes I to III (USDA ERS, same report).

New South Wales makes the same point. Land that the Soil Conservation Service’s land capability scheme puts in Class IV grazing land can still rank as top agricultural suitability when it is used for specialised horticulture (NSW Soil Conservation Service, systems used to classify rural lands). Class tells you how forgiving the land is. Your crop, market and water access decide the income. For a wider comparison of the best and worst land, see our note on the best and worst land class.

How much Class I land is there?

Not much. Class I made up about 2% of the 1.37 billion acres of classified non-federal rural land in the 2022 survey (27.5 million acres). Classes II and III hold far more cropland, because there is much more of them: 165 million and 112 million cropland acres, against 23 million for Class I. The chart shows cropland by class.

Chart

US cropland by land capability class

million acres of cropland on non-federal rural land, 2022

Class I also does not stay put. Cropland on Class I land fell from 25.7 million acres in 1982 to 23.0 million in 2022, a drop of about 2.7 million acres. The survey has margins of error of roughly 0.6 to 0.8 million acres on each year’s figure, so read the direction of the line rather than any single step. The survey does not say where the Class I cropland went; total Class I rural land fell from 29.8 to 27.5 million acres over the same years.

Chart

Cropland on Class I land, 1982 to 2022

million acres, non-federal rural land

Class II, III and IV: farmable with extra work

More US cropland sits in Class II than in any other class, so “second best” land is where much of the farming happens. The extra work depends on the subclass letter.

The survey also splits each class by its main limit. In Classes II to IV, erosion (e) is the most common subclass by area, and wetness (w) comes second. The table shows total rural land in each subclass in 2022, in million acres.

Source: NRCS, 2022 National Resources Inventory Summary Report, Table 13 (non-federal rural land, all uses). The four columns add up to the class total. In Class II, erosion covers 51% of the area, wetness 33%, root-zone limits 9% and climate 7%. So for the second-best class, slope and soil loss are the usual job, and drainage is next.

Wetness (w): drainage

Wet fields delay planting and stress roots. A 35-year Purdue study on a poorly drained Clermont silt loam in southern Indiana found that drainage made fieldwork possible 1 to 15 days sooner and raised corn yields by 24 bushels per acre, but did not change soybean yields (Purdue University Agronomy, AY-397-W). North Dakota State University says that in many seasons yields may rise around 10 to 15 percent with tile drainage, depending on how wet the soil was before and on the rain that year (NDSU Extension). Both are results for specific soils; your field may respond differently.

Wet soil costs yield even where no one notices. NDSU cites research on a clay loam where wheat yield fell by 42 percent and sugarbeet yield by 29 percent of potential when the water table stayed 15 to 20 inches below the surface for long spells in the season. The same page notes that level fields can be drained if tile laterals and mains keep a minimum grade of about 0.08 to 0.1 percent, and that a typical system needs an outlet where water can drain freely by gravity; where it cannot, a pumped outlet is used, which adds to the cost. A drainage designer or your NRCS office can check outlets and local rules before you spend money.

Erosion (e): slope and cover

Steeper fields lose soil to runoff. Contour plowing, terraces, grassed waterways and cover crops are the usual answers. NRCS’s terrace standard describes a terrace as an earth embankment or ridge and channel built across the slope to cut erosion and trap sediment, and says spacing is set to meet the soil-loss tolerance (NRCS Terrace standard 600, Missouri). Design is site-specific, so ask your local NRCS or conservation district office before you build.

Root zone (s) and climate (c)

Stones, shallow soil, low water-holding capacity and salts fall under s. Short seasons and dry spells fall under c. These limits are harder to fix than wetness or slope, which is why they push land down the scale. Class IV land needs very careful management; the survey shows only 22% of it in cropland, and the rest is split among pasture, range, forest and other uses.

Soil, slope and drainage decide the class

A soil’s texture does not set its class on its own. NRCS assigns a class and subclass to every soil map unit component by weighing all its limitations together. A loam on a steep slope can sit in a lower class than a silty clay loam on level, well-drained ground.

• Texture and depth: Deep, balanced soils hold water and nutrients and let roots run. Shallow, stony or very sandy soils pull a field down.
• Slope: Level and gently sloping ground is easier to work and loses less soil. Slope is the base of the e subclass.
• Drainage: Both too wet and too dry are problems. Natural England lists wetness and droughtiness as the result of climate and soil acting together.
• Climate: Rainfall, temperature and season length set the crop list and cap the class in cold or dry regions.

Salty, peaty and very wet soils usually carry severe limits, but the class always comes from the soil survey for that exact spot, not from a soil-type rule of thumb.

▶ How terrain analysis and satellite imagery help improve farm efficiency and yields. · 16:29

Classes V to VIII: not for cropping

Class V land has little erosion risk but other limits that are impractical to remove, such as frequent flooding or stones, so it is used mainly for pasture, range, forest or wildlife habitat. Class VI is generally unsuited to cultivation. Class VII is unsuited to cultivation and suits range, forest or wildlife. Class VIII has limits that rule out commercial plant production and is used for recreation, wildlife habitat, water supply or scenery (USDA NRCS definitions). Together, these four classes hold over 600 million acres in the survey, yet only about 20 million acres of cropland, mostly in Classes VI and VII.

Easiest class of land to farm in Canada, England and New South Wales

Other countries use their own scales, and most put the best land first.

Canada: the Canada Land Inventory rates agricultural capability in seven classes, with Class 1 the highest. The maps were made in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s and many jurisdictions still use them for land use planning (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). In British Columbia, Class 1 land has the climate and soil to grow the widest range of crops, and Class 7 is non-arable, while even Class 6 land may carry grazing (BC Agricultural Land Commission).

England: the Agricultural Land Classification has five grades, with Grade 3 split into 3a and 3b. Grades 1, 2 and 3a are counted as the best and most versatile land. Natural England estimated in 2012 that Grades 1 and 2 together make up about 21% of English farmland, and Grade 3a about another 21% (Natural England TIN049). The grade reflects long-term physical limits, not how the field is used now. Its older 1960s-70s maps are for general guidance and should not be used for single fields.

New South Wales: the Land and Soil Capability scheme has eight classes, from 1 (extremely high capability) to 8 (extremely low). Class 1 land can sustain most land uses, including regular cultivation. The mapping is broad-scale and shows the dominant class in each unit, so single paddocks can differ (NSW Government, Land and Soil Capability Mapping).

Prime farmland is a different label

People often mix up capability class with “prime farmland”. They are separate systems. NRCS defines prime farmland as land with the best combination of physical and chemical traits for producing food, feed, forage, fiber and oilseed crops, and that is also available for those uses. It has enough growing season and moisture for sustained high yields under good management, is not excessively eroded or saturated for long periods, and either does not flood often in the growing season or is protected from flooding (NRCS National Soil Survey Handbook, part 622).

Prime status is also tied to use. Land that is already built over or under water cannot be prime. USDA’s Economic Research Service reported that prime farmland totalled 232 million acres, 55 percent of US cropland excluding Alaska, in the 1987 inventory. Those figures are old, but they show the scale: prime land covers a large part of the cropland base, not just the small Class I slice.

A quick field scorecard

Use this list when you walk a field or read a listing. The more boxes you can tick, the closer the land is to Class I.

• Slope: Is the ground level or gently sloping, with no gullies or rills after rain?
• Drainage: Does water leave within a day or two after a heavy rain, with no ponding in spring?
• Depth: Can you dig 40 cm (16 inches) or more without hitting rock, hardpan or gravel?
• Stones: Can a planter and a combine pass without stopping for rocks?
• Salts and acidity: Do soil tests show pH and salinity in the range your crop needs?
• Season: Does the usual frost and rainfall pattern fit the crops you want to grow?
• Water: If rain falls short, is there a dependable source for irrigation?

The depth figure in this list is a rule of thumb for a quick check, not an NRCS threshold. A soil test and the official soil survey give the real answer.

Mistakes to avoid when buying or renting land by class

• Judging a whole farm by one map unit. A farm often holds several soils. Look at each field and each map unit, and the share of each class.
• Ignoring the subclass letter. Two Class III fields can need very different work. One may need tile drains and the other terraces.
• Paying a Class I price for Class III ground. Compare asking prices with your own cost check, not only the class.
• Skipping local rules. Wetland, drainage and conservation rules can limit what you may change. Check with your county or state office first.
• Forgetting water and market access. Class does not cover irrigation rights, roads or buyers, which the BC Agricultural Land Commission notes also shape whether land is farmed.

Prices for farmland move by region and year. If you need a current price per acre, look up the latest USDA land value report for your state and compare the class of the parcels sold.

Is harder land worth farming? A cost check

Lower-class land can still pay if the fix is cheap and the crop price is good. The calculator compares your expected income with your costs and spreads the one-off cost of drainage or terracing over its working life. Replace the example numbers with your own quotes and today’s price.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

How to find the class of a field

1. Use the official soil map for your country. In the US, NRCS soil survey data lists the capability class and subclass for each map unit. In England, the ALC maps are on the MAGIC website. In New South Wales, the eSPADE viewer shows the mapping. In Canada, use the Canada Land Inventory or your province’s newer maps.
2. Read the subclass letter. A “3w” and a “3e” need very different fixes.
3. Check the map scale. Broad maps give the dominant class of a large unit. Hire a soil scientist or agronomist for a purchase or a big drainage job.
4. Walk the field. Look for wet spots, stones, thin topsoil and gullies, and dig a few holes.
5. Compare yield maps or satellite images across seasons. Patterns that repeat show where the limits really are.

Management by class

• Class I and II: Rotate crops, reduce tillage where it suits the soil, use cover crops and watch soil health. Our guide to sustainable farming practices covers the basics.
• Class III and IV: Put erosion control first with contour farming, grassed waterways and buffer strips, and add drainage where wetness is the limit. Keep to crops that suit the limits, such as hay or pasture on Class IV.
• Class V to VIII: Pasture, forest, wildlife habitat or conservation use. See our guide to sustainable land management.

Rules on drainage, wetlands and conservation payments differ by state and country. Check local rules and get professional advice before you dig, drain or terrace.

▶ Seven plain-English ways to protect soil and water, from cover crops onward. · 4:34

Seeing field differences from space

Satellite images cannot tell you a field’s capability class, but they can show where crops grow better or worse within a season. The Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System draws vegetation-index maps for fields you outline, which can help you spot the wet corner or thin ridge that holds a field back. A map shows that vegetation differs, not why, so walk the spot and check the soil.

FAQ

What is the easiest class of land to farm?

Class I in the US system, Class 1 in Canada and New South Wales, and Grade 1 in England. These classes have the fewest limits from soil, slope, wetness and climate.

Is Class II land good for farming?

Yes. Class II has moderate limitations and needs moderate conservation practices. It holds 165 million acres of US cropland in the 2022 survey, more than any other class.

Can I farm Class IV land?

Yes, with very careful management, but only 22% of Class IV land in the 2022 survey was cropland. ERS describes Class IV as suitable for crops only under selected cropping practices, so check what the limits allow before planning row crops.

Does the capability class show how much money a field makes?

No. USDA’s Economic Research Service notes that Class I to III land does not always have the highest value of crop production per acre, since returns also depend on crop, market and water.

Where can I look up my land’s class?

In the US, use NRCS soil survey data. In Canada, use the Canada Land Inventory or provincial maps. In England, use the ALC maps on MAGIC. In New South Wales, use eSPADE. For a purchase, ask a soil professional to confirm on site.

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