04 October

Extreme weather has made 2024 a ruinous year for European farmers. Amid drought and flood disasters, inaction on restoring soil health is leaving farmland waterlogged and heat cracked. As the EU is still trying to pass its first soil law, many scientists have criticised the EU’s weak soil strategy.

Defra has announced new laws to support precision breeding technology which it says will increase food production, reduce costs to farmers and allow drought and disease resistant crops to be grown. The Soil Association has, however, expressed concern over the risks this could pose to organic crop production.

In a recent review of the EU's agricultural subsidies scheme, The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has found a "noticeable gap" between farming incentives and the EU's overall green targets. The ECA stated that the EU's ambitious climate goals have not been integrated into the Common Agricultural Policy

A recent study conducted by the Soil Association Exchange indicates that livestock manure may help improve soil health and function. The research shows that farms with a mixture of crops and livestock have a third more carbon sequestration capacity and higher soil biodiversity than farms with only crops.

Researchers at the British Geological Survey have published their extensive study of the UK’s topsoil chemical data, the most in-depth and exhaustive of its kind available globally. The study included 58,000 topsoil samples from across the country, mapping the distribution of several harmful soil pollutants.

A new garden-artwork aiming to challenge negative perceptions of weeds has been planted at Begbroke Science Park, part of the University of Oxford – a site where inorganic weed killers were once developed and tested. The Weed Garden reframes plants typically considered ‘weeds’ as beautiful garden features.