Organic farming has been praised for many profound reasons, but there are some negative effects of organic practices. Research on the interactions between soil insect pests and organic farming practices is still scarce, although such interactions might sometimes lead to severe crop damage. Here, we explore the influences of organic farming inputs and key host crops on the oviposition behaviour of soil insect pests likely to infest crops. We also shed light on the factors driving this behaviour and analyse 4 years of data from an on-farm investigation. Our study offers clear support that decomposing organic matter and legume crops affect oviposition behaviour and provides evidence that butyric acid and 1-hexanol are major attractants. The results suggest that poor management or returning decomposing organic matter to the field is risky. The silver lining, however, is that oviposition behaviour can be disrupted by the identified key attractants to benefit crop protection.