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Agriculture · head to head

Bushel vs Soil Scout

Bushel logo

Bushel

Agriculture

Digital infrastructure for grain

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Soil Scout logo

Soil Scout

Agriculture

Buried wireless soil sensors with a ten to twenty year battery and no cables to the surface

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bushel has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Bushel pricing is not published for the agribusiness products; Soil Scout sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • They diverge on capability: Bushel covers Digital scale tickets, Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bushel and Soil Scout actually diverge.

Attributes where Bushel and Soil Scout differ
AttributeBushelSoil Scout
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bushel

  • Digital scale tickets
  • Contract management
  • Settlement tracking
  • Delivery scheduling
  • Multi-location management
  • Price notifications
  • Offer management
  • Mobile access

Only in Soil Scout

  • Fully buried sensors
  • Ten to twenty year battery
  • Underground radio
  • Dual depth sensing
  • Moisture, temperature and salinity
  • Soil Scout Hub
  • Web service API
  • Long base station range

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bushel

  • Grain trading and contract workflows between farmers and elevatorsnot Soil Scout
  • Payments between agribusinesses and growersnot Soil Scout
  • Quoting and CRM for ag retailersnot Soil Scout
  • Replacing paper processes across the grain supply chainnot Soil Scout

Soil Scout

  • A golf course monitoring greens moisture where a surface-mounted probe would be hit by mowers and playnot Bushel
  • A stadium pitch under a closed roof where hand-held probing is impractical during the seasonnot Bushel
  • A research plot needing consistent multi-year soil data below cultivation depthnot Bushel
  • An irrigated field where a surface logger would not survive tillage or a spray boomnot Bushel

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bushel

  • Pricing is not published for the agribusiness products
  • Sold as many separate modules, including CRM, portals, Trade, Bushel Pay, quoting and loyalty
  • Its value depends on network effects across the 3,500 grain and ag retail facilities already connected

Soil Scout

  • Sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • No pricing is published at all, which makes it hard to justify against commodity probes that quote openly, and per-sensor cost is well above the alternatives.
  • It measures but does not control, so tying moisture readings to actual irrigation decisions requires either manual interpretation or a separate integration project with the control system.
  • Underground radio range depends on soil type and moisture; heavy wet clay attenuates the signal and can force more base stations than the headline kilometre figure suggests.
  • The company is small and Finland-based, so outside its established golf and sports turf distribution the support, spares and installation expertise depend entirely on whether a competent local distributor exists.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bushel

Free
  • Bushel FarmFree
    • Grain contracts & settlements
    • Scale ticket access
    • Delivery scheduling
  • Bushel for Elevators$undefined/month
    • Customer portal
    • Mobile ticketing
    • Offer management

Soil Scout

On request
  • Soil Scout$undefined/year
    • Sensors and base station quoted per site
    • Hub subscription terms quoted with the hardware
    • No individual sensor data plans required

Which should you pick?

Choose Bushel if

  • You need digital scale tickets.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want contract management.
Bushel review

Choose Soil Scout if

  • You need fully buried sensors.
  • You also want ten to twenty year battery.
Soil Scout review

Questions people ask

Is Bushel or Soil Scout better?
Neither clearly leads. Bushel starts at Free and Soil Scout at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bushel or Soil Scout?
Bushel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bushel and On request for Soil Scout.
Does Bushel or Soil Scout run on more platforms?
Bushel runs on Web, Ios, Android. Soil Scout runs on Web.
Can I use Bushel for free?
Yes. Bushel has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Soil Scout starts at On request.
What is Bushel best used for?
Bushel is most often used for grain trading and contract workflows between farmers and elevators, payments between agribusinesses and growers, quoting and crm for ag retailers, replacing paper processes across the grain supply chain. Of those, grain trading and contract workflows between farmers and elevators and payments between agribusinesses and growers are not what Soil Scout is typically brought in for.
What can Bushel do that Soil Scout cannot?
Bushel covers Digital scale tickets, Contract management, Settlement tracking, Delivery scheduling. Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bushel: What subscription tiers does Bushel offer?

Bushel offers multiple tiers for farmers including Rainfall, Lite, and Essentials. Specific pricing and feature comparisons are available on their pricing page at bushelpowered.com/farmers/oldpricing.

Source
Soil Scout: How long do the sensors last?

Up to ten years for the Happi100 and up to twenty for the Hydra100, buried, with no battery replacement.

Bushel: Does Bushel offer services for agribusinesses beyond farmers?

Yes. Bushel serves agribusinesses with solutions including Customer Relationship Management, Customer Portal, Commercial Portal, Trade, Bushel Pay, Farm Management, Website Management, Professional Services, Loyalty Program, and Quoting.

Source
Soil Scout: Do the sensors need mobile data plans?

No. Sensors transmit to a base station through the soil, and only the base station uses a cellular modem.

Bushel: Does Bushel offer payment processing?

Yes. Bushel Business Account includes payment processing with interest-bearing capabilities. Banking services are provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. Interest rates are variable and subject to change.

Source
Soil Scout: Can it control irrigation directly?

No. It is a measurement and alerting system; controlling valves needs an integration with your irrigation controller through the API.

Soil Scout: What happens if a buried sensor fails?

You dig it up. There is no remote service option, which is the trade-off for having nothing above ground to damage.

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