The importance of soil health to growing food, promoting biodiversity and reducing carbon emissions will be investigated during a parliamentary inquiry launched today.
The inquiry, by the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee will investigate how the government intends to meet its goal of having all soil “managed sustainably” by 2030.
It is not currently clear how soil health will be measured by the government. This will need to be clarified because of new legislation currently being rolled out which will encourage farmers to provide ‘public goods’ including healthy soil, among other environmental benefits, in return for farm payments from the government.
Chair of the EFRA Committee, Sir Robert Goodwill MP said:
“Soil health matters to everyone – it’s central to the food we eat, the ecosystems we are a part of and our efforts to address climate change.
“It is vital that the government brings farmers and land managers along with any reforms it makes.
“Policy changes must be ambitious enough to turn the tide of soil degradation, but also flexible and appealing to those who work the land. Any reforms must also cover a broad range of soils”.
Dr Neil Hudson MP for Penrith and The Border and Member of the EFRA Committee said:
“Our Cross Party EFRA Committee has launched an important Inquiry into soil health. It is vital that the Government proactively looks to work with farmers and land managers to bolster and support this pivotal component of UK agriculture and environmental management. Here in Cumbria we have fantastic farmers who adopt best practice in this regard and I look forward to our Inquiry shining a light on the area of soil health so that we can support sustainable food production for generations to come.”
The Committee is seeking views on the following questions:
1. How can the Government measure progress towards its goal of making all soils sustainably managed by 2030? What are the challenges in gathering data to measure soil health and how can these barriers be overcome?
2. Do current regulations ensure that all landowners/land managers maintain and/or improve soil health? If not, how should they be improved?
3. Will the standards under Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) have sufficient ambition and flexibility to restore soils across different types of agricultural land? What are the threats and opportunities for soil health as ELMs are introduced?
4. What changes do we need to see in the wider food and agriculture sector to encourage better soil management and how can the Government support this transition?
5. What does the UK Government need to do to tackle other stressors on soil health such as soil contamination?
The deadline for submissions is 5 February 2023.
People with experience in the areas covered by the inquiry are invited to submit written evidence. For advice on how to submit this and how we use that information, please click here. The committee will also gather information by inviting witnesses to oral evidence sessions, usually held in Parliament’s Committee Rooms. Most evidence sessions are held in public, are announced in advance, and can be watched on parliamentlive.tv.
