Dry combustion (DC), established about a century ago, is at present the conventional method for soil carbon analysis.  However, advances made in chemical analysis instrumentation had minimal effect on the DC method that till now remains very labor intensive and time consuming due to the multiplicity of steps required for soil sampling and sample preparation for the analysis. Consequently the DC method is destructive and provides a point measurement. These constrains limit the utility of the DC method to the rapidly expanding needs for carbon analysis in soil for monitoring new soil management practices and for precision agriculture. Frequent verification of soil carbon inventories over large fields require a large number of samples that are critically important for facilitating trading with carbon credits. The number of core samples required for representing carbon stock in a large field and more importantly to assess changes in this stock remains an open question which depends on precision or confidence level required. Basic characteristics of a new non-destructive method used in static and scanning modes over large areas are described. The method, Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS), is based on gamma ray spectroscopy induced by fast 14 MeV neutrons. Energetic neutrons and gamma ray involved in the INS method enable sampling large volumes in a stark contrast to other emerging modalities. The INS methodology is compared in general terms with the other emerging modalities that include; mid- and near-Infra Red (IR) technology based on diffused reflectance from organic matter in soil and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) which utilizes atomic emission from the microplasma induced by laser ablation of small soil volumes. The issues faced by each of the technologies will be illuminated in the forthcoming presentation.