Soil health - moving from general principles to site-specific on-farm management at rotational scale

Abstract

The management of soil health in agriculture needs to balance the production of a healthy and profitable crop with environmental protection and improvement. However, the extreme spatial and temporal heterogeneity of soils, and the complexity of biological, physical and chemical interactions therein, makes predicting management effects on soil health challenging. Although the general principles underlying effects on soil health are well understood, they still need interpretation in a local context and the inclusion of site-specific details. As part of the AHDB-BBRO funded, 5-year research and knowledge exchange programme on Soil Biology and Health, we are developing a descriptive model that allows farmers to investigate the impacts of management practices on rotational soil health on a site-specific basis. The model will be evaluated using data of soil physical chemical and biological properties from both research trial and on-farm monitoring data. Initial consultation with growers and the wider industry has confirmed the distinction between, and the value of, both national scale co-ordinated monitoring of soils to provide the basis for sound policy making and also local on-farm monitoring to support on-farm improvement.