In the 1940s, Kenneth Macqueen and his brother Jack were among the first farmers on the Darling Downs to adopt the ancient practice of contour ploughing, revived by North American farmers in the 1930s. The method involves working across the slope of the land, rather than up and down it, which mitigates the effects of run-off after heavy rain, reducing the loss of valuable topsoil. In this painting, Macqueen shows the turned soil running across the side of the hill interspersed with curved banks of un-ploughed grass, an additional protection against erosion.