The spring of 2025 was the warmest and sunniest on record, with just 128.2mm of rainfall. Despite some early summer rain, the Met Office has predicted Britain is twice as likely to have a hot summer which will cement the impact of drought on many crops.

As soils dry out, so the risk of salinity increases, posing a threat to crop performance but also leaving soil health in tatters.

Soil testing specialist Eurofins Agro Testing suggests many crops, including cereals and grassland, will be affected by drought this year. However, soil data suggests the effect on this year’s crops is only the beginning of the problem and growers should seek to better understand soil health to help the performance of the following crop.

In drought conditions, soil leaching and mineralisation reduces, which leaves important nutrients such as nitrogen and sulphur inactive. It is also likely that soils will have elevated levels of potassium, boron, zinc and manganese because the lack of moisture in the soil makes these elements harder for the crop to take up.  Unable to absorb nutrients, the crop will suffer and the dried out, post-harvest soil will be left with elevated levels of salinity.

The key message is that only accurate soil testing will identify the true impact of drought this season and its knock-on effect to next year’s crops. It is, therefore, vital that growers understand what has been lost and what is needed to balance soils for the next crop.

Crops that are sensitive to salt levels in soils include onions, peas, beans, top fruits and root crops such as carrots. If the concentration of plant available salts increases, it can hold back the crop. For root crops, like carrots, this will be evident because salt in the root will show a burning effect on the carrot. However, the appearance of salt damage will be less obvious in cereal crops, which is why it is important to test soil after harvest to plan a focussed nutrient management strategy.

To mitigate salinisation, growers can look to improve plant and soil health by adding silicon. Silicon improves the water status of plants under abiotic stress and its concentration in soil helps plants to take up other nutrients more efficiently. Silicon can be identified using Eurofins Agro Testing’s Soil Health Indicator test which also offers detailed information on soil contaminates.