If you need lime, it takes a couple months of time for the lime to break down and neutralize the acid of the soil, so applying that 6 months before you plant a crop is good. Lime typically breaks down for 5 years so you will need to think about reapplying some in about 5 years. However, its best to work the lime in 3 inches; so in your case you can apply now or wait until spring, either way has pluses and minuses. Just trying to show the options. You could spread the lime now, work it in next spring, that would start the process and continue it after worked in, or do it in spring it won't take effect until Junr maybe but less chance of any washing away on the surface.....
In your situation I would wait until before a tillage operation to apply the p and k. It acts quickly when tilled in a bit, and so be better to be worked in than to be applied early on the surface for what you are doing. It won't do much for you over winter now sitting on th surface, while it doesn't volitize on its own a heavy rain or spring melt could move some away on you.
Here it is common to work an old alfalfa field and plant corn, it will use stored n that the old - even thin - alfalfa has put in your soil profile.
As well you are aware alfalfa is auto toxic to its own seedlings, so you can't work up an alfalfa field and plant alfalfa right back into it. Occasionally that works, but most often the alfalfa seedlings will die as sprouts. You need a three month period of good growing conditions without any live alfalfa plants to get the toxins out of the soil most of the time.
If it were me, I would do a shock treatment (this spring it would seem) of lime and p and k to get things built up to where they should be quickly, work those things into the ground.
Then in the future you can do much lighter applications to maintain what you have, trying to match what is removed. These lighter applications can be surface applied, and will slowly work themselves into the soil profile. You might likely be using fertilizer one year that was actually applied 3 years previous, but since you own it its like a bank, you sometimes use fertilizer, you sometimes add fertilizer, but the soil is in a good balance and working well and moving along nicely. Like a healthy bank account where you sometimes spend, sometime save, but it's always a nice positive number.
I'm just not comfortable with starting out slow, keeping your soil starving for nutrients, and taking 5 years or more to get built up... It is hard enough to get a depleted soil built back up, many fertilizers such as p and k end up storing themselves in the soil and then releasing several years later. You want good mid level fertility in your ground. I do understand not overdoing it, not creating runoff problems for sure..... But get a nice mid level ad fast as you can, and then use light maintenance levels to keep it healthy.
Your soil bank account is in negative numbers, you want to get it positive quickly so you don't suffer more penalties. Then after that, you can explore different investment opportunities and work out different options to keep it in a healthy positive situation.
And again, for this diverse crowd, the fertility can be added with manure, organic compounds, or commercial fertilizers - whatever you want/ prefer for your source, the underlying principle is to get a healthy soil sooner than later. The old alfalfa should have your organic matter pretty good shape and some good build up of N in there for a possible grass crop, so you just need the p and k built up again.
Once you have healthy soil, then cover crops and such are really good plans to keep things in balance, organic matter up, soil erosion down. (Tho a hay crop, grass or legume, often is pretty much a good cover crop as it, hold soil in place, sets in deep roots, etc.)
As to grazing cattle, that returns the poo and is nice, but the cattle are still leaving with extra meat, so you are still losing P and K..... Less than if the hay is hauled away, but still losing.... It works if the cattle are being fed grain or something that is hauled in, and leaving you more manure than what they are grazing off your 6 acres. This would make your land more of a cattle feed lot than a pasture tho.
Paul
