A field study was carried out to understand the impacts of reduced soil disturbance (zero till) on soil characteristics and function (soil ‘health’) in arable farm conditions in two regions of Scotland. Fields were sown with winter barley or oilseed rape, either following ploughing or sown directly without soil tillage. Three indicators of soil function or ‘health’ were used: worm counts (biological), soil organic matter (chemical) and soil aggregate stability (physical). Fields were visited in July and August and final assessment of the crop performance was gathered verbally from land managers.