Understanding your soil’s nutrient status and biological function is a critical first step in regenerative farming.
This guide introduces a basic yet comprehensive method on how to test your soil’s “current account,” “deposit account,” and biological activity to understand your soil and inform better decisions.
Useful for: farmers wanting practical insight into soil function without over-relying on external labs.
Tip: Pair field tests with visual observation to build a full soil profile and search the SoilMentor Tool in this catalogue for a useful aditional set of tests.
– Measure the soil’s current account
– Use standard lab Broad Spectrum lab test to show soluble, plant-available nutrients (note this can shift with rainfall).
– Measure the soil’s deposit account
– Do a total nutrient content test to see locked, plant-unavailable nutrients, including micronutrients, in your soil.
– Measure the biological function
– Use in-field tests (e.g. SoilMentor) and betters still get a microscope to observe soil life directly. Elaine Ingham’s youtube channel has useful videos to help you understand what you are looking at.
– Link the results – Understanding all three layers gives you a working picture of soil health and guides input decisions.”
Link to Soil Mentor: Soilmentor – The simple monitoring platform for building healthier soils