“productivity will follow as a hand follows a glove.”

“productivity will follow as a hand follows a glove.”

A “green manure” cover crop is a good way to increase organic matter. Where initial fertility is low, Mr. Bird plants a dense crop of buckwheat, followed by soybeans, vetch or clover mixed with annual grasses.

Some of Horseshoe Hollow’s pasture land is too steep or rocky to cultivate and cover cropping is impossible. For these areas, he buys hay, or harvests it from productive parts of the farm, and feeds it on the rocky land.

“This may seem expensive,” he explains, “but it’s a way of getting some produce from the land and enriching it at the same time. ”

Manure application is another way to improve pasture soils. “Manure,” says Mr. Bird', “not only fertilizes but also vitalizes in a way that seems semimagical. It has a beneficial effect that can’t be quantified.” M

Composting

Yet another fertility tool, composting, is an integral part of the Horseshoe Hollow operation. As an illustration of Mr. Bird’s philosophy of enhancing natural processes, composting is the paradigm.

“A compost pile,” he explains, “carries along the same natural processes that occur in the stomach of a cow. The main difference is that composting is an aerobic process. To make compost, all you really need is a source of organic matter and enough nitrogen to nourish the decomposing organisms. But rumen bacteria are an ideal addition.”

His composting materials and equipment are nothing out of the ordinary. Bedding and manure which accumulate under the bam provide organic matter and nitrogen. He uses a tractor, loader and manure spreader to chop and aerate the compost piles.

A day’s work produces 200 tons of well-aerated, nitrogen-rich organic matter.

Three days of rapid decomposition produces hot, smoking piles — an impressive sight in the cool days of spring. ■* Three weeks of decay produces the final result: fine, fragrant, fertile, concentrated compost.

“It doesn’t smell at all like manure,” says Mr. Bird. “In manure, half the nitrogen and half or more of the potassium is soluble. In compost, these nutrients are inside the bodies of decomposing organisms, and not so easily lost. Freshly spread manure has an ammonia smell — an indication that nitrogen is being lost to the atmosphere. Compost is a nice, woodsy, fragrant substance — warm, moist and full of bacteria.”

Those bacteria, he says, need to be treated with respect. Immediately after spreading, Horseshoe Hollow compost is disced into the soil to minimize drying and keep the microorganisms active.

With a hand-operated cyclone seeder or a tractor-pulled grain drill, Mr. Bird’s newly conditioned pastures are seeded with a mixture of grasses and legumes which will develop into a perennial forage crop. The permanent cover may need occasional maintenance such as mowing to control weeds.

But the key to maintaining a high quality forage cover, he believes, is to avoid constant grazing.

“Bluegrass and clovers will tolerate constant grazing,” he explains, “but it’s better to graze for a short while and then move the animals to another field. This allows the grazed area to rest and recover.”

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