Data covering soil management practices and farm characteristics on Swiss arable farms
2025-08-23
Soil health is the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture, but studies have shown that agricultural soils are degrading due to inadequate soil management practice adoption. To understand the status quo , we surveyed 2,728 Swiss arable farms in 2024. The dataset captures the soil management practices used alongside the decision-making surrounding their implementation in the 2022/2023 production season. Four core components are covered: (1) farm and farmer characteristics, including gender, age, experience, labour, farm size and Agri-environmental scheme participation; (2) detailed records of twelve arable soil management practices, including uptake extent, number of years used, perceived knowledge and peer adoption; (3) farmers’ priorities for soil health and their assessment of key agricultural challenges; and (4) production data for a subset of farms cultivating milling wheat, including wheat area, wheat yield and input application rates. We enriched the dataset with linked secondary plot-level census data. This combined dataset provides a comprehensive resource that enables the analysis of current farming practices, knowledge gaps and challenges to maintain and improve the health of arable soils.