Land Use Capability Tool

What is Land Use Capability?

Land Use Capability Classification is a system in use in New Zealand since the 1950s to try and achieve sustainable land development and management on farms. The system classifies all of New Zealand’s rural land into one of eight classes, based on its physical characteristics and attributes. Class 1 land is the most versatile and can be used for a wide range of land uses. Class 8 land has a lot of physical limitations, it may be extremely steep, and not generally suitable for arable, pastoral or commercial forestry use.

How can I find out what LUC categories I have on my property?

You can find out by clicking on the the Regional Council mapping tool below. Once you have zoomed in to your property (you can do this using the zoom tool on the left hand navigation panel), click on your property to show a pop-up displaying all LUC Classes and the hectares for each class. If you scroll to the bottom of the pop-up you can click on ‘Create a Report’ which gives you quite a lot of detail about the LUC classes and soils on your property, including a table that states how many hectares you have in each LUC category.

Here is a quick guide to using the LUC mapping Tool

LUC Mapping Tool

Land Use Capability Map

From the Land Use Capability Map, click through the properties to see what LUC class is associated with each. A pop-up tells you the total hectares of LUC class 1, class 2, etc. Multiply the total for each LUC class by its leaching allowance i.e. 24.8 for class 3 over 10 hectares = 248kgN / year. The average leaching allowance is the total divided by the total area of your property.