What does a soil test leave out? Biology in focus
A Farm Progress article by Brent Murphree raises a practical question: how much can a conventional nutrient report tell us about living soil?
Regenerative News · Published: 17 October 2026 · Original report: 16 October 2026
The starting point
The article introduces Chuck Schembre, Jenny Garley and Megan Kavanaugh ahead of a discussion at the Organic Grower Summit in Monterey on 2 and 3 December. They call for chemical, biological and physical properties to be considered together, and emphasise consistent sampling.
What it establishes
The source is a journalistic account of practitioners’ views, rather than a new comparative scientific trial of laboratory methods. Its field experiences do not justify general promises about product effectiveness or the dismissal of chemical analysis.
How we would use it
In our educational work, we suggest accompanying every analysis with three questions: what problem are we investigating, what information does the method provide, and which decision will the result influence?
This approach fits our interest in the Soil Food Web, but interpretation requires care. A number becomes useful when we know where, when and how the sample was taken and understand the field’s history. We should ask laboratories to explain each test’s capabilities and limitations clearly.