Your soil, your business, your goals: Where am I now?

Measuring and monitoring your soil will help you understand the strengths, limitations and opportunities for improvement within your farm business. Explore our practical resources below to better understand how to assess soil condition and interpret the results.

We have a variety of practical tools, tests and monitoring techniques to help you evaluate soil health, track changes over time and identify opportunities for improvement.

Practical guidance on identifying soil types and assessing soil texture in the field.

Practical guidance on evaluating soil structure, detecting compaction and understanding how soil condition affects water movement, root growth and productivity.

Water infiltration rates provide information on soil structure.

Well-maintained field drainage systems will reduce the risk of detrimental waterlogging to acceptable levels and help return soils to field capacity after wet weather. 

Use our resources to assess whether your field drains are adequate for current needs and working correctly, and identify any maintenance that might be required.

If you're unsure whether there is any drainage present, our resources can help you identify them with or without a drainage plan.

Learn how to assess and monitor soil health through pH, nutrient analysis and organic matter measurements.

Explore practical guidance on soil sampling, interpreting results and understanding different approaches to soil fertility and nutrient management.

Compare carbon footprint calculators and understand the key questions to ask before choosing one that meets your needs and supports informed decision-making.

Practical guidance on counting earthworms, identifying different groups and using earthworm numbers as an indicator of soil condition and biological activity.

Learn about simple laboratory and in-field tests and how they can provide insights into microbial activity and soil function.

We explain the available testing methods, how results may be interpreted and the current limitations as research and understanding in this area continue to develop.