Funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, through the Drought Resilience Innovation Challenges Pilot Program. About the funding
300 soil DNA tests, two for each of 150 farmers. No cost. No obligation. Open to farmers in the participating local government areas of Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.
Soil Intelligence: Reading the living world beneath your feet
Sample a paddock that performs and one that does not. The difference in the biology between them tells you what is holding the poor paddock back, and your report turns that into a plan you can act on this season.
The sample report shows real results from two paddocks on one property, with the farm details removed. The chart alongside is illustrative.
Example farm, both sampled on the same day
North Ridge
Productive
74/100
Back Creek
Underperforming
41/100
Illustrative figures shown to demonstrate the report layout. Not a real farm result.
You take the samples. We do the rest.
1
Two minutes. We check your area, then send a kit or arrange collection.
2
One good, one poor. Take them yourself with the kit, or MADE collects in person at some sites.
3
A score for each paddock, the gap explained, and three costed options.
Four things that separate this from the other soil biology tests on the market.
Most soil DNA tests amplify a single short marker gene and report back to genus. We sequence the whole community, so your report names the organism. In the worked example the pathogen is Calonectria ilicicola, not just Calonectria. Bacteria, fungi, archaea and viruses all come out of the same run.
A single score tells you where a paddock sits. Two from the same farm, one that performs and one that does not, tell you what is different about the one letting you down. That comparison is the product.
Crop-type targets are averages built from other people’s soil. The paddock already working on your soil, your rainfall and your management is a target you can actually reach, and you can see how far off the other one is.
A column of things sitting above or below target is a diagnosis, not a decision. Every report ends in three options with a cost per hectare, written so you can hand them straight to your agronomist.
We are not a soil chemistry laboratory. The mineral panel is run for us by an accredited laboratory, it is an add-on rather than part of every test, and it does not replace the standard chemistry you already run. Chemistry tells you what nutrient is in the ground. DNA tells you whether the biology can get it to the plant. They work together.
Funded places cover 55 local government areas across Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, on four target soil types. Outside them, you can still buy a paddock test.
55 participating areas.
Australian Soil Classification orders. Together these four cover more than 39 per cent of Australian agricultural land, and all four occur in south-west Victoria. If you do not know which one you are on, we check it from your property location when you register.
One of 150 grant-funded places, for farms in a participating local government area. Check yours
$0 grant funded
Registration required. Places close when the 150 are filled. Program terms
Want more paddocks than the funded tests cover, or would rather not wait?
$299 per paddock, plus GST
Price in AUD. No multi-paddock discount.
Yes. All 300 tests are paid for by the grant, and each of the 150 places covers two. There is nothing to buy afterwards and no obligation attached to accepting a place. The conditions that do apply, eligibility, how places are allocated and what happens to your results, are in the program terms.
One score tells you where a paddock sits. Two, from a good paddock and a poor one on the same farm, tell you what is holding the poor one back.
Farms in one of the 55 participating local government areas, on a Sodosol, Vertosol, Ferrosol or Dermosol, while places last. We check the soil type from your property location when you register, so you do not need to know it. The full list of areas is in the eligibility section.
No. Chemistry tells you what nutrient is there. DNA tells you whether the biology can use it.
No. You and your adviser get the biological layer and the options. The on-farm call stays with them.
Every test includes the DNA analysis and the report written from it. The mineral panel, the standard chemistry, is run on a selected group of samples across the program, chosen by us. Where it has not been run your report is written from the DNA alone. You can add it to your own samples for $229 per sample plus GST. The report page shows what each one contributes.
Soilbiome.ai Pty Ltd owns the soil test results and the microbiome data. You get your report and can use it however you like, including handing it to your agronomist. Because the funded tests are paid for by the Australian Government, the results must also be made available to the Commonwealth, which holds a permanent royalty-free licence to use and publish them, and they feed the national soil microbiome database. The program terms set that out in full.
Register in two minutes. The kit goes out in the post and the report comes back to your inbox.
