Bodenkoffer: a kit and app for soil health analysis in the field

Bodenkoffer is a portable soil-analysis kit designed to help understand and improve soil health, explains project manager Ulrike Kappacher in this video. The kit guides users through physical, chemical and biological assessments directly in the field, and gives an immediate evaluation of the results through its app.

Developed in Austria’s Oberinnviertel-Mattigtal LEADER region, Bodenkoffer responds to a practical challenge: soil health is vital to productive and resilient farming, but affordable, easy-to-use analysis tools have not always been available. As Ferdinand Tiefnig of Austria’s Federal Council explains, Bodenkoffer helps farmers understand how to prevent soil compaction and preserve the soil’s capacity to absorb water. Healthy, well-aerated soil can support crop growth with less fertiliser and cope better with drought and heavy rainfall.

By helping farmers assess the condition of their soil, the kit supports more targeted decisions on fertilisers, pesticides and land management. Saving each assessment in the app also makes it possible to compare results over time and see whether changes in farming practices are improving soil health. Florian Reitsammer, Managing Director of the LEADER region, explains that users can send the results by email for further analysis. Where connectivity is available, the data can be recorded, saved and transmitted directly from the field.

Learning and knowledge-sharing are central to the project. Farmers receive training and carry out assessments together, comparing results and discussing suitable measures. Bodenkoffer has also become part of the curriculum in many Austrian agricultural schools, where students can take kits home and test soil on their own farms. It is also used in agricultural education in Germany.

More than 320 kits are now in use across Austria, Bavaria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and El Salvador. A finalist in the 2025 Agriculture and Rural Inspiration Awards (ARIA), the project was supported through the EU’s LEADER programme. The project’s total budget was € 28 575, including € 18 288, or 64%, from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Read more about the project on the EU CAP Network website.

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