By combining information on cropping patterns from UKCEH Land Cover® plus: Crops with national survey data on pesticide and fertiliser use, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology created data products UKCEH Land Cover® plus Pesticides and UKCEH Land Cover® plus Fertilisers.
CEH Land Cover plus: Pesticides 2012-2017 (England, Scotland and Wales) and CEH Land Cover plus: Fertilisers 2010-2015 (England) estimate average pesticide and fertiliser applications over six years for the whole of Great Britain and England respectively. They offer unique datasets of application rates at a fine resolution and national scale.
In November 2025, a new map was added - UKCEH Land Cover plus: Fertilisers 2015-2021 (England). This covers the more recent years and increases the temporal resolution to provide a map per year instead of an average across years.
These maps were developed to aid UKCEH research into the environmental impacts of agriculture and to help develop sustainable farming solutions.
For academic research/education only, these maps are available free to users of EDINA, specifically the Environment section.
UKCEH Land Cover® plus Pesticides
UKCEH Land Cover® plus Pesticides combines UKCEH Land Cover® plus: Crop maps with Pesticide Utilisation Survey data to map average, annual pesticide applications across England, Wales and Scotland at a 1km resolution for 162 active ingredients.
Technical features
- Scale: 1km resolution
- Units: kg of active ingredient / 1km2/year
- Supply Format: GeoTIFF
- Coverage: England, Wales and Scotland
- Period: A snapshot of average applications between 2012 and 2017
- Ingredients: Data are available for 162 active ingredients
Method
County-level data from the Pesticide Usage Survey (2012-2017) was summarised as annual total applications per crop per county per year.
Average annual application rates for each active ingredient (or combination) were modelled as a function of the crop to which they are applied and their location.
Using this model, estimated application rates were produced for each 1km square in England, Wales and Scotland using information on the crops grown from UKCEH Land Cover® plus: Crop maps (2015-2017). Hence, pesticide application was mapped even for counties where data was missing for some years on some crops.
Uncertainty maps are presented alongside each active ingredient map to quantify the level of confidence in the estimated application rates. Temporal variation in pesticide application is reflected in the uncertainly maps.
Potential Uses
- Detecting the impact of pesticide use on wildlife population trends.
- Prediction of the environmental fate of active ingredients and exposure risk to key groups (e.g. pollinating insects).
- Modelling agrochemical runoff.
- Water quality management in support of the Water Framework Directive.
- Targeting management interventions such as pesticide stewardship.
- Wider monitoring of pesticide use across landscapes in support of improved regulation.
UKCEH Land Cover® plus Fertilisers 2010-2015 (England)
CEH Land Cover® plus Fertilisers 2010-2015 maps estimate average, total, annual, application of manufactured Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium.
Technical features
- Scale: 1 km resolution
- Units: kg of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium / 1km2
- Supply Format: GeoTIFF
- Coverage: England
- Period: A snapshot of average total annual applications between 2010 and 2015
Method
Anomysed data from the Defra and Scottish Government sponsored British Survey of Fertiliser Practice (2010-2015) was used to derive average, total, annual application of manufactured fertilisers for each crop type per survey location.
A spatial interpolation model was used to predict applications from every 1km grid cell in England.
The total application of each 1km square was then derived using crop areas from UKCEH Land Cover® plus: Crops (averaged 2015-2017).
Uncertainty maps are presented alongside the fertiliser application maps to quantify the level of confidence in estimated application rates.
Potential Uses
- Prediction of environmental impacts, such as modelling agrochemical runoff, eutrophication and soil health.
- Planning and environmental protection, such as catchment sensitive farming and estimates of gaseous emissions.
- Supporting the agricultural industry, providing data on patterns of crop inputs.
UKCEH Land Cover® plus Fertilisers 2015-2021 (England)
UKCEH Land Cover plus: Fertilisers 2015-2021 maps estimate total, annual, application of manufactured Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. The product builds on the previous CEH Land Cover plus: Fertilisers 2010-2015, covering more recent years, and increasing the temporal resolution to provide a map per year instead of an average across years.
Technical features
- Scale: 1km resolution
- Units: kg of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium / 1km2 / year
- Supply Format: TIFF
- Spatial extent: England
- Period: An average total annual application for each year between 2015 and 2021
Method
Data on fertiliser applications were derived from the Defra British Survey of Fertiliser Practice (BSFP). To produce a map of applications across England, UKCEH Land Cover plus: Crops was used to identify which crops were grown where, and the modelled fertiliser applications to each crop in each 1km square were summed to create an estimate of total fertiliser application rates per 1km square (kg/km2/yr).
