After harvest, the questions quickly turn to next season. What worked? What didn’t? Where should inputs go next year? And what can your soil tell you now that would help you with those decisions?
Fall soil sampling can help answer some of those questions. But while physical and chemical soil measurements provide essential information, there is another part of the system that is often harder to see: soil biology.
Understanding that biological layer adds context about nutrient cycling, disease risk, and overall soil health. Soil DNA analysis now makes it possible to measure that living dimension and bring it into agronomic decision-making.
Yes. Fall is a valuable time to sample soil because it gives growers a chance to evaluate field conditions after the growing season and gather information for planning for the next one.
If soil sampling is already part of your fall routine, it is also an opportunity to look beyond conventional measurements. Adding biological soil analysis can help you understand how the soil microbiome is functioning and provide another layer of field-specific information to use alongside your existing soil data.
With BeCrop® Test, for example, one soil sample can provide insights into biological nutrient cycling and availability, disease risk, natural biocontrol, microbial functions related to plant growth and stress adaptation, biodiversity, and overall biological health.
The value is not simply knowing which microorganisms are present. It is understanding what your soil biology may be doing so you can bring that information into decisions about fertility, crop protection, biologicals, and other management choices.
Harvest closes one growing season and opens planning for the next.
Growers look back at field performance and decide where fertilizer, crop protection, biologicals, seed, and other inputs may be needed.
Those decisions carry real economic weight. In McKinsey’s 2026 Global Farmer Insights Survey, increased input prices were among the leading risks to profitability identified by farmers in North America and Europe. Among European respondents, 58% listed increased input prices among their top three profit risks, followed by commodity price volatility at 40% and extreme weather at 37%.
When every input has to justify its place in the budget, the information behind those decisions matters too.
That is one reason fall soil sampling is useful: it gathers information about the field before the next round of management and input decisions.
But soil testing is not only about determining what needs to be added. It is also about understanding the system you are managing.
And that system is physical, chemical, and biological.
Traditional soil analysis provides essential information for agronomic decision-making. Measurements related to nutrients, pH, organic matter, and other soil characteristics help growers and agronomists understand the environment in which the crop is growing.
But soil is also a living ecosystem. Bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms participate in processes that influence how nutrients are transformed and cycled, how plants interact with their environment, how organic matter decomposes, and how biological communities interact with potential pathogens.
Measuring what is chemically present in a soil and understanding what is biologically happening in it are related, but they are not the same thing.
Consider nutrients. Knowing that a nutrient is present is important. But microorganisms help transform and cycle nutrients within the soil. Looking at biological function can therefore add context to a conventional fertility analysis.
The same applies to crop protection. Detecting a potential pathogen is useful but disease develops within a much more complex biological system that also includes beneficial microorganisms associated with natural biocontrol.
This is why biological analysis is not a replacement for the soil tests growers already use. It adds another part of the picture.
A soil contains an enormous biological community, most of which cannot be evaluated simply by looking at the field.
Modern DNA-based soil analysis makes it possible to characterize that microbiome in much greater detail. But identifying microorganisms is only the beginning.
For biological soil information to be useful agronomically, the practical question is about function: What is this microbial community capable of doing?
This is where BeCrop® Test comes in. It analyzes microbial DNA and translates the complexity of the soil microbiome into agronomically relevant information, helping growers and agronomists evaluate biological functions and indicators that would otherwise remain largely invisible.
The goal is simple: make the biological layer of your soil measurable, so you can make decisions with a more complete understanding of what is happening belowground.
Rather than stopping at a list of microorganisms, BeCrop Test looks at biological functions and indicators related to nutrient cycling, plant growth, stress adaptation, disease risk, natural biocontrol, biodiversity, and overall biological health.
Results are benchmarked against Biome Makers’ crop-specific soil microbiome database, which helps identify biological strengths and areas for improvement relative to comparable agricultural systems.
Example of a BeCrop® Test report showing soil biological status and key areas with potential for improvemen
This matters because knowing more about how the biology in your own soil is functioning can add field-specific evidence to the decisions you already make.
For example, BeCrop® Test can help you explore questions such as:
A single soil sample can reveal four dimensions of the soil microbiome and its functional potential.
BeCrop® Test provides information about microbial functions associated with nutrient cycling and biological nutrient availability, adding context to conventional fertility data.
This can help growers and agronomists better understand the biological side of nutrient dynamics when evaluating fertility and input strategies.
The presence of a pathogen is only one part of the disease story.
BeCrop® Test identifies crop-relevant disease risks while also providing information about beneficial microorganisms associated with natural biocontrol. Looking at both gives a fuller picture of what may be happening belowground.
This information is not a replacement for scouting, plant diagnostics, or agronomic expertise. It is an additional source of evidence that can be considered alongside them.
The soil microbiome also contains microorganisms with functions associated with plant growth and responses to environmental stress.
BeCrop® Test makes these microbial functions measurable, helping growers understand the biological environment their crops are growing in.
BeCrop® also evaluates the broader biological status of the soil, including biodiversity and indicators of biological functionality.
Because results are benchmarked against comparable agricultural systems, growers can put an individual result into context rather than interpreting each biological measurement in isolation.
Together, these insights provide a biological snapshot of the field that complements the physical, chemical, agronomic, and historical information already available.
Fertilizer. Biologicals. Crop protection. Seed. Plenty of line items compete for the same farm budget. The question is not simply what can be applied, but where an investment makes sense for a particular field.
This is where biological soil information becomes especially valuable.
A grower considering next season’s fertility program may want more context about the microbial functions involved in nutrient cycling. Someone evaluating disease pressure may benefit from looking not only at disease risks, but also at the beneficial biology associated with natural biocontrol. A grower considering biological inputs may first want a clearer picture of the biological strengths and potential limitations already present in the soil.
BeCrop® does not make those management decisions for the grower, and biology is not the only information that should inform them.
What BeCrop® does is make a previously hard-to-see part of the field measurable, so biological information can become part of the decision rather than an unknown.
That distinction matters when input costs are a major concern. The objective is not to add another product to the input list. It is to have better information before deciding what belongs on that list.
The value of biological soil data becomes clearer in practice.
A fifth-generation corn and soybean farmer in the Midwest was working with his local agricultural retailer to make input decisions that could support both current crop performance and the long-term success of the farm.
Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all input recommendation, the retailer used BeCrop® Test to better understand the biological health and functions of the farmer’s soil and incorporate that information into field-specific recommendations.
The case study reported measurable changes in both input use and farm economics.
| 20% | 10% | $108.18 | 4X |
| Reduction in nitrogen use | Revenue gain per acre | Net gain per acre | ROI |
The farmer reduced nitrogen use by 20%, representing $34 per acre, while achieving a 10% revenue gain, reported as $110 per acre. Overall, the case documented a net gain of $108.18 per acre and a 4X ROI.
After three years, the farmer reported yield gains ranging from 40 to 90 bushels.
Note that not every field tested with BeCrop® will achieve these same results. Soil, crop, management, weather, and production goals differ from one operation to another.
But this case shows what becomes possible when a retailer adds field-specific biological information to the evidence behind an input recommendation.
BeCrop® provided a deeper understanding of soil microbiome functions. The retailer used that information to develop recommendations for the farm. The farmer was then able to make more targeted input decisions based on the needs identified in his fields.
That is the practical value of making soil biology measurable: turning information about the microbiome into another tool for agronomic decision-making.
Nutrient management is only one example of how biological soil information can support field decisions. Crop protection is another.
Disease management often involves making decisions before symptoms are visible. Growers may need to choose resistant varieties or rootstocks, determine where to plant them, plan scouting, or decide which fields deserve closer attention.
Understanding what is happening belowground can add another piece of evidence to those decisions.
A watermelon grower in the North Florida and South Georgia region had a practical problem.
The grower had ordered some watermelon plants grafted onto Fusarium-resistant rootstock, while the rest were susceptible ungrafted plants.
The question was straightforward: Which field had greater Fusarium wilt risk, and where should the resistant plants go?
To help answer that question before planting, the grower analyzed one composite soil sample from each of two fields using BeCrop® Test.
The difference was clear. Fusarium wilt was not detected in the sample from Field 2. This was notable because across Biome Makers' watermelon dataset, Fusarium is detected to some degree in approximately 80% of soil samples.
With the higher Fusarium wilt risk identified in Field 1, the grower could prioritize the resistant grafted plants there and place the susceptible ungrafted plants in Field 2, where Fusarium wilt had not been detected.
Instead of waiting for symptoms to appear, the grower made soil biological information part of the planting decision.
Finding a pathogen is useful, but connecting it to a field decision is what makes it actionable.
BeCrop® was not being used to predict exactly what would happen during the season. It identified a meaningful difference in Fusarium wilt risk between two fields, giving the grower another piece of evidence for deciding where to put the resistant rootstock.
The same principle extends to other crop-protection decisions. Biological soil information can be considered alongside field history, scouting, agronomic expertise, and other data when evaluating resistant varieties and rootstocks, field selection, rotations, and other management strategies.
If you're already planning to collect soil samples after harvest, adding biological analysis gives you another type of information to carry into next season.
Think of soil information in three complementary layers:
Physical: What are the physical characteristics and conditions of the soil?
Chemical: What nutrients and chemical conditions are present?
Biological: What microorganisms and biological functions are present, and what can they tell you about nutrient cycling, disease risk, and plant health?
None of these layers tells the whole story by itself. Together, they provide a more complete picture of the system you are managing.
Fall sampling can provide more than a snapshot of nutrient levels. It can also establish a biological baseline you can compare as management changes over time.
The corn and watermelon examples started with very different problems.
The Midwest corn farmer and retailer wanted better information to guide input recommendations. Biological soil insights became part of a strategy that, in that specific case, resulted in lower nitrogen use alongside higher revenue.
The watermelon grower had a completely different question: Where should a limited supply of Fusarium-resistant plants go? Biological disease-risk information helped distinguish between two fields before planting.
Different crops. Different challenges. Different decisions. The common thread is that BeCrop® made biological information available before a management decision had to be made.
That is the value of adding biology to soil testing. It isn't about collecting more data for its own sake. It's about revealing a part of the soil system that has traditionally been difficult to measure and turning it into information you can use.
After harvest, growers already have plenty to think about. What performed well? Where did problems appear? What needs to change? Which inputs deserve another investment next season?
Your soil can provide part of the evidence behind those decisions.
Traditional testing provides essential information about the physical and chemical environment. BeCrop® adds the biological layer, revealing how the soil microbiome is functioning and providing insights into nutrient cycling, disease risk, natural biocontrol, plant growth, stress adaptation, biodiversity, and overall biological health.
The specific question will be different for every farm. The starting point is the same: understand more of what is happening in your own soil before deciding what comes next.
If you're already planning to collect soil samples this fall, use the opportunity to learn more than what's happening chemically.
BeCrop® Test turns soil microbial DNA into agronomic insights you can use alongside the soil and field information you already rely on to make more informed, field-specific decisions.
This fall, save 15% on BeCrop® Test with code SOIL15