How to focus soil research when contributing to environmental agricultural regulations aimed at sustainable development

Abstract Current environmental regulations for agriculture in the Netherlands and England focus on the application of certain selected management measures as an empirical basis for providing subsidies. Farmers like this simple, straightforward approach. The link with sustainable development is, however, not defined and this can become problematic when procedures may be challenged in future. A procedure focusing on the measurement of ecosystem services in line with selected UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can provide this link, but whether or not this more complicated procedure will be attractive for farmers is still unclear. The soil science community would be well advised to discuss their future role in developing scientifically sound operational procedures that would be acceptable to both farmers and policy makers and would be aimed at contributing to the sustainable development of society at large.