United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Montana Go to Accessibility Information
Skip to Page Content




Combining Land Evaluation (LE) Factors

For proposals with a single soil, the Important Farmland, Soil Suitability and Soil Productivity factor ratings will be combined to generate a total LE rating. For proposals with multiple soils, the rating for each factor will be based on the relative percentage of area occupied by that soil within the area of the proposal. Weighted ratings are then summed for the total LE rating. The example below shows LE weighted factor ratings for sites with more than one soil using land capability, soil productivity and important farmland groups.

Sample Table for Calculating LE weighted factor ratings for sites with more than one soil using land capability, soil productivity and important farmland groups
Soil Name Factor Factor Rating (0 to 100) times Factor Weight = Weighted Factor Rating times Percent of site/area (fraction) = Site Partial Rating
Soil A Land Capability 65 times 0.10 = 6.5        
Soil Productivity 60 times 0.15 = 9.0        
Important Farmland 75 times 0.25 = 18.75        
Soil A Subtotal 34.25 times 0.50 = 17.12
Soil B Land Capability 92 times 0.10 = 9.2        
Soil Productivity 90 times 0.15 = 13.5        
Important Farmland 100 times 0.25 = 25.0        
Soil B Subtotal 47.7 times 0.50 = 23.85
LE Subtotal 40.97

< Back to Land Evaluation for Cropland