An important natural resource in the planning area is prime agricultural land, which should be protected where feasible. Rich, agricultural soils are valuable because of the great variety of year round crops that flourish and grow in Soledad 's climate. Prime agricultural land is one of the economic strongholds for the City of Soledad and should be considered when contemplating future development.
The conservation of prime agricultural soils is a very important issue for Soledad . In general, prime agricultural lands are located immediately adjacent to the existing city and, as such, are in the pathway of logical city expansion. While it will be nearly impossible for the city to grow without some loss of agricultural land, this loss can be minimized if the city encourages efficient land uses such as in-fill development, and more medium-to high-density land uses. The loss of prime agricultural land can also be minimized by focusing growth away from the most productive soils.
"Prime farmland" is described as those lands which provide the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops, and are available for such use.
Most of the soils in the Soledad planning area meet the criteria established by the SCS as "prime soils," as will be evident in the following subsections. Most of the soils in the area fall into Class I, II, and III; all of which are indicative of good agricultural soils. Because the City of Soledad is currently in urban uses, it is not considered "prime farmland". However, portions of the urban reserve for the city would be classified as prime agricultural areas.