Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map for England

Published by:
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Last updated:
29 May 2026
Topic:
Not added
Licence:
Other Licence
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Summary

Predictive Agriculture Land Classification Map is a strategic scale (1:250, 000 user scale) agricultural land classification map for England that includes the subdivision grade 3 land according to current ALC guidelines. The Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) system assesses land's inherent agricultural capability based on soil, climate, and site characteristics. Land is graded from Grade 1 (excellent) to Grade 5 (very poor). Grades 1, 2, and 3a are considered Best and Most Versatile (BMV). The Predictive ALC Map is a significant update from the Provisional ALC Map providing a consistent, spatially comprehensive national view of land quality across England. The current ALC grading follows the 1988 MAFF guidelines, which introduced the 3a/3b subdivision for BMV land. Attribution statement: © Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs copyright and/or database right 2024. All rights reserved.

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Link to the data Format File added Data preview
OGC API - Features service N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
PredictiveALCEngland_WCS N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
PredictiveALCEngland_WFS N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
PredictiveALCEngland_WMS N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
PredictiveALCEngland_WMS N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
PredictiveALCEngland_Download N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
PredictiveALCEngland_Download N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
ReadMe.xlsx XLSX 29 May 2026 Not available
RDE118 - Task 9 - Final Report -Summary_v4.pdf PDF 29 May 2026 Not available
RDE118 - Task 9 - Final Report - Methodology_v2.pdf PDF 29 May 2026 Not available
Predictive_ALC_England.tif.lyrx N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
Predictive_ALC_England.lyrx N/A 29 May 2026 Not available
Predictive_Agricultural_Land_Classification_Map_for_England.shp.zip ZIP 29 May 2026 Not available
Predictive_Agricultural_Land_Classification_Map_for_England.gpkg.zip ZIP 29 May 2026 Not available
Predictive_Agricultural_Land_Classification_Map_for_England.geojson.zip ZIP 29 May 2026 Not available
Predictive_Agricultural_Land_Classification_Map_for_England.gdb.zip ZIP 29 May 2026 Not available
Development of a Predictive ALC Map for England . Final Report -Summary.pdf PDF 29 May 2026 Not available

Additional information

View additional metadata
Added to data.gov.uk
2026-05-29
Access contraints
There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.
Harvest GUID
a817d96f-271d-487b-89ad-48d271f931aa
Extent
Latitude: 55.8111151497005° to °
Longitude: -6.41866722959945° to 1.76370560966352°
Spatial reference system
http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/27700
Dataset reference date
2025-08-12 (creation)
2025-10-15 (publication)
2026-03-27 (revision)
Frequency of update
asNeeded
Responsible party
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (pointOfContact)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng
Source Metadata
XML
HTML

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Licence information

Open Government Licence