Organic Matter Content of Cultivated Soils

This map displays the percentage of organic matter in the surface layer of cultivated soils in the agricultural region of Alberta. Soil organic matter (SOM) is derived primarily from the decomposition of plant biomass. SOM improves both the physical and chemical properties of soil and has beneficial effects on agricultural soil quality. SOM is reported on the map as a percentage using the following classes: less than 2 (very low), 2 to 4 (low), 4 to 6 (medium), 6 to 8 (high) and greater than 8 (very high).This resource was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field	Value
Last Updated	April 17, 2026, 18:41 (UTC)
Created	April 17, 2026, 18:41 (UTC)
contact_email	310FARM@gov.ab.ca
contact_person	{"en": "Government of Alberta; Government of Alberta; Agriculture and Forestry", "fr": "Gouvernement de l'Alberta; Gouvernement de l'Alberta; Agriculture and Forestry"}
criticality_level	[]
data_dictionary	unknown,unknown,unknown
geographic_scope	[]
open_canada_collection	fgp
open_canada_date_published	2016-07-13 00:00:00
open_canada_keywords	{"en": ["ALBERTA", "DOWNLOADABLE-DATA", "FARMING", "GEOSCIENTIFICINFORMATION", "PLANT-LITTER", "SOIL-CHEMISTRY", "SOIL-FERTILITY", "Government information"], "fr-t-en": ["ALBERTA", "DONNÉES TÉLÉCHARGEABLES", "AGRICULTURE", "INFORMATIONS GÉOSCIENTIFIQUES", "LITIÈRE VÉGÉTALE", "CHIMIE DU SOL", "FERTILITÉ DU SOL", "Information gouvernementale"]}
open_canada_subject	["agriculture", "nature_and_environment"]
sensitivity_level	unrestricted
title_fr
update_frequency	irregular