ARLINGTON, VA [25 February 2025] AgGateway is pleased to announce the availability of an updated version of Modus, the most widely used lab test data exchange standard in the agriculture industry. This modernized and improved data set – Modus v2 – offers enhanced test method lists allowing soil test labs, retailers, researchers, software providers, and suppliers a more accurate and seamless way to exchange lab test data.
Understanding soil health is at the heart of modern agronomy, and a cornerstone of existing and emerging carbon sequestration and sustainability programs. Add in the continuing growth in the use of biological based crop inputs and a host of new measurements and variables for soil and it became clear that the industry could benefit tremendously from improvements to Modus.
The original Modus system was independently released in 2014 and rapidly became the de facto soil test data exchange standard in the industry, but it became difficult for the group that created it to provide the ongoing support and curation it needed. AgGateway assumed custody of Modus in 2022 and began the process of evaluating and updating the various parts of Modus.
“At A & L Great Lakes Labs we participated in the early development of the Modus file format and embraced it from its inception,” says Jamie Bultmeier, Corporate Sales Manager. “Like any new product, its use revealed opportunity for improvement, and Modus v2 addresses these opportunities and opens the framework to identify and include additional metadata. Modus v2 supports and further defines variations of traditional lab methods and data reporting, along with the large number of unique laboratory tests – some of which are still in development.”
Key benefits to Modus v2 include the following:
• Delivers more clarity in lab test method documentation
• Gives users the ability to identify what test method was used to ensure that test results are properly understood and interpreted
• Specifies a single unit of measure for each method to simplify data exchange, but it is flexible in that it can be converted by the user to match their needs.
• Allows the submission of test requests with information and receive linked results
• Allows apples-to-apples comparisons and results tracking over time by clearly documenting what was tested, when, where, and how
Lab test method lists for soil and manure are currently available in the Modus v2 structure, and an AgGateway working group is actively updating the plant tissue method list to the v2 structure as well and will be completed in 2025.
Additionally, this documentation is being explored with the ADAPT Standard open-source community to see if there is value and interest in aligning the next generation of the Modus schema with the new field data exchange standard. Future efforts will focus on updating the existing method lists for the feed, nematode, water, and microbiology method lists to the new v2 structure.
Another advantage to the new standard is the addition of a formal process for requesting changes and updates. The dedicated website at ModusStandard.org provides a basic overview of Modus v2, and links to a GitHub repository that contains everything needed to submit change and update requests, as well as complete definitions of terms and processes to improve understanding and useability.
For more information on Modus v2, reach out to AgGateway Member Services via email or visit https://modusstandard.org.
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AgGateway is a global, non-profit organization with the mission to develop the resources and relationships that drive digital connectivity in global agriculture and related industries. Learn more at www.aggateway.org.