British farmers to be given first ever targets on soil health

According to a news article in The Guardian, a new bill will be brought before the British parliament this year mandating, for the first time, measures and targets to preserve and improve the health of the UK’s soils, amid growing concern that we are sleepwalking into a crisis of soil fertility that could destroy our ability to feed ourselves. The UN has warned that the world’s soils face exhaustion and depletion, with an estimated 60 harvests left before they are too degraded to feed the planet, and a 2014 study in the UK found matters are not much better, estimating 100 harvests remaining. Rebecca Pow, parliamentary private secretary to Defra ministers, told the Guardian the agricultural bill, expected to be published later this year, would contain a section devoted to soil health, in the first attempt by ministers to reverse decades of soil loss and threats to fertility. She said it was likely to set a target of reversing the declines and restoring soil health across the country by 2030. Read the full article in The Guardian