Yeo Valley to remove ‘incorrect’ UK topsoil losses stat

Yeo Valley has decided to remove an “incorrect” statistic about UK topsoil erosion from its vanilla ice-cream after a farmer questioned its validity.

Northamptonshire farmer Joe Adams, from Thrupp Farms Ltd, took exception to a “Did you know…?” statistic on the side of Yeo Valley organic vanilla ice-cream. 

See also: What is the true value of on-farm soil organic matter?

It states: “Since 1850 the UK has lost 84% of its fertile top soil.”

Mr Adams emailed Yeo Valley to question the origin of the statement.

In response, the company told him the line comes from the Soil Association Marketing Guide, which states: “The UK has lost 84% of its fertile topsoil since 1850, with erosion continuing at 1cm to 3cm a year.”

Yeo Valley also told him the source of the statement was a written submission from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Inquiry into Soil Health in 2016. However, the CCC statistic refers to the the loss of peat soils in The Fens, not the UK as a whole. 

“As a conventional farmer, I’m fed up being painted by the press and the organic farming lobby that we are destroying the land,” he told Farmers Weekly.

“I don’t think we are. We’re looking after the countryside as best as we can, while producing food responsibly. This reminds me of separate claims we only have 60 years of harvests left in this country. I don’t believe it.”

© Joe Adams

Yeo Valley response

A spokesman for Yeo Valley thanked Mr Adams for bringing the matter to the company’s attention.

“It appears a well-used statistic cited by government ministers and the Soil Association is quoted in the public domain without context.

“Our focus is always on helping people better understand the link between the importance of healthy soil in our food system. Incorrect statistics damage the impact these messages have. We will be removing the line from this one product as soon as practicable.”