For instance, subsoil management is set on the far left because at this point in time indications for change of subsoil management practices are only coming from a fraction of the soil science community. On the far right is irrigation because most interviewees assumed that the acreage of irrigated agricultural land will increase in Germany, mainly due to climate change, even though it is assumed to increase already in the coming years.

On the bottom of the Figure “Dimensions of change” is precision farming and it is connected to making agricultural machines, such as tractors, autonomous. We have strong signals for machines becoming autonomous because this development is already ongoing. But this alone does not mean that the treatment of soils will change. This will only happen if the machines will change, too. In addition to the current but forcibly slowing trend towards larger machines, a countertrend to small, lightweight field robots is foreseeable. 

Some of these small machines can already be found in the fields in the test phase. Small machines bring opportunities for smaller-scaled farming, intercropping and less weight stresses, which again can have positive impact on all soil functions. Furthermore, their development is connected to very precise application of pesticides and fertilizers. But details and other impacts are unclear, e.g. the aspect of resource efficiency in terms of energy consumption.

Smaller-scaled systems that can be facilitated by smaller machines are for instance agroforestry systems, even though they are also possible with conventional machines. Research uncovering its economic and environmental benefits in temperate regions, together with technological improvements in the use of, and demand for, lignocellulosic feedstocks for energy and industry could support a trend towards agroforestry.