All six soil health guides, covering most of the UK agricultural sector, are available online here. To see the original guide, for in-field vegetables, click here.

First steps for improving soil health

Well-managed, functioning soils are the foundation of all production systems. Soils with good structure and diverse, abundant flora and fauna provide the nutrients plants need to grow, and form the essential building blocks of productive farms. Such soils best support good yields and reduce environmental risk from unnecessary losses to air and water.

There is no one-size-fits-all blueprint. Effective soil management builds on your existing practice, farming system, soil type, climate and cropping. There are options for every farmer to enhance both productivity and soil health.

Managing soils well can be complex, but this guide brings together some first steps for field vegetable farming systems - to help you understand your soils and plan how to improve their health.

Three things to consider

1. Understand how soil type and rainfall pattern determine soil workability

2. Extend rotations and include soil recovery / soil-health conservation cropping

3. On rented land, engage with the landlord about what's possible across the whole rotation

Three things to avoid

• Accessing wet land driven by the calendar rather than soil condition

• Leaving soil bare overwinter where cover could be established

• Allowing soil erosion from fields or part-fields

For each area below, the first list is what everyone should do; the second is going beyond the norm.

Know your site and soils

Understanding the soils across your land - and how factors like slope and proximity to watercourses influence risk - helps you manage the farm to promote soil health.

Everyone should:

• Know the land-use constraints of the farm, and the impact of variability - hydrology, slope, erosion risk

• Know your soil texture, including subsoil

• Understand the catchment-scale context - NVZ, diffuse P risks

• Record soil observations and data so you can refer back easily

• Make sure everyone on the farm understands the importance of soils

Going beyond the norm:

• Develop on-farm skills that promote effective soil management

• Spend time in peer-to-peer learning and engage in research

• Monitor the system as a whole - grass production, livestock and crop quality, water quality - and use the information

• Consider soils across the whole rotation, introducing practices to increase resilience for the more difficult cropping phases

Crop management

More crop rotations can support soil health improvement. Crops that replenish soil structure, organic matter and nutrient balance within a rotation help improve your soil.

Everyone should:

• Use at least a three-crop rotation

• Ensure the rotation is long enough for soil-borne pest management

• Apply fungicide, herbicide and fertiliser in a targeted way - use precision approaches

Going beyond the norm:

• Maximise cropping diversity - extend the rotation

• Don't use high-risk fields for high-risk crops

• Improve cropping system design to support pollinators and predators of crop pests

• Use cover cropping to improve soil structure and manage pests

• Introduce trees as shelter belts and hedges, and consider agroforestry

Optimise nutrient management

Understanding your existing soil nutrient levels helps you apply the right nutrients in the right quantities - ensuring optimum growth and reducing losses.

Everyone should:

• Use soil testing regularly to optimise fertiliser and lime use (pH, P, K, Mg)

• Maintain pH (liming / gypsum as needed)

• Use robust information for nutrient planning, e.g. RB209

• Match fertiliser type to soil type to increase N-use efficiency and minimise NH₃ emissions

• Select application methods that match manure/organic material to soil type

Going beyond the norm:

• Enhance soil monitoring beyond pH, P, K - and use the information

• Take a wider approach to crop nutrition than just NPK

Improve soil physical condition

Well-structured soils are usually free-draining and support good plant growth. Soils free from compaction help minimise the impacts of flooding and drought.

Everyone should:

• Ensure drains are present and maintained where needed

• Assess soil structure regularly using visual methods such as VESS

• Put a remediation plan in place if you cause damage

• Use lightweight vehicles wherever possible

• Minimise compaction - use appropriate tyres and tyre pressures

• Assess soil conditions when cultivating and stay within the workability window

• Minimise and optimise cultivation intensity - allow flexibility season by season

• Ensure you have appropriate storage to allow harvesting flexibility

Going beyond the norm:

• Take a targeted approach to compaction through sub-soiling, as needed in the right conditions

• Use in-season weather and soil monitoring for good harvest risk assessment

• Consider ground-penetrating radar to identify and target deeper compaction

• Consider controlled-traffic approaches

• Consider variable-depth cultivations

Manage run-off in the field

Water flowing across fields is the primary cause of soil erosion, and it carries nutrients and pesticides away from where they're most valuable to you.

Everyone should:

• Incorporate designed buffer strips alongside watercourses, ditches and hedges

• Minimise run-off and erosion risk through the direction of cultivation

• Capture run-off and sediment in-field

Going beyond the norm:

• Minimise run-off and erosion risk through direct drilling / strip tillage and/or under-sowing

• Consider links to streams, ditches and waterways, and break pollution pathways where possible

Maintain soil organic matter and biological activity

Soil organic matter and biology are crucial to soil health. They support the physical and chemical processes in soil, making it more resilient to waterlogging and compaction.

Everyone should:

• Keep soil covered over winter wherever possible - no bare ground

• Incorporate crop residues wherever possible, or return via manures

• Add off-farm organic matter (sludges, digestate, compost)

Going beyond the norm:

• Take organic-matter measurements - understand the results and act on them

• Track your own biology - count earthworms

About the contributors

WWF is one of the world's largest independent conservation organisations, active in nearly 100 countries. With food production at the centre of many environmental issues, WWF-UK and Tesco have come together with a shared ambition: to make it easier for customers to access an affordable, healthy and sustainable diet. wwf.org.uk/basket-metric

UK Soil Health Initiative aims to bring together understanding of soil health and management to help farmers improve their soils - supporting productive farming alongside environmental benefit.