Solonetzic Soils of the Prairie Region

Soils of the Solonetzic Order account for about 7% of the agricultural land in Western Canada. They are most common in semi-arid regions (the Brown and Dark Brown soil zones) but occur as well in the Aspen Parkland and even under forest. They occur on parent materials containing sodium salts, or in lowland areas influenced by ground water discharge. Solonetzic soils are often referred to as clay-pan soils, in that B horizons are clayey layers that are slowly permeable to water when wet, extremely hard when dry, and difficult for roots to grow through. The clay-pan and generally saline subsoils reduce the productivity of Solonetzic soils. Present-day farming methods such as conservation tillage and a timeliness of field operations are particularly effective at dealing with the soil structural problems characteristic of Solonetzic soils.