Location always helps in threads like this, what I do in Minnesota might be down right foolish in South Carolina, and so on....
1. What is the soil ph? Mine is too high, 6-8ph, not much to do about it. Ph should be 6.5 or so. Under 6 and you have problems, near 5 and it doesn't matter what your soil fertility is, the acid in the soil will clamp on to the nutrients and not allow the roots to pry them loose.easy to fix with lime, but you need to know where you are at so you don't make a different problem? You -need- to know the soil ph.
2. An overworked pasture that is wet, often has oddball problems. The rest of the soil test will tell you how much salt, how much P, how much K are on the soil, as well as other things. CEC calculations will tell you how much nutrients your type of soil can hold, roughly.
So, what is the soil test?
From there you fix what is wrong. Through money at what needs fixing the worst:
1. Ph
2. Salt
3. N, P, K
4. Organic matter (slow process)
5. Actually this should be higher, forgot, drainage, would be part of the salt deal...
Cover crops are -great- if you have problems that cover crops can solve. I use thrm a lot on my farm. But you need to fix ph and other issues first.
Some areas you just know are low ph, or have salt issues, or too high a ph, and can start in. But, the soil test lets you know where you are starting at, what problem is the worst one, etc. cover crops are not magic and can't fix everything. They are just a part of it.
I me it if it needs it. Or learn to work with crops that like high ph soils if yours is high.
Add the P or K that is needed, manure, organic or commercial fertilizers, but get the types that supply what is lacking, don't over apply the others. Sometimes cattle raise P very high, and lower other nutrients, and add salt - fix what is wrong, don't add stuff in the wrong direction.
Tile it if its wet, or deep till it to break up any hard pan that has formed. Or plant crops that deal well with wet roots. (Tillage radishes hate wet soils, so might not work for you for example?)
For a cover crop, you like a mix of a grass (rye, oats, etc for erosion control and organic matter buildup), a legume for nitrogen (unless this was a cattle yard and the soil is overly high in N already - a clover, alfalfa, trefoil, bean, etc), and a special use - radish or turnip to go deep and store nutrients on top of the ground (not in wet soils, need nutrients deeper in the soil for the roots to pull up), buckwheat, something that does well in sand or wet ground or high salt.....
There just isn't one magic mixture.
The more you know about your ground, the more you can fix it in less time.
So, what do you have, what does your soil need most?
Your plan to manure, disk and plant an organic matter crop might be perfect, it is for some soils, but where are we starting from?
I make this sound complicated, it can be pretty easy, just a basic $25 soil sample, maybe even free through your local extension service, will let you know what direction to go and work from.
Paul
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