It’s been five years since we parked the plow here in Woolley, West Yorkshire in the U.K., and put our faith in direct drilling. It’s a big leap of faith, I can tell you. You go from a nice, clean, plowed field to drilling into what looks like a right mess of stubble and trash. 

It’s not an easy transition to make, mentally. You’ve got to trust the system, trust the drill, and then, to a certain extent, walk away until March. 

Of course, you’re not really walking away. There’s still spraying to be done, and you’re constantly watching and wondering. That initial shock of seeing your wheat coming up through all that stubble takes some getting used to.

We’re now heading into our fifth harvest from direct-drilled crops, and I don’t think we’ll ever go back. There would have to be a very strong reason to bring the plow out of the nettles, and I can’t think what that would be. 

When you get a spade in the ground, you can see the difference. The soil is different: it’s got a bit of a sponginess to it, a bit of life. It’s friable, it breaks up, and you can see the wormholes and the root channels. 

Power of Covers

We’ve had no metal through this land for over 5 years, and the soil is thanking us for it. I know some of the neighbors still lean on the gate and scratch their heads, wondering what on earth we’re up…