Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to collect soil organic carbon level data on farms.

The Government last measured soil carbon under the Countryside Survey, carried out in 2007.

It is usual practice for farmers to take their own soil samples and an increasing number of them are having their samples measured to gain a better understanding of their soils and how to manage them.

We have been exploring via a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) fellowship whether we can use farmer collected data to understand what is happening at a national level.