Most of the northern part of the prairie provinces have soil that is acidic. A strip on the west border of Alberta has many various types of soil due to the Rocky Mountains along the border. Most of the southern parts of these provinces (in the Prairie Ecozone) have soil that is rich with adequate humus levels which are excellent for producing grains. Soil

Prairie Soil… This Prairie region is sometimes known as the “Breadbasket” of Canada. Since there is not a lot of precipitation, there is no leaching and there is a very thick layer of topsoil. Therefore, due to the little amount of rainfall, it is possible for calcification to occur in this area. Some of the best soil in the world is found here. For example, Forest regions generally contain about tons of topsoil per acre. An acre of Tall Grass Prairie contains as much as 250 tons of topsoil. This soil profile is an example of what a soil profile from the Prairie ecozone might look like. You can see that it has a deep layer of topsoil that is very dark in colour (meaning very rich).