Ploughed clay field. Recently ploughed farming field with clods of heavy clay broken up by the plough. Ploughing is the act of digging up and turning over the topsoil in a field, to expose the underlying soil and bring nutrients to the surface, as well as to aerate the soil. This allows a newly planted crop to embed and grow more easily. Photographed in the Apennine foothills south of Bologna, Italy.