More Than Dirt

Why Soil Is The Heart of Farming

"Soil, it's just a medium to grow food."

When I first heard someone say this, it stopped me in my tracks. As a farmer who sees soil as sacred, it felt like someone had dismissed the very foundation of life itself. But the truth is, this belief — that soil is just dirt — is more common than many realise, even among those who work the land.

Soil is often the most overlooked part of our food system. It is treated as an inert substance, a backdrop to the real action of growing crops and raising livestock. But soil is not just the ground beneath our feet. It is the foundation of life, nutrition and resilience. Without healthy soil, everything else crumbles.

What Healthy Soil Really Is

So, what is healthy soil? It is not just dirt. It is a living, breathing ecosystem. A single teaspoon of healthy soil can contain more microorganisms than there are people on Earth: bacteria, fungi, protozoa, worms and more, all working together to create a dynamic, life-giving network.

Healthy soil is rich in organic matter, boasts a diverse structure and supports a wide range of life. It is this biodiversity that makes soil the cornerstone of sustainable farming and nutritious food.

Photo by Jan Kopřiva on Unsplash

As highlighted in the Wicked Leeks article "Does Soil Hold the Key to Better Nutrition?", the food we grow is only as good as the soil it grows in. Research by The Bionutrient Institute found that "some carrots contain 40 times more antioxidants than others," a difference directly linked to soil health. This striking variability shows how the health of our soil impacts the nutritional quality of the food on our plates.

"Soil is not just the foundation of farming — it is the foundation of our health."

Why Soil Health Matters for Us All

Nutrition

Over the past 60 years, nutrient levels in vegetables have plummeted, largely due to poor soil management. Crops grown in degraded soil simply do not have the same levels of vitamins and minerals as those grown in rich, healthy soil. This decline contributes to our reliance on ultra-processed food, robbing us of both flavour and nourishment.

Climate Resilience

Healthy soil is one of our best tools for fighting climate change. It holds water, buffers against floods and droughts, and stores carbon. Yet industrial farming practices, like over-tilling and heavy chemical use, destroy soil structure, leaving land vulnerable to extreme weather.

Animal Welfare

For livestock farmers like me, soil health is the foundation of animal health. Pigs, for example, thrive when they can root in vibrant, living soil teeming with life. Healthy soil means diverse pastures and nutritious forage, which translates to better welfare for the animals who depend on it.

Our Soil Story: From the Ground Up

On our farm, soil health has been a journey and a huge learning curve. Over the years, we have moved our herd through a number of farms. First woodland, then an overgrown and tired orchard that desperately needed rest, rotation and care. We slowly brought it back to life through careful grazing and attention.

Later, we moved to a mixed farm with hundreds of acres and a more strategic role. The pigs followed a crop rotation plan — going into fields after potatoes had been harvested to clear up leftovers and fertilise the ground with natural nitrate-rich manure. We would also reuse stable bedding, piling it into mounds that the pigs spread, rolled in and snuggled into during the winter. The pigs were in each field for a couple of months before moving on to the next — potatoes, barley, wheat.

The results? Remarkable. Even the landlord said he could clearly see where the pigs had been — the crops grew faster, greener and stronger. He used fewer fertilisers and saw better yields. That is the power of animals and soil working together. A real win for regenerative agriculture.

One winter, I remember watching our own pastures bounce back quicker than any others in the area. While neighbouring fields turned to mud, ours held water and remained resilient. Worms wriggled beneath the surface and new growth burst through. It was proof that we were on the right path — not perfect, but progressing.

Why This Conversation Matters Now

In the UK, farmers are facing growing uncertainty about how to transition to more nature-friendly farming practices that improve biodiversity and soil health.

The Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS), once touted as a transformative step for sustainable farming, is no longer open for new applications, and existing applicants are still waiting for answers. The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which was a core pillar of ELMS, closed to new applicants in March. Many farmers are now left in limbo — some with agreements ending soon, others unsure what, if anything, will replace these support schemes.

That original comment — "It is just a medium to grow food" — reflects a deeper issue: disconnection. Most people today are removed from the source of their food, and even some within agriculture view soil as a tool, not a living system. But without healthy soil, our food systems collapse. Our health declines. Our climate goals fall flat.

I recently had a conversation with someone (not a farmer) who confidently told me that soil and compost were the same thing and that hydroponics were better than ecological farming. He even claimed he "could write a book" on it. These views are not uncommon — and they highlight the urgent need to re-educate ourselves about what makes food good, sustainable and nourishing.

Hydroponic systems might produce high yields and be efficient in controlled environments, but they strip away everything that makes farming a symbiotic relationship with the land — biodiversity, carbon sequestration, nutrient richness, soil life. These things matter.

As I wrote in Farms vs Housing, we are not just losing land — we are losing the ability to care for it. Healthy soil is not a bonus of farming, it is the reason farming exists at all.

And while policy support like ELMS and SFI once gave hope, it is now up to us to ask better questions, make better choices, and support the farmers who are still working with nature — not against it.

How You Can Dig In

So, what can you do?

- Learn where your food comes from and how it is grown

- Ask farmers about their soil practices

- Support regenerative agriculture and small producers

- Share resources like the Wicked Leeks article to spread awareness

- Buy food that supports healthy soil, not cheap food that depletes it

Let us stop treating soil as dirt. It is the heart of farming — and the foundation of a future worth growing.

Curious about how regenerative farming works in practice? In the paid section, I’m sharing exclusive insights into the specific regenerative practices we’ve used on our farm — from composting and rotational grazing to how our pigs have transformed fields into thriving ecosystems. I’ll also dive into what’s worked best, the lessons we’ve learned, and how these methods can be applied on any scale.

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