Farming Sector Environmental Objectives: agricultural soils in sustainable management
Published 22 October 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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1. Objective title
The farming sector and delivery partners will transition up to 60% of England’s agricultural soils into sustainable actions by 2030.
2. Objective overview
Healthy soils underpin a wide range of environmental benefits, including biodiversity, climate resilience, and sustainable food production. England’s farming sector plays a critical role in maintaining soil health, managing most of the country’s land and shaping soil condition through land‑management practices. Ensuring these practices are sustainable is therefore essential.
Sustainable soil management refers to practices that maintain or enhance the ecosystem services provided by soils, while safeguarding the soil functions that support those services and avoiding harm to the wider environment.
The objective is an increase in the extent of agricultural soils under sustainable management through agri-environment schemes, helping to sustain productive agriculture while supporting a healthy and resilient environment.
3. Relevant targets and commitments
Environmental Improvement Plan
There are no statutory or interim targets directly aiming to support sustainable soil management. However, due the wider benefits, the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 sets a commitment focussed on sustainable soil management, stating:
- bring at least 40% of England’s agricultural soil into sustainable management by 2028, increasing to 60% by 2030.
4. Delivery approach
In 2022, there were 8.9 million hectares of Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) in England. Agricultural land use in England. This objective is to encourage participation in agri‑environment scheme actions across approximately 5.4 million hectares of agricultural land, representing around 60% of England’s UAA.
For this objective, ‘Sustainable Soil Management’ is defined as practices that maintain or enhance the ecosystem services provided by the soil without impeding the agricultural activity enabling the practice or negatively affecting other aspects of the environment’. This is adapted from the definition used by the European Union.
Work is ongoing within Defra to establish the minimum standards of soil management required to contribute to this objective. This process considers the soil types present and the agricultural activities being undertaken. Once the underlying assumptions are agreed, actions can be measured consistently.
4.1 Technical information
| Objective Name | Agricultural Soils in Sustainable Management |
|---|---|
| Geographical scope | England |
| Related commitments | Sustainable management of agricultural soil commitment |
| Reporting status | In development |
| Contributing schemes | Undetermined |
| Aggregation method | Undetermined |
| First reported | October 2026 |
| Last updated | October 2026 |