University Of Warwick Crop Centre and Baker Consultants conclude Defra funded Soil Ecoacoustics for Land Management project

An initiative to test a field-based acoustic technique for measuring soil health, undertaken by Baker Consultants (commercial partner) and Warwick University (academic partner) concludes this month. This project was funded under the Farming Innovation Programme – a Defra-funded initiative delivered by Innovate UK.

Over the past two years, this project has made significant strides in developing innovative soil monitoring technologies that promise to revolutionise the assessment of soil health and help improve agricultural land management practices.

Soil health is a global issue, influencing crop yields, food security, carbon sequestration and ultimately the health of the whole ecosystem. An active soil biology is vital in providing a productive growing environment and building climate resilience. Ecoacoustics is an innovative, simple and scalable field-based sampling method that can measure and track biological activity in the soil.

The key achievements of the project included the collection of over 2000 soil acoustic samples and the development of a machine-learning algorithm to analyse them; development of a prototype hand-held device which will allow farmers to easily and cheaply collect their own soil sound data; and comprehensive mesocosm experiments to understand the relationship between soil acoustics and soil biodiversity in controlled environments.

Dr David Chandler, Associate Professor and Reader in Entomology & Crop Science at the University of Warwick said: "This research has developed a really useful tool, based on cutting edge science, that land managers can use to monitor the biodiversity of farmland soil.  These days, farmers are tasked with producing high quality crops with fewer chemicals, while at the same time conserving and enhancing biodiversity, and coping with the massive impacts of climate change and a farm labour crisis. They need new, easy to use technologies to help them manage their land. Soil acoustics technologies have potential to change the way we farm, produce food and look after our environment. The University of Warwick is a leader in agri-technologies and has been working with farmers and growers for decades to develop better crop management techniques.  The fact that we can now monitor the biological health of our soils by listening to them is a step forward in being able to make better, data-driven decisions on our farms."

A range of trial sites formed part of the project including Rothamsted Research, Wildfarmed, National Trust, JoJos Vineyard & Yeo Valley Farms. These recordings make up the largest database of soil sounds world-wide and form the basis of the soil acoustic index against which all new samples are correlated under the hypothesis that 'A healthy soil is a noisy soil'. A database of taxa-related sounds has also been initiated in order that species specific analysis can be developed in the future.

A new venture, Soil Acoustics Ltd has been formed to take this technology to market, and the patented Soil Acoustic Meter will soon be available for farmers and land managers to start collecting their own soil sound data.

Dr. Carlos Abrahams, Project Lead and Director of Ecoacoustics at Baker Consultants and a founder of Soil Acoustics, commented: "This project has been a remarkable journey of discovery and innovation. Our team has worked tirelessly to develop technologies that will have a lasting impact on sustainable land management. We are excited about the future prospects and the potential for our findings to influence agricultural practices globally."

https://soilacoustics.com/

https://bakerconsultants.co.uk/news/soil-ecoacoustics-the-sound-of-restored-soil/