Farmers will be paid for looking after England’s soils for the first time from next year, when the first stage of the government’s new support payments begins. Farmers will be paid between £20 and £58 per hectare in England for basic measures to protect and nurture their soils, and nearly all farmers are likely to be eligible to apply for the payments, which will cover arable soils for crop cultivation as well as grassland, moorland and other soils.