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Three surveys of a pastoral--cropping farming system were carried out over a period of 1 year, using an electromagnetic sensor and real-time-kinematic (RTK)-GPS. The maps produced delineate areas of different apparent soil electrical conductivity (E[C.sub.a]). These delineated areas were compared with soil units of a conventional soil map and results showed the E[C.sub.a] map related well to soil-particle-size classes. In addition E[C.sub.a] could be used to predict groupings of soil phases accurately within one soil type. Soil coring to depths of 1 m, to determine soil physical and chemical properties, showed E[C.sub.a] values were moderately well correlated ([R.sup.2] = 0.72) to soil clay percentage, weighted for the soil profile. Soil fertility indicators, Olsen P ([R.sup.2] = 0.61), cation exchange capacity ([R.sup.2] = 0.59), and exchangeable magnesium ([R.sup.2] = 0.76) also related well. The linear regression ([R.sup.2] = 0.76) of E[C.sub.a] with exchangeable magnesium is thought to reflect the dominant clay mineralogy of the study area, i.e. chlorites weathering to illites and releasing magnesium to the soil solution. Discriminant statistical analysis of results showed point E[C.sub.a] values could be used to predict 2 major groupings of the mapped soil phases with 100% accuracy. More precise prediction of these mapped soil units is constrained by localised management effects. Elevated E[C.sub.a] values occur at areas of soil compaction, which have been deduced from measurements of soil strength, aggregate size distribution and visual soil assessment. Additional keywords: EM38, E[C.sub.a], soil mapping, soil compaction, VSA, Visual Soil Assessment., Introduction Spatial variability within a paddock was largely ignored until the advent in the late 1980s of technologies that can spatially reference continuous measurement of a property of the soil [...]