Soil health on Swiss arable farms: data covering soil management practices, farm characteristics and decision drivers

Soil health is the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture, directly influencing agricultural production, climate resilience and Agri-ecosystem service provision, but studies have shown that agricultural soils degrade over time due to inadequate soil management practices. Remediation of soil management is hampered by an insufficient understanding of the drivers of soil management behaviour. To understand the status quo and develop insights for improving and maintaining soil health, we surveyed 2’739 Swiss arable farms in 2024. The survey aimed to capture the soil management practices use alongside the decision-making surrounding their implementation in the 2022/2023 production season. The dataset comprises four core components: (1) farm and farmer characteristics, including gender, age, management experience, labour availability, farm size and participation in agricultural environmental schemes (AES); (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 survey data with secondary plot level census data covering weather, soil type and crop rotation. 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.土壤健康是可持续农业的基石，直接影响农业生产、气候韧性及农业生态系统服务供给，但已有研究表明，由于土壤管理措施不当，农业土壤会随时间发生退化。土壤管理的优化改良受限于人们对土壤管理行为驱动因素的认知不足。为摸清当前现状并为土壤健康的维持与改良提供洞见，我们于2024年对2739家瑞士可耕地农场开展了调研。本次调研旨在记录2022/2023生产季中农场的土壤管理措施使用情况，以及相关决策制定过程。本数据集包含四大核心组成部分：(1) 农场与农户特征，包括性别、年龄、管理经验、劳动力供给情况、农场规模以及参与农业环境计划（Agricultural Environmental Schemes, AES）的情况；(2) 十二项耕地土壤管理措施的详细记录，涵盖采用范围、使用年限、认知水平及同行采纳情况；(3) 农户对土壤健康的优先关注点，以及其对主要农业挑战的评估结果；(4) 部分种植制粉小麦的农场的生产数据，包括小麦种植面积、小麦产量及农资施用率。我们还通过覆盖天气、土壤类型及作物轮作情况的二级地块级普查数据，对本次调研数据进行了补充完善。本组合数据集为全面分析当前耕作实践、认知缺口及维持与改良耕地土壤健康所面临的挑战提供了综合资源。