Improving Soil Resilience

Soil is an Ecosystem that can be managed

Soil is one your most valuable resources, and we want to help you make the most of it. 

• A healthy soil provides a habitat for soil microbes to flourish and diversify – providing the nutrients that crops need to grow and prosper.
• Soils store two thirds of the fresh water on the planet* and this function is determined by the level of organic matter in the soil. The loss of soil biodiversity reduces its water infiltration capacity, as well as its capacity to store water, lowering food production and worsening the impact of drought.
• The carbon contained within soil organic matter represents one of the largest carbon stocks on Earth and plays a major role in mitigating climate change. In the UK our soils hold an estimated 9.8 billion tonnes of carbon.**
  When soil is eroded, the carbon stored is soils is lost in the form of greenhouse gases. Globally it is estimated that 26% of the carbon stored in the top one metre of soil has been lost since prehistoric times (FAO 2015).
• A well structured soil anchors crops and plants – allowing root systems to extend downward through the soil and in turn stabilise plants so that they can grow efficiently.
• A well structured soil allows less erosion by wind or rain and reduces the likelihood of flooding due to improved porosity.
• The minerals and microbes in soils help to filter, buffer, degrade and detoxify potential pollutants – including industrial by-products and atmospheric pollution.

* IUCN - www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/conserving-healthy-soils
**Soil Association figures

Our guiding principles for resilient soils

We believe that integrating resilient soils through a whole-farm approach is the best way we can help you to build healthy soils.

We base our advice to you on five key principles:

1. Appropriate Cultivation for your situation
2. Consider Continuous Cover
3. Diversification of Cropping and Rotational Strategy
4. Integration of Livestock into the Rotation
5. Adoption of New Technologies

You can read more about these in our Building Soil Resilience Insight Report.

What we’re doing 

Get the Insight Report