Collapsed. Recoverable. Resilient. Regenerative.

Four rungs. Six indicators. One clear answer:

Most soil diagnostics work in silos. Your nutrient panel can’t see your biology. Your biology report can’t see your structure. Each generates its own recommendation — but nobody reads across them to tell you what your soil is actually doing as a system. The result: technically correct advice that doesn’t compound, inputs that underperform, and soil that stays stuck on the same rung — season after season.

Nutrient availability is an emergent property of active carbon cycling and microbial function. Until a soil develops the biological infrastructure to cycle nutrients, input optimisation can’t deliver results. The Soil Function Ladder™ acts as a readiness filter — distinguishing soils that need repair from soils that are ready to optimise — so recommendations land on ground that can actually use them.

Traditional soil tests give you numbers; The Soil Function Ladder™ gives you a Road Map.

The Soil Function Ladder integrates indices from chemistry, physics, and biology into a single functional classification. Instead of three siloed reports, you get one integrated diagnosis — the functional state of your soil, the constraint that's binding it, and the management sequence that will actually move it forward.

How the Ladder Works

The Soil Function Ladder™ assesses six diagnostic indicators across chemistry, physics, and biology—then classifies your soil into one of four functional states:

Collapsed (1) – Critical dysfunction. Inputs are wasted. Requires structural recovery before productivity is possible.

Recoverable (2) – Responding to management. Focus on building reserves and stability.

Resilient (3) – Functionally stable. Can handle normal stress and deliver consistent performance.

Regenerative (4) – Self-improving. Builds fertility, sequesters carbon, requires minimal intervention.

Your soil isn't "good" or "bad"—it's on a rung. And every rung has a next step. The Soil Function Ladder™ gives you the map & the territory.

Who Uses the Soil Function Ladder™?

Farmers & Agronomists

Municipalities & Urban Forestry

Nurseries & Suppliers

Stop guessing. Start improving.

→ Prioritise fields for intervention

→ Track progress season-to-season

→ Align soil health with profitability

Plant with confidence.

→ Assess sites before tree establishment

→ Specify soil standards in procurement

→ Reduce replanting costs

Verify quality. Command premium pricing.

→ Certify production soil health

→ Differentiate in competitive markets

→ Build trust with demanding clients

Why We Built This

“Over a decade of working with farmers, I’ve watched the same mistake repeat: the right practice, applied to a soil that isn’t structurally ready for it. The Soil Function Ladder™ changes the starting point — every decision begins with what’s actually limiting the system, not what each test happens to measure. That distinction is where most regenerative budgets either take hold or quietly disappear.”

— Josef Winter, Founder, 59degrees Soil Architects

Traditional soil tests give you numbers. The Soil Function Ladder gives you a roadmap.