A UK-wide eDNA comparison turned Wildfarmed's claims about nature-friendly farming into evidence customers and retailers can trust. Their approach shows regeneratively farmed land consistently outperforming conventional farmland on pollinators, insect species richness, insect biomass, and soil health.

Wildfarmed is transforming British agriculture, working directly with farmers to shift from conventional practices to regenerative methods. To back that claim with evidence rather than anecdote, Wildfarmed spent a year building a UK-wide outcomes measurement framework spanning eDNA, bioacoustics, soil health and carbon with a series of nature tech partners. NatureMetrics led the biodiversity evidence: comparing insect life on Wildfarmed's regeneratively farmed fields against matched conventional farmland using eDNA.

There were three major hurdles to overcome on this project. First, Wildfarmed's growers typically run 'wildfarmed practices' on only part of a farm, with fields rotating season to season, so a simple before-and-after comparison couldn't isolate the effect of farming from weather and location. Second, conventional insect surveys, with ecologists identifying specimens under a microscope, couldn't scale to the number of farms or fit the timeline required for annual impact reporting. And third, Wildfarmed needed a method simple enough for farmers to collect samples themselves, consistently and comparably across sites.

NatureMetrics designed a paired 10:10 sampling programme, comparing insect eDNA from 10 Wildfarmed fields against 10 matched conventional control fields. Samples were collected with pan traps and pitfall traps across five windows between late May and early July, then the samples were analysed at NatureMetrics' Guildford lab and turned into a series of biodiversity metrics and insights.

NatureMetrics' eDNA data found a 17% increase in insect species richness on Wildfarmed's regeneratively farmed fields compared to matched conventional fields — a meaningful signal in land that, in many cases, had only recently transitioned to regenerative practice. Set alongside the wider partnership's monitoring, the picture strengthens further: across the full programme, partners recorded 3.7x more bumblebees, 79% greater total insect biomass, an 80% increase in plant species, and 59% better water infiltration on Wildfarmed's fields.

"NatureMetrics is delighted to partner with the Wildfarmed team on their MRV pilot. We are fully aligned with Wildfarmed's mission to facilitate nature-positive farming, and through our eDNA analysis we've provided the crucial, evidence-based biodiversity data needed to demonstrate the ecological impact of Wildfarmed — and, most importantly, the positive contribution of their farm suppliers."

— Kevin Fennelly, Head of Agriculture, NatureMetrics

Paired with bioacoustic monitoring and soil science from partner organisations, the eDNA data gave Wildfarmed a defensible, multi-partner evidence base and regeneration report it could put directly in front of customers and retailers — proof that farming and nature can grow together, not just a claim. It's the kind of shared language the food system needs, giving farmers the confidence to farm differently, and giving customers real information about where their food comes from.

In collaboration with: NIAB, University of Bristol, AgriSound, Chirrup AI, Farmacy, Soil Extraction Lab Acoustics

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