Physical soil degradation in the Netherlands

Abstract

Soils used in agriculture are subjected to a wide variety of human activities. Soil tillage and soil impravement operations may loose the soil, while soil wetting due to rainfall, and farming operations as sowing, spraying, weed control and harvesting but also grazing cattle may compact the soil. Compaction may also he caused by land levelling, grading and heavy loading from earthmoving machinery in land consolidation schemes