Once a crop is finished, or in this case when the chickens have moved onto a new pasture, we mow the residue. This chops it all up very small to make incorporation into the soil very easy. The soil micro fauna has a much easier time with small debris with a much bigger surface area to work on. The tool we use to cultivate our beds is called a sun dance cultivator. The beds remain in the same position from one year to the next. We only cultivate the surface of the soil to about six inches deep. The cultivator and way we cultivate is called conservation tillage.