We read the DNA of your soil
Every gram of soil holds billions of microbes. The Metagen soil health test sequences their DNA and turns that living community into a clear, comparable picture of how your soil is functioning — and where management is moving the needle.
Why use soil health testing?
- Protect your underlying asset
- Validate management practices
- Measure the impact of trials on soil biology
- Diagnose an underlying issue
- ESG reporting & biodiversity credits
The soil health test process
From a handful of soil to a scored report, in four steps.
- Step 1
Sample & sequence
A soil sample is collected and its DNA sequenced, capturing the full microbial community — fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes and more.
- Step 2
Measure indicators
Individual microbial groups and soil-health markers are quantified, including diversity indices, beneficial and pathogenic genera, and chemistry markers like active carbon.
- Step 3
Score against targets
Each indicator is compared to a crop-specific target percentile drawn from a database of comparable systems, producing a 0–1 score.
- Step 4
Aggregate into categories
Indicators are rolled up into six biological health categories, each with one aggregate score and an action label: Maintain, Monitor or Act.
Six biological health categories
Dozens of indicators roll up into six categories that describe how a soil is functioning. Each one carries its own aggregate score.
Biological Stability
How ‘mature’ a soil is, based on the food web. Typically influenced by disturbance.
- Earthworms
- Microinvertebrates
- Disturbance-sensitive fungi
Biodiversity
A measure of system redundancy — many microbes performing similar functional roles.
- Fungal
- Bacterial
- Protozoan
- Mesofaunal
- Nematode
Nutrient Cycling
Microbes responsible for breaking down organic matter and making it available to plants.
- Fungal dominance
- Nitrite-oxidising fungi
- Carbon-cycling fungi
- Active carbon
- Phosphatase
- B-glucosidase
Beneficial Microbes
Specific groups that form symbiotic relationships with plants to perform targeted functions.
- Rhizobiales
- Beneficial fungi
- Beneficial bacteria
- Endomycorrhizal fungi (AMF)
- Ectomycorrhizal fungi
Pest Suppression
Microbes that directly inhibit or parasitise pathogens and pests.
- Mycoparasitic fungi
- Entomopathogenic fungi
- Trichoderma
- Nematode-trapping fungi
Soilborne Pathogens
Common pathogens that cause disease in cropping systems.
- Rhizoctonia
- Phytophthora
- Verticillium
- Macrophomina
- Fusarium
- Pythium
- Sclerotinia
What relative abundance tells us
Soil health is driven by interactions between organisms, not individual species in isolation.
By tracking changes in community dynamics, relative abundance shows whether the soil ecosystem is becoming more diverse, resilient, disease-suppressive and biologically functional.
That gives a clear picture of how the system is evolving — and where management practices are influencing soil health, and ultimately productivity.
Multiple report formats
Single sample report
A complete soil-health snapshot for one sample.
Farm survey
Many paddocks compared across a whole operation.
Trajectory
How a paddock's biology is changing over time.
Trial analysis
Treatment-vs-control comparison for replicated trials.
Excel data & ASV tables
Raw data and sequence-variant tables, on request.
Further information
Other laboratory services are also available — talk to our team.