About This Project
Developed by Prime-Field Consult in partnership with AgrAssure UK, the SoilFirst Initiative is a rigorous, soil regenerative solution designed to accelerate the adoption of commercial grade soil amendment across agricultural practice in the UK. The project is focused on scaling regenerative practices through the use of Bacteriosol (B-Sol), a UAB-certified, 100% natural microbial soil amendment comprising over 28,000 DNA-identified strains of beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi, to deliver both environmental and productive goals.
While B-Sol boasts over 30 years of validation across 320,000+ hectares in Europe, UK adoption has been hindered by a 'value-action gap', a lack of independent, UK-specific evidence. SoilFirst bridges this gap by generating robust, MRV-grade (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) data under commercial arable conditions. By employing a strict split-plot design (12.5 ha treated vs. 12.5 ha conventional NPK control per site), the project provides the definitive, peer-reviewed proof required to transition this nature-based innovation from early validation to mainstream, field-scale commercial readiness across the UK.
Project Goal
Project Goal
To deploy proven biological innovation that regenerates soil health at scale, empowering farmers to transition from synthetic chemical based input-dependency to self-sustaining productivity while delivering verifiable nutrient neutrality and deep-soil carbon sequestration.
The Novel Natural Capital it's Delivering
Soil First is engineered to deliver simultaneous agronomic, economic, and environmental breakthroughs. The project targets the following verifiable, data-backed outcomes:
SoilFirst is building on a regenerative practice that has delivered nitrate drain concentrations of ≤0.4 mg/L and phosphate of ≤0.07 mg/L, representing a >95% reduction in nitrate and >78% reduction in phosphate compared to conventional controls and Water Framework Directive (WFD) thresholds.
Driving stable soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation at 30–60 cm+ depth (below the tillage layer) at an average rate of 6.2 t C/ha/year, ensuring stable long-term sequestration security.
This 100% natural soil amendment solution increases Soil Organic Matter (SOM) by a significant margin, improving Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) scores, and delivering a 300% uplift in soil micro-organisms density.
Productive & Economic Impact:
Economic Impact
- Increased Gross Margins: 16%–23% improvement in first 2-3 years, by eliminating synthetic fertilizer dependency.
- Input Reduction: Cutting P, K, and lime requirements by 30% in Year 1, and reducing Nitrogen and fungicide applications by up to 50% by Year 3, shielding farmers from volatile synthetic fertiliser markets.
- Credit Revenue: Value-stack high-integrity soil carbon credits alongside SFI/ELMS payments.
- Zero Upfront Costs: Soil First Project covers soil sampling and audits, removing traditional barriers for farmers.
Productive Impact
- Drought Resilience: Improved organic matter significantly enhances water-holding capacity in Wessex's chalk downlands.
- Soil Structure: Higher biological activity (CO₂ burst values up to 53.9 kg/ha) ensures cycling and infiltration.
Strategic Implementation: The Wessex Cluster Model
Soil First Project targets an initial 200,000 hectares of Farmer Clusters to aggregate scale and reduce per-acre costs:
Matching soil strategies directly to geological profiles: B-Sol® with herbal leys for the Chalk Downlands, minimal tillage for the Vales, and silvopasture for the New Forest fringes.
Using Agricarbon’s automated drilling rigs to physically prove soil organic carbon gains down to 1 meter deep in years 3 to 5, ensuring all generated carbon credits are high-integrity and audit-ready.