GovWire

As we explain in the arable and horticultural soils standard, its up to you how you complete the actions.

This How to guide gives advice about how you could complete the actions in this standard. You may find it helpful to read this guide, but you dont have to follow it. It covers how to:

• complete a soil assessment and produce a soil management plan
• test soil organic matter
• add organic matter
• establish green cover over winter

Action 1: Complete a soil assessment and produce a soil management plan

To complete a soil assessment, youll usually need to:

• assess soil type, texture, structure and biology
• assess risks to your soil
• identify historic features

Try to assess the soil and take soil samples when it is not too dry or wet. Spring or autumn are usually the best time of year to complete a soil assessment.

Assess soil type, structure and biology

The main soil types are:

• sand
• silt
• clay
• loam
• chalk
• peat

You can find out more about these soil types in the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) information about the characteristics of different soils.

To check the soil type, you can search for your location in the Soilscapes soil types viewer produced by the National Soil Resources Institute of Cranfield University.

Soil texture

Soil texture depends on the mix of sand, silt and clay in the soil.

You can read Natural Englands Technical Information Note about soil texture, which includes the main soil texture types and what youre likely to feel and see for each texture class.

Soil structure and compaction

Soil structure affects how air and water move in the soil and how well crops and grass can grow.

You can choose how you assess soil structure. To do this, you can:

• look at the soil surface to assess the quality of the crop or grass sward and identify areas where there may be soil structure issues
• take a soil sample by digging out a block of soil to a depth of around 30cm (12 inches)
• score the soil sample by visually assessing it

The information on checking regulatory issues and consents explains that you must get consent from Historic England if you plan to take soil samples on an area containing a scheduled monument. The consent form tells you what depth the soil samples can be.

You can read:

• the Environment Agencys think soils guide to identifying soil structural problems in the field
• the SRUC Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) chart to help with a visual assessment

It may save time if you assess soil structure when you test soil organic matter.

Soil biology

Soil biology includes the presence of earthworms and other visible creatures, soil organic matter and microorganisms.

You can use a soil sample to count earthworms and other visible creatures, such as millipedes and spiders. To do this, you can use the same soil samples taken to assess soil structure and soil organic matter (action 2) or dig another pit.

The soil organic matter testing you do under action 2 will tell you about the soil organic matter.

Microorganisms can be quite difficult to assess yourself, but if youd like to find out more you can ask a commercial laboratory to test soil samples for this.

To find out more about soil biology, you can read the AHDB factsheet: An introduction to Soil Biology.

Assess risks relating to soil

You can assess the risks relating to soil from:

• runoff or soil erosion, including connection to water bodies or sensitive habitats
• wind erosion
• nitrogen leaching

Once youve assessed these risks you can make an overall assessment of the risk for your land.

You can follow the steps below to assess risks to your soil.

Step 1: Risk of runoff and soil erosion

Runoff occurs when there is more water than land can absorb, meaning that water drains away directly over the surface of land. This can carry fine soil particles, nutrients, pesticides and manures to water bodies, such as ponds, lakes, ditches, stream and rivers. This can cause pollution and potentially harm animals and plants that live in the water bodies.

Runoff can wash material directly from a land parcel into a water body. It can also travel in other ways, such as:

• through yards
• along tracks or roads
• via field drains

To assess the risk of runoff and soil erosion, you can consider:

• the gradient of a slope - steeper slopes have a greater risk of runoff and soil erosion as water runs more quickly over the surface
• how long a slope is
• soil texture - this affects whether rain soaks into the soil or runs over the surface, and how easily soil particles will be washed away
• how often the land floods - it is more susceptible to erosion and runoff if it floods frequently
• how close the land is to a water body

Step 1a: Assess the gradient of the slope

You can choose how to measure the gradient of a slope. For example, you could use a clinometer.

The risk of runoff is:

• high for steep slopes - these are slopes with an angle of 7 degrees or more (12%+ gradient)
• moderate for moderate slopes - slopes with an angle of 3-7 degrees (5-12% gradient)
• lower for gentle slopes - slopes with an angle of 2-3 degrees (3-5% gradient)

Step 1b: Assess other runoff and erosion factors

After youve assessed the risk of runoff for each land parcel based on the gradient of the slope, you can adjust the runoff and erosion risk assessment to reflect:

• slope length
• soil texture
• flooding frequency
• history of runoff or ponding

For example, lighter soils on moderate slopes have a high risk of runoff. Land that regularly floods (at least once every 3 years) has a high risk of erosion or runoff.

Step 1c: Assess how close land is to water

The risk of runoff may be less significant if the land parcel is not close or well connected to a water body, such as a pond, lake, ditch, stream or river. You can assess the risk of runoff based on how close the land parcel is to a water body.

The risk of runoff is:

• high if the land parcel youre assessing is directly next to a water body
• moderate if the land parcel is separated from a water body by at least one other land parcel
• lower if the land parcel is some distance from a water body

Step 1d: risk based on history of runoff or ponding

You can then refine the risk assessment for each land parcel based on the history of runoff and ponding. The risk of runoff is:

• high - if visible runoff and ponding happens to the land youre assessing in most years during wet periods
• moderate - if visible runoff happens in most years during wet periods
• lower - if runoff happens occasionally during wet periods

Step 1e: refine your risk of runoff and soil erosion

Once youve considered the risks above, you can use your experience and judgement to adjust the level of risk for each land parcel, taking into account additional factors such as:

• soil structure
• organic matter content - higher organic content usually increases the ability of soil to absorb water
• valley features, as they tend to concentrate runoff water
• long unbroken slopes
• land use

Step 2: Risk of

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