Reference
Farmland terminology glossary
Working definitions for Canadian farmland terminology used across this site. Provincial usage varies; the definitive terms are those in current statute.
- Agrologist
- A professional member of a provincial institute of agrologists, qualified to advise on agricultural science and land use.
- Brown / dark brown / black soil zone
- Prairie soil classifications broadly reflecting moisture regime and native vegetation, used as a first-order regional descriptor.
- Caveat
- A registration on land title giving notice of a claim or interest, without necessarily establishing its priority.
- Confined feeding operation (CFO)
- A livestock operation regulated under provincial statute for siting, setbacks and manure management.
- Crown land
- Land owned by the provincial or federal government, often available for grazing or specific uses under lease or licence.
- Easement
- A non-possessory right for one party to use another's land for a specific purpose, registered on title.
- Encumbrance
- Any registered claim, charge or restriction affecting title to land.
- Herbicide residual
- Chemical activity remaining in soil after application that can affect subsequent crops for defined intervals.
- Irrigation district
- A defined administrative area that delivers irrigation water under provincial statute, most prominent in southern Alberta.
- Legal access
- The registered right to reach a parcel by a specific road, allowance or easement — distinct from a physically maintained road.
- Quarter section
- A 160-acre parcel, one-quarter of a Dominion Land Survey section, common as a unit of Prairie farmland discussion.
- Riparian setback
- A regulated distance from a watercourse within which certain activities are restricted.
- Rural municipality (RM)
- A form of local government responsible for rural roads, zoning and taxation, prominent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
- Section
- A one-square-mile (640-acre) unit of the Dominion Land Survey, divided into quarter sections.
- Soil series
- A specific classification within a provincial soil survey, with characteristic parent material, texture and drainage class.
- Tile drainage
- Subsurface piping installed to lower water tables and improve field workability.
- Water licence
- A provincial authorisation to divert and use a specified volume of water for a specified purpose from a specified point.
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