2016-06-07 - P&E Agenda - Item 5, Attachment 1 - Agriculture and Agricultural Land Study

5.3      Queensland Government Evaluations
The Queensland Government relies on various land evaluation schemes when estimating the
potential of land for agricultural purposes. An illustration of the interaction of these methods is
provided as Figure 4 Land evaluation methods employed by the State.Figure 4. Differentiation is
made between Land Capability and Land Suitability, both of which inform Agricultural Land
Classification.

Figure 4 Land evaluation methods employed by the State.




The State’s Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) is based on the suitability of land for specified
agricultural uses. It rates the ability of land to maintain a sustainable level of productivity. The
factors used to assess agricultural land suitability are the soil, topographic and climatic limitations.
The classification ranges from A to D and the descriptions (updated in 2012) are:

Class A = Crop land - Land that is suitable for a wide range of current and potential crops with nil
to moderate limitations to production.

        Class A1 = Land that is suitable for a wide range of current and potential broadacre and
        horticulture crops with limitations to production that range from none to moderate levels.

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