EASTON (AP) — Some southern Minnesota farmers are using underwear as a creative way to test soil health.

Farmers participating in the "Soil Your Undies" program buried cotton underwear in their fields this summer to see how they would decompose over time. Farmers recently gathered in Faribault County to share their results.

Farmer Eric Volsen buried two pairs of underwear; one in a field that's been tilled over the years and one where cover crops have been planted for three years. Volsen says the pair in the tilled field was almost completely intact while the pair in the cover crop field was more decomposed.

Volsen says he believes that illustrates how planting cover crops can improve soil's health by increasing plants, organisms and nutrients.

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