Agricultural Soil Quality Criteria for Canada

The concept of soil quality has evolved from an expression of productivity to an assessment of environmental sustainability. It now includes elements of health and time as well as biological production. This paper tracks the evolution from an agricultural context and defines specific, discrete components which can be managed separately within the environmental framework. A brief outline of agricultural soil suitability identifies some of the critical soil qualities such as the ability to supply nutrients and moisture and how we presently assess them. A discussion of emerging issues touches on the requirements to link various data sources and disciplines, the need for standardization and coordination, the need to establish and monitor sensitive environmental indicators and the
challenge of putting a "value" on quality so that it can become an integral part of economic assessments and development planning.