flatbreaking

The process of plowing an entire field to break up the soil prior to planting.

Noun

  1. The process of plowing an entire field to break up the soil prior to planting.
    • Where cotton follows small grain or a sod-forming crop, the practice of flatbreaking or plowing with a common turning plow in the fall is frequently followed. - 1938, National Research Project on Reemployment...
    • The seedbed is usually prepared by flatbreaking (broadcast plowing) or by bedding. - 1944, Ernest Newton Fergus, Carsie Hammonds, Thomas Hayden Rogers, Southern Field Crops Management, page 632:
    • Flatbreaking was considered essential when cotton followed a hay crop such as alfalfa (Medicago saliva L.) or in extremely weedy fields, particularly those with perennials such as johnsongrass, bermudagrass and "coco"...