Thousands of millions of microbial cells inhabit a handful of soil and, thanks to the use of amplicon sequencing and metagenomics, the degree to which we can understand the abundances and diversity of soil microbiomes continues to improve (Dini-Andreote and van Elsas, 2019). DNA-based techniques are more widely used than metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics because they require less investment and are easier to implement, while commercial companies provide relatively cheap and fast sequencing (Fierer, 2017). In contrast, metaproteomics analyses require the use of sensitive and specialist tools and equipment.