Provincial Soil

On November 30, 2015, Minister Jeff Leal announced that the Guelph Soil Series had been designated as Ontario's Provincial Soil.

The Guelph Series is found on the rolling hills or drumlins across Wellington County and surrounding regions. The texture of the soil ranges from loam to sandy loam and silt loam, and typically has very few stones. The soil is well drained but capable of retaining enough moisture to support outstanding crop production.

More than 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) of Guelph Soils have been mapped across Brant, Dufferin, Oxford, Perth and Wellington Counties, Waterloo and Halton Regions and the City of Hamilton.

The Guelph Soil Series is one of the best agricultural soils in Ontario.

The Guelph Soil Series also has an important role in the history of our province. In 1914, the Ontario Soil Survey - the first in Canada - was launched. By 1923, the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) and the Ontario Department of Agriculture published the "Preliminary Soil Survey of Southwestern Ontario." The first soil series described in this benchmark document was called the Guelph Series.

Seven other provinces have designated a provincial soil: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2015 the International Year of Soils, with December 5, 2015 as World Soil Day.

Map of Guelph Soil series


For more information:
Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300
E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca