Uses of Soil: 20 Jobs and the Data Behind Each

The main uses of soil are growing food, holding and cleaning water, storing nutrients and carbon, supporting buildings and roads, and supplying raw materials such as clay. The FAO states that 95% of our food comes from soils (FAO, World Soil Day). This guide lists 20 uses of soil, names the soil property each one depends on, and shows where to read that property for your own field.

It also gives sourced numbers on water storage, soil loss and farmland value, a calculator for how long your topsoil will last, and a short section on the computer tools farmers use to manage soil.

Uses of soil: the six jobs behind all twenty

The uses on the list can be grouped under six physical jobs. Soil holds water and releases it slowly. It stores nutrients on clay and organic surfaces. It anchors roots and structures. It houses the microbes that break down residue. It buffers acidity and traps contaminants. And it holds carbon, mostly as organic matter.

These jobs have a price. USDA NASS reported that average US cropland was worth $6,020 per acre in 2026, up 3.3% from 2025 (USDA NASS, Land Values 2026 Summary, 31 July 2026). Those are survey averages of what land is worth, not of what its soil can do, so two fields with the same price can behave very differently in a dry August.

Uses of soil in plain words

If you need a short answer for a class or a quick list, these are the ones most often named. Each one links to a property you can measure.

• Growing food. Roots take water and nutrients from soil. This is the use the FAO figure above describes.
• Storing water. Rain soaks in and stays between the soil particles. The amount depends on texture, as the chart below shows.
• Cleaning water. Water that moves down through soil leaves some contaminants behind, which depends on clay, pH and organic matter.
• Holding carbon. Organic matter keeps carbon in the ground instead of in the air.
• Supporting buildings and roads. Engineers check how much a soil swells, shrinks or freezes before they build.
• Raw material. Clay is shaped and fired into bricks, tiles and pottery.
• Home for living things. Fungi, bacteria and worms live in soil and break down dead plants.

Farmers add a second layer to these uses: they want to know how much of each one their own ground can deliver, and how it changes from one corner of the field to another. That is why the rest of this guide focuses on numbers you can look up.

20 uses of soil and the property each depends on

Most lists give a noun and a sentence. The table below gives the soil property behind each use and where to look it up. In the US, much of it sits in USDA Web Soil Survey, which NRCS says has soil maps and data online for more than 95% of the nation’s counties (NRCS Web Soil Survey). Our own guide to the Web Soil Survey shows how to draw your field and read the report. Other items need a lab test.

Uses 16 to 20 explain why this topic shows up in engineering courses as well as agronomy. The same soil data serves foundation design, waste systems and reclamation planning. For home-work answers, a short list works: growing crops, holding water, supporting buildings, making bricks and pottery, and storing carbon. For septic design, check the rules of your county.

Uses of soil in agriculture

For a farmer the list narrows to five uses that explain most differences between fields in the same season.

Water storage. Available water capacity (AWC) is the water a soil can hold for plants, in inches per foot of depth. University of Nebraska irrigation tables put silt loam at 2.00 to 2.50 inches per foot and coarse sand at 0.25 to 0.75 (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Irrigation Home Study Course, Table 3.1). Multiply AWC by rooting depth to get your buffer in inches.

Nutrient exchange. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) shows how many positively charged nutrients, such as potassium, a soil holds. Purdue’s alfalfa fertilizer guide scales potash advice by both the soil test and CEC (Purdue Extension, AY-331). Follow your lab’s report and the product label for any rate.

pH buffering. Iowa State lists pH and buffer pH among the standard tests to request (Iowa State University Extension, PM 287). Ask your lab how it turns them into a lime rate.

Erosion resistance. Each soil map unit has a T-factor, the soil loss tolerance. UC Davis, quoting NRCS, defines it as the most erosion at which a soil can keep its quality as a growing medium, with whole values from 1 to 5 tons per acre per year: 1 for shallow or fragile soils and 5 for deep soils least damaged by erosion (UC Davis SoilWeb, T factor).

Organic matter. It helps with the other four and changes on a scale of years, not weeks. The video below explains why organic matter matters to farm soil.

▶ Why organic matter matters for farm soil and the wider environment. · 7:33

How much water different soils hold

The chart shows the published AWC range for selected textures. A silt loam can hold about twice as much plant-available water per foot as a loamy sand, which is why the same rainfall gap hurts a sandy field first.

Chart

Plant-available water by soil texture

inches of water per foot of soil depth, published range, selected textures

▶ What a satellite shows about soil moisture across a field, and where a probe still wins. · 2:11

How fast is soil being lost from US cropland

The 2022 National Resources Inventory (NRI) is the latest USDA survey of this. Cropland erosion fell 34% between 1982 and 2022. Water erosion (sheet and rill) dropped from 3.89 to 2.67 tons per acre per year, and wind erosion from 3.24 to 2.08 (USDA NRCS, 2022 NRI Summary Report, published 2026). Added together, that is about 4.75 tons per acre per year in 2022, compared with 7.13 in 1982. These are national averages. Your field may sit well above or below them, and the NRI is a periodic survey, so check NRCS for the next release.

Chart

US cropland erosion, 1982 and 2022

tons per acre per year, average of US cropland

A rate per acre is hard to feel, so the calculator turns it into years of topsoil left. It uses one fixed conversion: an acre-inch of soil weighs about 113.3 times its bulk density in short tons (43,560 square feet times one inch, converted from metric). It assumes erosion is steady and spread evenly, which real fields are not, and it ignores soil formed by weathering, deposition and tillage movement.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

What farmland is worth

US cropland values keep rising, so each ton of lost topsoil sits on a more expensive base. NASS puts average cropland at $4,940 per acre in 2022 and $6,020 in 2026. These are survey estimates of land value, not auction results or dealer asking prices.

Chart

US average cropland value

US$ per acre, survey estimates

Soil rules and erosion in Europe

For readers in the EU, soil is moving from advice to rules. The European Commission says 60 to 70% of EU soils are in an unhealthy state, and its Soil Monitoring Law aims for healthy soils by 2050. Member States must put it into national law by 16 December 2028 (European Commission, Soil Monitoring Law).

Eurostat reports that 5.1% of the EU’s non-artificial erodible area was at risk of severe water erosion in 2023, and the area at risk fell from 197,000 km² in 2016 to 190,000 km² in 2023, a 3.4% decrease. The highest national shares were Italy (24.4%), Slovenia (19.0%) and Austria (15.3%), and Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands were close to 0% (Eurostat, soil erosion indicator, data extracted June 2026). Severe here means modelled loss above 10 tonnes per hectare per year.

Chart

Land at risk of severe water erosion, 2023

% of non-artificial erodible area; three highest countries and the EU figure

Computers and satellites in soil management

Soil data also feeds the computer tools used in agriculture. USDA Economic Research Service found that automated guidance covered well over 50% of planted acres of corn, cotton, rice, sorghum, soybeans and winter wheat, while yield maps, soil maps and variable-rate technology reached only 5 to 25% on winter wheat, cotton, sorghum and rice (USDA ERS, Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era, EIB-248). The same report shows auto-steer on 5.3% of corn acres in 2001 and 58% in 2016. Tools that need no equipment on the tractor are the easiest to start with.

1. Guidance and autosteer

It cuts overlap on each pass, which can save fuel, seed and time.

2. Yield monitoring and mapping

A yield map shows which parts of a field answered to what you spent.

3. Soil sampling and mapping software

Grid or zone samples tied to map units turn the list above into a prescription file.

4. Variable-rate application

It changes the rate of seed, lime or fertilizer by zone. Follow the product label and local rules.

5. Satellite crop and soil monitoring

Satellite images give a repeat view of crop vigour across every acre. Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System is one such tool. Satellites show how vegetation changes, not why, so confirm in the field.

6. Weather and field scheduling

Local forecasts guide spray windows, planting dates and irrigation timing.

7. Pest and disease alerts from imagery

Imagery narrows where a scout should walk. It does not name the cause.

8. Farm management records

Input and expense records are the base for reporting. For multi-block farms, a large-scale farm management app keeps field data in one place.

9. Traceability records

These record which field a crop came from, through product traceability systems.

10. Carbon and sustainability accounting

Some buyers now ask for soil carbon and emissions reporting. See carbon footprinting tools for one approach.

▶ Six plain steps to start digital farming without buying a robot. · 4:18

Which tool manages which soil use

How to find the numbers for your own field

1. Name the property, such as available water capacity, T-factor or organic carbon, not “soil health”.
2. Find the map unit in Web Soil Survey, and note that a field often has several.
3. Write the date next to every number, because surveys such as the NRI are periodic.
4. Compare against a threshold, such as T for erosion, not an average.
5. Re-test on a schedule, and sample at the same depth each time.

Related pages on our site: satellite-based verification for agricultural financing, hydroponic farm hacks guide, a satellite and weather API and its developer docs.

This guide gives general information. For fertilizer, lime and pesticide choices, follow the product label and local rules, and get advice from a local agronomist. For septic or building work, ask your county or a licensed engineer.

Reading a soil report: three questions to ask

A soil report is easy to misread because it gives many numbers and no ranking. Start with three questions.

Which map unit is this? Web Soil Survey divides a field into map units, and each carries its own AWC, T-factor and engineering ratings. A field with three units has three sets of answers. Averaging them hides the weak patch where the crop fails first.

Is the number a range or a single value? The Nebraska table gives a range for each texture, and the NRI gives a national average. A range tells you the spread. An average hides it. Use the low end for planning and the high end for best case.

How old is the number? The 2022 NRI was published in 2026, and the Eurostat erosion indicator used reference year 2023 with data extracted in June 2026. Write the year next to any figure you copy into your records, because the next release will replace it.

Worked example for the topsoil calculator

Take a field with 8 inches of topsoil, a bulk density of 1.3 g/cm3 and an erosion rate of 5 tons per acre per year, the top of the T range. One acre-inch of that soil weighs about 147 tons (113.3 times 1.3). At 5 tons a year, the field loses about 0.034 inches a year, so the 8 inches last roughly 236 years. At 1 ton a year, the same topsoil lasts roughly 1,180 years.

These are examples, not forecasts. The result is long compared with a farming career, but it covers only the loss of the layer itself. Crops can suffer well before the last inch is gone, because the top layer holds most of the organic matter and many of the nutrients. Use the result to compare scenarios, such as before and after a cover crop, and ask your adviser for a modelled rate for your slope and rainfall.

Where satellites fit in

A lab test measures one spot, and a satellite covers the whole field. Repeat satellite passes show where the crop is weaker or stronger than the rest of the field in a given week. Those patches mark where to sample soil, and a soil test then shows whether pH, nutrients, compaction or water is the cause.

FAQ

What are the main uses of soil?

Soil grows crops and pasture, stores and filters water, holds nutrients and carbon, supports buildings and roads, and supplies clay and other raw materials. The table above gives 20 uses with the property behind each.

Is there a fixed list of 5, 10 or 20 uses of soil?

No. The count is a teaching choice. Short lists stop at farming and nature. Longer lists add building, material and land reclamation uses. All of them draw on the same six jobs.

How do I find the soil data for my farm?

In the US, draw your area in Web Soil Survey and read the map unit report. Then send a composite sample to a land-grant or accredited lab for pH, buffer pH, P, K and organic matter. In the EU, national soil monitoring systems are the route.

What is a safe erosion rate?

Compare your modelled rate with the T-factor for your soil, not a national average. T runs from 1 to 5 tons per acre per year (UC Davis, citing NRCS). A rate of 4 would be below a T of 5 (deep soils) and above a T of 1 (shallow soils).

Do smaller farms use computers in agriculture?

USDA ERS finds that less than 25% of smaller row-crop farms use yield maps, soil maps, variable-rate technology or guidance, except in cotton (EIB-248). Tools without machine costs, such as satellite images and records, scale down more easily.

Start with a satellite view of your fields, then add lab results: Farmonaut web app | Android | iOS | API.