Soil biology
More than doubling soil biology
Across two compacted North Yorkshire barley fields, microbial biomass in the Mastersoil 150-treated zones averaged 81% higher than the untreated controls.
The problem
Simon ran paired trials across two compacted arable fields in North Yorkshire, both sandy clay loam under spring barley. One of them was reading 380 for compaction — deep into the “poor” range.
Each field was split into a zone treated with Mastersoil 150 at 10 kg/ha and an untreated control zone.
What we did
Soil biology was tested in both zones on the same day in May 2022, six samples per zone, so that treated and control ground faced identical weather and identical sampling conditions.
Application rate: 10 kg/ha
What we measured
Microbial biomass — field 1
n = 6 per zoneTreated
701 µg C/g
Control
324 µg C/g
More than double.
Microbial biomass — field 2
n = 6 per zoneTreated
611 µg C/g
Control
399 µg C/g
A 53% increase.
Microbial biomass — both fields pooled
Treated
656 µg C/g
Control
361 µg C/g
An 81% increase in living soil biology.
Soil compaction
Treated
—
Control
—
Lower in the treated zones on both fields at the same time: down 40% on one, and between 35% and 48% on the other depending on which survey is used.
Wondering whether your ground would respond?
Tell us about the field. We’ll say whether it’s the kind of soil the trials point to.