compost question

[amy fenn]

Hello friends - What do you all think about applying compost to pasture?  I've heard a few smart people say that when restoring a piece of abused ground that livestock alone may not be enough....that you might need an initial application of compost to kickstart the biology needed to decompose the cowpies.

I have 20 acres of pasture that I'm trying to recover from a history of cropping and abuse.  I've been grazing it for 7 summers (understocked overall but managed fairly tight) but I feel like the recovery is stalled.  The decomposition of cowpies & other organic matter is slow, like 2 years.  New diverse seedings germinate but don't seem to survive even in the gaping sunny bare spots between existing grass.

Vance has seen it and is itching for me to bring in 100 heifers for a short time and hit it hard, which I'm considering.  I'm also considering a 1-time application of compost or compost-tea, though that is new territory for me.

Here's one related article from On Pasture.

Thoughts?  Thank yous!  -amy

Amy Fenn
Match Made In Heaven: Livestock + Crops, Project Coordinator
Grassworks Inc, Board Member, Treasurer
fenn's folly llc, Farmer

fenns...@gmail.com