Monitoring soil health to protect crops and local water quality

Fiona Pearce
Senior Catchment Management Specialist

Healthier soils support healthier crops and can reduce reliance on artificial fertilisers as well as reducing how much of that fertiliser is lost to groundwater, which can affect water quality. We are working with the Arun to Adur Farmers Group and a local Agronomist in the Worthing area in West Sussex to raise awareness of the importance of soil health and the impact of nutrient pollution to our environment and water sources.

We’ve funded five years of soil health monitoring in 28 fields across eight farms, taking over 1,500 soil samples.  Together with the Farmers Group, this will allow us to follow the impact of different crops and management strategies on soil health and nutrient availability. We’re currently collating these results.