Mitigating arable soil compaction: A review and analysis of available cost and benefit data

• Data on the costs and benefits of soil compaction mitigation have been assembled.
• Literature search found subsoiling less effective than perceived by many farmers.
• Subsoiling entire farm predicted to decrease gross margins £10/ha to £28/ha depending on soil type.
• Compaction avoidance can increase gross margins by more than £100/ha.
• Win–win economic and environmental benefits from compaction avoidance.

The costs and benefits of soil compaction mitigation are reviewed and analysed based on UK examples and soil types in this article. The review focusses first on operational costs, where the most definitive data are available. This includes the costs associated with remediation/alleviation strategies such as subsoiling. Next it considers the costs of limiting the occurrence of compaction by the adoption of new technologies. The environmental costs of soil compaction, through direct impacts at the farm gate on yields and inputs, and indirectly on ecosystem services provided by soil are also considered to assess the value of different approaches. Factors considered are the influence of soil, farm management practice and novel approaches that are either in use or being developed. Although data were limited and often context specific, the significance of soil compaction to farm gate gross margins was apparent. We examined subsoiling, targeted subsoiling and ploughing as soil compaction mitigation options, as well as low ground pressure tyres, tracked tractors and controlled traffic farming (CTF) as soil compaction avoidance technologies. For mitigation options, only targeted subsoiling resulted in a positive change to gross margin, between £0/ha for sandy soil and £22/ha for clay soil. All soil compaction avoidance technologies increased gross margins significantly, ranging from £26/ha for tracked tractors on sandy soil to £118/ha for CTF on clay soil. Avoidance technologies also decrease leaching and emissions of nitrogen, and require less fuel, providing a win–win situation for farmers and the environment.