UK Soil Health Initiative

This information is from The Soil Health Initiative. The Soil Health Initiative aims to bring together the wealth of understanding of soil health and management to help farmers improve their soil health and thus productive farming alongside environmental benefit.

All six soil health guides, covering most of the UK agricultural sector, can be found at:
cfeonline.org.uk

FIRST STEPS FOR IMPROVING SOIL HEALTH

Well managed and functioning soils are the foundation for all production systems. Soils with good structure that contain diverse and abundant flora and fauna, which can provide the nutrients plants need to grow, form essential building blocks for productive farms. Such soils are best able to support good yields and reduce the risk to the environment through unnecessary losses to air and water.

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

Although managing soils well can be confusing and complex, this guide brings together some initial steps that can be implemented in field vegetable farming systems, and will help you understand your soils and plan your first steps to improving soil health.

3 THINGS TO CONSIDER

1

UNDERSTAND HOW SOIL TYPE AND RAINFALL PATTERN DETERMINE SOIL WORKABILITY

2

EXTEND ROTATIONS AND ENSURE INCORPORATION OF SOIL RECOVERY / SOIL HEALTH CONSERVATION CROPPING

3

FOR RENTED LAND, ENGAGE WITH THE LANDLORD ABOUT WHAT IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE WHOLE ROTATION

3 THINGS TO AVOID

1

ACCESS WET LAND €“ BE DRIVEN BY CALENDAR RATHER THAN SOIL CONDITION FOR OPERATIONS

2

LEAVE SOIL BARE OVERWINTER (WHERE THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH COVER)

3

ALLOW SOIL EROSION FROM FIELDS OR PART FIELDS

WHERE YOU WANT TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH

EVERYONE SHOULD:

GOING BEYOND THE NORM MIGHT MEAN:

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KNOW YOUR SITE AND SOILS

Understanding the soils you have across your land, and how factors such as slope and proximity to watercourses can influence risks to soil, will help you manage the farm in a way that promotes soil health.

Know the land use constraints of the farm, and consider the impact of variability – hydrology, slope, erosion risk etc

Know your soil texture (including subsoil)

Understand the catchment scale context – NVZ, diffuse P risks

Record your soil observations and data so you can refer back to them easily

Make sure everyone on the farm understands the importance of soils

Develop on-farm skills that promote effective management of your soils

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

Monitor the system as a whole e.g. grass production, livestock and crop quality, water quality etc and use the information

Need to consider soils across the whole rotation – introduce practices to increase resilience for the more difficult cropping phases

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CROP MANAGEMENT

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

At least three crop rotation

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

Targeted fungicide, herbicide and fertiliser applications – use precision approaches

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, hedges and consider integrating agro-forestry

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OPTIMISE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Understanding your existing soil nutrient levels will help to apply the right nutrients in the right quantities. This will ensure optimum growth as well as reduce risk of losses.

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

Maintain pH (liming / gypsum as needed)

Use robust information to aid nutrient planning e.g. RB209

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

Select best practice application methods to match manure/organic material and soil types

Implement enhanced monitoring of soils – not just pH, P, K – and use the information

Take a wider approach to crop nutrition than just NPK

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IMPROVE SOIL PHYSICAL CONDITION

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

Ensure drains are present and maintained where needed

Assess soil structure regularly using visual inspection methodologies such as VESS

If you cause damage, put a remediation plan in place

Use lightweight vehicles wherever possible

Minimise compaction – use appropriate tyres and tyre pressures

When cultivating, assess soil conditions regularly and stay within the workability window

Minimise / optimise cultivation intensity – you will need flexibility season by season

Ensure you have appropriate storage to allow some harvesting flexibility

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

Use in-season weather and soil monitoring to allow good risk assessment for harvest operations

Ground penetrating radar may be able to be used to identify deeper compaction and target subsoil/compaction management

Consider controlled traffic approaches

Consider variable depth cultivations

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MANAGE RUN-OFF IN THE FIELD

Water flowing across your fields is the primary way that soil erosion will occur. It will also transport nutrients and pesticides away from where they are of most value to you.

Incorporate designed buffer strips alongside watercourses, ditches and hedges

Minimise run-off / erosion risk through consideration of the direction of cultivation

Capture runoff and sediment in field

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

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

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MAINTAIN SOIL ORGANIC MATTER AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

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

Keep soil covered during the winter period, wherever possible – no bare ground

Incorporate crop residues wherever possible or return via manures

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

Make OM measurements – understand results and respond through action

Track your own biology – count earthworms

WWF

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

WWF

TESCO

CFE

UK SOIL HEALTH INITIATIVE

The Soil Health Initiative aims to bring together the wealth of understanding of soil health and management to help farmers improve their soil health and thus productive farming alongside environmental benefit.

All six soil health guides, covering most of the UK agricultural sector, can be found at:
cfeonline.org.uk

The information in this leaflet is generated from a workshop which involved: ADAS, Agrovista, AHDB, AIC, Agrii, Anglian Water, British Grassland Society, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, CF Fertilisers, CLA, Cranfield University, East of England Agricultural Society, Environment Agency – soils, Gs Growers, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Hillcourt, Hutchinsons, Innovation for Agriculture, James Hutton Institute, Lancrop/Yara, NIAB, NFU, National Trust, Natural England – Catchment Sensitive Farming, Organic Farmers and Growers, Royal Agricultural University, SRUC, SectorMentor, Sustainable Soils Alliance, and the Universities of Lincoln and Sheffield. The workshop was made possible thanks to generous funding from Anglian Water.