Beneath our feet lies one of the most complex ecosystems on Earth. Teeming with microbes, fungi, earthworms, insects and the extensive root systems of plants, soil is estimated to be home to more than half of the planet’s biodiversity. It holds nearly 80% of the total carbon found in terrestrial ecosystems – but it’s in trouble.
Thanks to deforestation, intensive agriculture, urbanisation and pollution, around a third of the world’s soil is degraded. Experts predict this could increase to 90% by 2050, with potentially catastrophic consequences for food production, the environment and climate change. Not to mention worms.
Some farmers are well aware of what’s at stake – and are taking action. Soil health, and its associated benefits, has long been something of an obsession at Yeo Valley Organic. The dairy brand, which sources its milk from 100 farms in the south and west of England, first sampled the soil on 162 hectares (400 acres) of its own land in 2015. It followed up with a major project to test the soil at 25 of its supplier farms.
