Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus Annual meadow grass Poa annua
31 White clover Trifolium repens
Dandelion Taraxacum officinale agg.
Daisy Bellis perennis
Common sorrell Rumex acetosa
Curled dock Rumex crispus
Broad-leaved dock Rumex obtusifolius Broad-leaved plantain Plantago major
Common ragwort Senecio jacobaea
Creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens
Nettle Urtica dioica
Creeping thistle Cirsium arvense Spear thistle Cirsium vulgare
2.5 Inconclusive sites
If there are any "inconclusive sites", where, even after a site visit it is difficult to decide if the land parcel should be classified as moorland or non-moorland, the benefit of the doubt should be given in favour of the applicant.
It is impossible to anticipate every situation that could arise in the field. Some examples of possible scenarios are given at Appendix 3.
32 Appendix 3
Land Classification Systems in England & Wales and Scotland Agricultural Land Use Capability of the Isle of Man
Five classes are recognised. These are defined as:
• Class 1 – Land with very minor or no physical limitations to use.
• Class 2 – Land with minor limitations that reduce the choice of crops and interfere with cultivations.
• Class 3 – Land with moderate limitations that restrict the choice of crops and/or demand careful management.
• Class 4 – Land with moderately severe limitations that restrict the choice of crops and/or require very careful management
• Class 5 – Land with severe limitations that restrict its use to pasture, forestry and recreation.
The limitations recognised are; wetness, soil limitations, gradient and soil pattern, susceptibility to erosion and climate. The meaning of ‘wetness’ is unclear, although it is presumed to be soil wetness, not rainfall. Soil limitations are presumed to include depth, stoniness and chemical properties.
Each of the 32 mapped soil type units is allocated a land class. Only 9 units are classified as belonging to one class. The other units are recorded as including two classes, either with a dominant class (13 units) or approximately equal classes (10 units). A tabular description of the main physical and agricultural characteristics of each soil type is available.
The Agricultural Land Classification for England and Wales
The ALC, first published in 1966, was developed as a strategic planning tool for the whole of England and Wales
Five land grades were identified. These were defined as: • Grade 1 - excellent quality agricultural land
• Grade 2 - very good quality agricultural land
• Grade 3 - good to moderate quality agricultural land
• Grade 4 - poor quality agricultural land
• Grade 5 - very poor quality agricultural land.
When the ALC was completed, almost half (48.9%) of the agricultural land of England and Wales fell into Grade 3. There was criticism that Grade 3, as defined, included too wide a spectrum of land and that it embraced areas which, whilst subject to a moderate degree of limitation, had production characteristics of good quality land. Further investigation of this land grade showed that the criticism was largely justified and, in 1976 a method for sub- dividing Grade 3 was published13.
Three sub-divisions were recognised, a, b and c. Sub-grade 3a is defined as having a moderate degree of limitation but with some physical disadvantages which lead to appreciably better performance than that of land in the remainder of the grade. Since 1987
13 MAFF, (1976) Agricultural Development and Advisory Service, Technical Report 11/1 Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales
33 (DOE Circular 16/87)14, for land use planning policy purposes, Grades 1, 2 and 3a are known as, ‘best and most versatile.
A comprehensive and thorough revision of the ALC system was carried out and published in 198815. The revision incorporated data from new datasets for soils and climate together with associated interpolation routines that became available with improved computing technology. There were also new and more objective methods for wetness and droughtiness which are also incorporated in the Scottish Land Capability Classification for Agriculture. The classification of Grade 3 land was re-examined and sub-grades 3b and c were merged into a new sub-grade 3b. The criteria for sub-grade 3a were unchanged. The revised guidelines remain in use and allow the ALC to be, as far as possible, an objective tool used to measure the quality of agricultural land in terms of production potential. The classification considers the extent to which physical and chemical characteristics impose long-term limitations on the agricultural use of land, assuming a good, but not outstanding level of management. The size, structure and location of farms, the standard of fixed equipment and the accessibility of land do not effect the grading.
In summary, the physical and chemical variables that the ALC takes into consideration are as follows.
• Climate – temperature and rainfall, aspect, exposure and frost risk. • Site – gradient, micro-relief, flood risk.
• Soil – texture, structure, depth and stoniness; chemical properties which cannot be corrected.
It is not the variables by themselves, but the interaction between them that determines soil wetness, droughtiness and erosion risk, which in turn affect the potential use that land can be put to. The grade or sub-grade of land is determined by the most limiting factor present. The climate and site limitations are considered first because they have an overriding influence on the grade. Deep, freely drained soils will not alone guarantee Grade 1 land classification. The site on which the soil lies may be subject to frequent flooding, high rainfall or a steep gradient, all of which will restrict farming operations.
The above physical variables give rise to four limitations: • The range of crops that can be grown.
• The level of yield. • The consistency of yield.
• The cost of obtaining the crop, ie, inputs such as agrochemical and fuel.
The ALC system is therefore very well suited to identifying and classifying the degree of physical limitation on farm production and the degree to which the land may be considered as physically disadvantaged.
The Scottish Land Capability Classification for Agriculture
The Land Capability Classification for Agriculture (LCA) was developed by the Macaulay Institute and published in 1991.16 It is based on the Land Use Capability Classification
14 Department of the Environment, (1987), Development Involving Agricultural Land, Circular 16/87 15 MAFF, (1988) Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales, Revised guidelines and
criteria for grading the quality of agricultural land.
16
Bibby J S (Ed) (1991) Land Capability Classification for Agriculture Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
34 developed by the Soil Surveys of Scotland, England and Wales published in 1969.17 In turn, both systems are based on the Land Use Capability systems developed in the USA and Canada in the 1950s.
The scheme is designed to assess the value to agriculture of land on a uniform basis as an input to planning decisions. It is accepted by the planning, farming and land owning communities. The LCA is taken into consideration at land valuation and NFU Scotland membership fees are based on the LCA classes of the members’ land. The classification ranks land on the basis of its potential productivity and cropping flexibility determined by the extent to which physical characteristics impose long term limitations on its agricultural use. It is therefore very similar to the ALC.
The LCA takes the following bio-physical factors into account.
• Climate – accumulated temperature, potential maximum soil moisture deficit. • Gradient
• Soil – texture, structure, shallowness, stoniness, droughtiness. • Wetness - workability, trafficability, poaching risk, flood risk. • Erosion – water, wind.
• Pattern of conditions
• Vegetation- plant communities where there is no scope for improving the value of natural or semi-natural grazing.
The interactions between climate and soils are expressed in terms of soil wetness (effecting workability, trafficability and poaching risk) and droughtiness and the degree to which they limit agricultural production.
The classification comprises three main categories; the class, the division and the unit, each of which can be supplemented by information on the principal type of limitation. Land is grouped by class because it has a similar overall degree of limitation. The division ranks the land within the class – a system similar to the sub-grades in the ALC. The unit describes the degree and specific type of limitation.
The classification assumes a satisfactory level of management and is based on current knowledge. It is open to revision should new experience, data or technological innovations become available. It does not take into consideration the monetary value of land, the farm structure, its location, access to markets. The land class is derived from the most limiting factor.
Seven land classes are recognised. Classes 1, 2 and 7 have no divisions, Classes 3 and 4 each have two divisions and Classes 5 and 6 have three divisions. Land suited to arable use is included in Classes 1 to 4, and that not suited to arable use in Classes 5 to 7.
Brief descriptions of the classes are as follows. Land suited to arable cropping
• Class 1 - Land capable of producing a very wide range of crops. • Class 2 - Land capable of producing a wide range of crops. • Class 3 - Land capable of producing a moderate range of crops.
17
Bibby JS and Mackney D. (1969) Land Use Capability Classification. Tech. Monograph. No1. Soil Surveys of England, Wales and Scotland. Harpenden and Aberdeen.
35 Division 1 - Land capable of producing consistently high yields of a narrow range of crops, principally cereals and grass and/or moderate yields of a wider range of crops. Division 2 - Land capable of average production but high yields of grass, barley and oats are often obtained. Other crops are limited to potato and forage crops.
• Class 4 - Land capable of producing a narrow range of crops
Division 1 - Land suited to rotations, although primarily based on long ley grassland. Division 2 – Primarily grassland with some limited potential for other crops.
Land suited only to improved grassland and rough grazing • Class 5 – Land capable of use as improved grassland
Division 1 – Land well suited to reclamation and use as improved grassland
Division 2 – Land moderately suited to reclamation and use as improved grassland. Division 3 - Land marginally suited to reclamation and use as improved grassland • Class 6 – Land capable of use only as rough grazing.
Division 1 – High grazing value, eg bent/fescue grassland Division 2 – Moderate grazing value, eg acid grassland.
Division 3 – Low grazing value, eg heather moorland, blanket bog. • Class 7 – Land of very limited agricultural value.
Thirteen classes and sub-classes of agricultural land quality are identified. Additionally, up to two units can be used for each class or division to signify the limitation types, i.e. climate, gradient, soil, wetness, erosion.