Overview

Soil is essential for life and is the heart of Ontario farms and our food system. Productive soils have many economic and environmental benefits including improved crop growth, yield and quality, water and nutrient retention, resilience, biodiversity, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. The local foods Ontarians enjoy (more than 200 commodities) are grown on Ontario's rich agricultural lands. Each soil tells a different story of its origins and management practices.

Legislation and policies

Provincial soil strategy

There are key initiatives in Ontario to support soil health-related activities, including the Grow Ontario Strategy (2022) and Ontario’s Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation Strategy (2018). These initiatives compliment existing provincial initiatives that contribute to soil health and conservation, including:

Ontario soil data, maps and reports

Use the Ontario Soils GeoHub to download soil related information and data using an interactive web mapping application. Through the Ontario Soil Survey Publications Index, access soil surveys for most of the agricultural areas and many surrounding areas across Ontario. Look back on Ontario's historic legacy soil surveys and dig into the science behind remapping Ontario's soils.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) is recognized provincially as the data custodian for soil information, which is shared with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). OMAFA and AAFC, in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), maintain a high quality, detailed geospatial soils database for Ontario. Soil information is primarily used for land use planning and to support programs of extension and environmental protection.

Find more resources for available soil information:

Best management practices resources

Best management practices that improve soil health help reduce soil compaction, lower green house gas emissions, reduce wind and water erosion, increase soil organic matter, reduce phosphorus loss from fields to surface water, and improve resilience to drought or excessively wet conditions. Healthy soil (an essential component of a healthy environment) is the foundation upon which a sustainable agriculture production system is built.

Check out the collection of Best Management Practices booklets to find the best options for managing soil, water and natural areas on their farm properties. Search by resource, function or series.

Soil fertility

Learn more about soil fertility and agronomy:

OMAFA has developed a suite of free agricultural and environmental decision support tools related to crop management, nutrient management and fertility that are available through AgriSuite.

Soil sampling and testing

Soil sampling plays an important role in crop production and nutrient management. On farm, sampling is the best way to plan for profitable fertilizer applications.

Soil testing involves:

  • the collection of a representative sample from an appropriate area within a field
  • proper analysis of that sample to determine the levels of available nutrients
  • use of the results to determine optimum fertilizer rates

Keeping records is an integral part of the soil-testing process. They will help determine if soil test levels are increasing, decreasing or being maintained over time.

For more information on soil sampling and analysis refer to:

Soil health

Healthy soil is the foundation of Ontario's agri-food sector. The local foods Ontarians enjoy (more than 200 commodities) are grown on Ontario's rich agricultural lands.

Many best management practices (BMPs) work to protect the province's soils to ensure they remain healthy and productive for future generations.

Agriculture and climate are directly linked. Anything that has a significant effect on our climate will influence farm production. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change are global concerns and agriculture can be part of the solution. BMPs that improve soil health also help lower GHG emissions, reduce phosphorus loss from fields to surface water and improve resilience to drought or excessively wet conditions. Healthy soil (an essential component of a healthy environment) is the foundation upon which a sustainable agriculture production system is built.

Soil Health Assessment Plan (SHAP) is a tool to guide farmers and their advisors in identifying soil health challenges and management practices to address them. Use SHAP to create a soil health baseline for future monitoring or to compare different fields or sections of fields to one another. It provides a variety of soil health assessment modules, including risk assessment tools, in-field observations and laboratory tests to identify soil health challenges, as well as indexes for evaluating soil management practices.

Soil diagnostics

Soil quality is the measure of a soil’s health and its ability to resist erosion, compaction and other stresses, while maintaining economic productivity. Assessing soil quality for each field and taking steps to maintain or improve it will ensure continued productivity.

To learn more about soil diagnostics, refer to Specialty Cropportunities - Soil Testing.

Soil erosion

Soil erosion is a naturally occurring process that affects all landforms. In agriculture, soil erosion refers to the wearing away of a field’s topsoil by the natural physical forces of water and wind or through forces associated with farming activities such as tillage.

Learn about the causes and effects of water, wind and tillage erosion on agricultural land:

Soil compaction

Soil compaction is present at some level on most farms in Ontario and is most likely caused by equipment traffic. The main symptoms of compaction are reduced yield, poor drainage and reduced water holding capacity. Avoiding compaction is the best option for maintaining healthy and productive soil.

Resilience to compaction is accomplished by using various best management practices that build soils capability to withstand moderate compaction, read more about subsurface compaction.

Excess soil

Excess soil is soil that has been dug up, usually during construction activities. It must be moved off-site because it can't or won't be reused at the development site.

Improper management of excess soil can negatively affect ground or surface water quality and/or quantity in natural areas and agricultural lands. It is also associated with local issues such as:

  • noise
  • dust
  • truck traffic
  • road damage
  • erosion
  • drainage
  • other social, economic, health and environmental concerns

More information on excess soils can be found at: