Help to support farmers and crofters address soil erosion

A new booklet to support farmers, crofters and land managers address soil errosion has been published.     

The booklet, developed at the request of SEPA and funded by CREW, was produced by SRUC in partnership with stakeholders. It is packed with practical guidance to help improve farm soils and make agricultural and land management businesses more profitable. It aims to help Scottish farmers, crofters and land managers protect and manage their most valuable resource, outlining actions that can be taken to increase farm efficiency, productivity and sustainability.

The booklet covers: Soil operations in relationship to costs; assessing soil type; soil as a living resource; assessing soil structure; soil compaction and drainage; reducing soil erosion; understanding and managing soil pH and nutrients; increasing organic matter and reducing soil erosion using cover crops; and assessing whether reduced or no tillage could be suitable for your soils. It provides useful tools and practical field sheets, and is interspersed throughout with farmer case studies providing evidence of good practice and advice for current issues facing Scotland’s farming community.

Additionally, action and problem-specific ‘field-sheets’ have been designed for busy farmers with limited time for reading. The appendix contains more detailed technical information and research case studies highlighting evidence from current investigations of Scottish farm soils.

New information includes:

• Practical ideas to protect soils and reduce diffuse pollution risks available here
• Although there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, this additional guide looks at how much some of these measures cost and how easy they are to put into practice
• The CREW team have also put together a technical report highlighting the main routes soils and nutrients are lost to the water environment “A state of knowledge overview of identified pathways of diffuse pollutants to the water environment”

You can access the booklet at: Valuing your Soils brochure.