South Cambridgeshire farmer buries his pants – and is amazed by the results
A South Cambridgeshire farmer who buried his pants cannot believe the results.
Tim Scott planted two pairs of cotton undies in the ground at the Countryside Regeneration Trust’s Lark Rise Farm in Barton to see how microbes living within the soil would break them down.
One pair, sporting a green tractor motif, was planted in a field where there had been no ploughing, only direct drilling, which does not turn the top few inches of soil over and so maintains the soil structure - meaning the microscopic life within it is not disturbed.
After two months, this pair of pants had been devoured: proof that the regeneratively-farmed soil is healthy. Only the elastic waistband and the label were untouched.
Tim buried a second pair, identical except for a red tractor motif, in a control strip of the field that was ploughed last year after several years of regenerative farming. Here, the soil was inverted and the microbes disturbed.
And the difference was remarkable.
This pair of pants were barely affected by the soil microbes. After a quick wash, Tim reckons he could actually have worn them.
“I can’t believe the difference between the two pairs of pants after just two months. The microbes in the regeneratively-farmed field have literally eaten my pants,” said Tim.
“The second pair are intact. I ploughed that area in February 2022, so it shows how much difference that disturbance has made to the microbes. We want to have the soil working for us, and it shows that by ploughing we are killing the things we need to create healthy soil.”
The experiment demonstrates how regeneratively farmed, unploughed soil was full of life and very healthy - which is vital for the well-being of ecosystems and is beneficial for growing our food.
Microbes play a key role in nutrient cycling, decomposition and the promotion of healthy plants.
Healthy soil is also less prone to erosion, filters water more efficiently and will sequester carbon, helping in the fight against climate change.
By contrast, repeated ploughing of soil is, well, pants.
The Countryside Regeneration Trust is a charity that stewards 19 properties and works to protect, promote and regenerate our land and the life on it by taking a holistic view of wildlife, food production, employment, economics and development.
