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The classification of land for agricultural purposes in Scotland is, in the general sense, as old as farming itself but the first national surveys were the Land Utilisation Survey directed by Sir Dudley Stamp during the late thirties and the classification of arable land carried out by the staff of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland in the forties. Both, however, were based largely on observation of the land use then current. In the mid-sixties interpretations of soil survey maps, laying more stress on the properties of land and its potential for agriculture, were developed at the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen. A standard system of Land Use Capability Classification, applied by the Soil Surveys of Scotland, and of England and Wales was published in 1969 (Bibby and Mackney).
In 1973 following a recommendation in the White Paper 'Land Resource Use in Scotland: The Government's Observations on the Report of the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs', a Standing Committee on Rural Land Use was established. One of the first subjects considered by the Committee was land use capability classification and the decision was reached that a published land classification was desirable and that a review should be carried out to establish the one most suitable to Scottish requirements. The Chief Agricultural Officer of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr C. Mackay, was
appointed chairman of a working party and in subsequent reports (1975 and 1977) it was concluded that the future direction of land classification and mapping in Scotland should be based on the system developed by the Macaulay Institute with some modifications and additions. The reports, which were accepted by the Standing Committee, encouraged continued co-operation with England and Wales through the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service Closed Conference of Advisory Soil Scientists Land Capability Classification Working Party. This had been established in 1974 and included representatives of the Department and Colleges of Agriculture in Scotland and the Macaulay Institute.
From 1974 to 1981 the discussions of this committee were of the utmost value in developing the rationale and guidelines for land classification now presented. Under the able chairmanship of Mr B. Wilkinson, the following members contributed: J. S. Bibby, J. C. Clark, H. A. Douglas, P. E. Francis, G. Goodlass, D. Hewgill, F. M. B. Houston, A. D. Hughes, D. Mackney, M. J. Silverwood. R. B. Speirs, R. W. Swain, J. F. B. Tew, A. J. Thomasson and R. J. Unwin. Organisations represented included the Agricultural Science and Land and Water Services of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Agriculture for Scotland, the Scottish Colleges of Agriculture, the Meteorological Office (Agrometeorological Branch) and the Soil Surveys of Scotland, and of England and Wales.
The scientific discussions held within the Working Party plus the field excursions in Scotland, England and Wales in order to study the practical application of the system in various land classification exercises contributed significantly to the system's development and final refined version.
In 1980 with progress on a 1:250 000 scale, soil and land capability programme well forward in Scotland, it became necessary to produce firm proposals to allow the work to proceed. The land classification for agriculture now presented owes much to the original United States Department of Agriculture Land Capability Classification (Klingebiel and Montgomery 1961), to the Land Use Capability Classification (Bibby and Mackney 1969) and to the Survey staff who have helped to improve that classification, to the various working parties and, finally, to individual discussions, contributions from Mr E. L. Birse of the Macaulay Institute being particularly helpful. The assistance of such a wide range of authorities and people is gratefully acknowledged. Nevertheless, the responsibility for errors, omissions and short-comings rest entirely with the authors.
The Land Capability Classification for Agriculture incorporates significant advances in methods of assessment and is the basis of the interpretative maps produced by the Soil Survey Department of the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen.
Ownership of this data set was passed to the James Hutton Institute on 1st April 2011. |