compost from grass

[Neddy flanders]

not sure which section to put this in.
if you have 100 acres of grass which you can mow, chop, do whatever to improve the neighbouring 100 acres of arable land, how would you compost it to the best effect? or just spread it as raw fresh grass?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

The diesel-burning contingent will say to put it through cattle and apply the muck, but soil organisms are far better at cycling plant matter than manure - unless it's grazing land, which will have a more complex microbiome than arable land.

I'd probably just get it out there as simply as possible, if you've got a bale/silage chopper than that could be handy enough, to spread it about.
Possibly one of its biggest "improvements" will be as a mulch, don't plough or incorporate it as the soil can do this - it won't if you do it for it; same as fertiliser constipates the soil by reducing the need to cycle nutrients, same as paying people to not work stops them looking for employment.

Smaller amounts, easier to compost - 100 acres of grass is a lot. I'd just spread it as grass, unless it's loaded with seed.

 

[Scribus]

On a similar note there is going to be a good deal of uncut and ungrazed grass going into the autumn, the question is what to do with it?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

On a similar note there is going to be a good deal of uncut and ungrazed grass going into the autumn, the question is what to do with it?

The realist in me says "sell it to an AD plant" given the constraints you likely have.

Myself, I'd mow it back into the ground if I couldn't graze it, depending on the surplus.
Dairy calf grazing is pretty lucrative here but that's probably out because "cows need houses"?
I've outwintered cattle on mine, which saved doing SFA apart from electric fencing.