I've mentioned Cover Crops a couple of times on Facebook and in a couple of Blog Posts too  but I thought I'd write a post explaining what they actually are and why we choose to farm using this method. Basically the old fashioned or usual method of Farming was that after the crops were harvested, the straw would be left in lines and baled into bales, either round or square, then led away to be used as animal bedding for the Winter.  The fields would then be ploughed and left over the Winter months for the frosts and cold weather to break down the soil before it would be cultivated in the Spring, then planted with the next crop which would be harvested in the Autumn. The minimum tillage method that we have adopted  means that instead of baling the straw we have it chopped very finely by the combine harvester...