This characteristic refers to areas of arable crops during the reference year. Only tillage carried out on main crops (not successive crops) between harvest and the next sowing is considered.

Areas of arable crops not sown during the reference year (e.g. hops or multiannual green fodder) are excluded.

Permanent grassland, kitchen gardens, woody crops and areas under glass are also excluded.

Three types of tillage are considered:

- Conventional (mouldboard or disc ploughing). The area is prepared using a tillage practice that involves inverting the soil, normally with a mouldboard or disc plough as the primary tillage operation, followed by a secondary tillage with a disc harrow.

- Minimum tillage. A conservation tillage practice that keeps plant residues (at least 30%) on the soil surface for erosion control and moisture conservation, normally without inverting the soil.

This practice can include the following systems:
a) Strip or zone tillage. Refers to a system where furrows 5 to 20 cm wide are prepared to receive the seed, while the soil between the furrows is left untouched and remains covered by residues. This system causes more soil disturbance and provides less cover along the rows than direct seeding.
b) b) Vertical tillage. Refers to a system where the soil is prepared with a plough that does not invert the soil and causes little compaction. For this reason, the area normally maintains a good cover of residues on the surface.
c) Ridge tillage. A system of ridges and furrows. The ridges may be narrow or wide and the furrows can be parallel to the contour lines or constructed with a slight slope, depending on whether the objective is to conserve moisture or to drain excess moisture. The ridges can be semi-permanent or constructed each year, which will determine the amount of residue material that remains on the surface. With the semi-permanent system, which provides a good residue cover between the ridges, there will still be less cover than with the direct seeding system. In general, this system is less conservative than strip tillage.

- Direct seeding (zero tillage). A minimum tillage practice in which the crop is sown directly into soil that has not been tilled since the previous crop was harvested. Weed control is achieved by using herbicides and stubble is retained for erosion control.