The soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) has been highlighted in the literature as a tool with high potential to map the soil fertility of fields. However, sugarcane fields still lack results that show the applicability of this information to define the soil spatial variability and its fertility conditions. The objective of the present paper was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between ECa, evaluated by electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor, and the spatial variability of clay content, organic matter (OM) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) in sugarcane fields. Six experimental sugarcane fields were evaluated, totaling 412 hectares mapped and 2,000 soil samples collected between 2011 and 2017. The results showed that ECa was able to map sites with higher clay content, OM and CEC, corresponding to classes of greater soil electrical conductivity. Low ECa classes presented greater spatial variability of the evaluated soil attributes, being places that should be sampled with greater accuracy, that is, with a higher sample density for a suitable soil spatial characterization. The ECa variability was directly proportional to clay content (R2= 0.97), OM (R2= 0.65) and CEC (R2= 0.76) variabilities, where 1.0 mS m-1corresponded to 1.5 g kg-1, 0.11 g dm-3and 0.24 mmol dm-3of clay content, OM and CEC, respectively. The EMI sensor is an excellent tool to define the spatial variability of soil fertility and could be used for a guided soil sampling to manage the sugarcane fields in an adequate sustainable way.