Buying farmland -- What can I expect from the soil?

[martha summers]

I am considering buying a 25 acre farm in Georgia. Has been used as pasture for horses for 35+ years, no amendments, no lime, no anything added but manure droppings. Plan to have tested at Clemson - but am I crazy to think if it is as exhausted as it appears, that we can take 1-2 seasons, lime, add chicken, horse manures, allow it to rest - plant with cover crop and then till that in - that it will be able to recover and become healthy, sustaining pasture land for grazing livestock, perhaps a dozen at most cattle or sheep or combination thereof?

 

[Tom.G]

Try this for a start.
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1097070.pdf
(above found with: https://www.google.com/search?&q=how+many+cows+on+1+acre)

 

[jim mcnamara]

It is feasible. @Tom.G gave you carrying capacity information. That is a start.

Farmland in your area usually has a checkered past. In the early 1800's the main crops were tobacco and cotton. The agricultural practices back then amounted to deplete the soils, then move West. Plus, if cotton was grown there, weed control amounted to arsenic sulfate. Arsenic residues do not "go away" because Arsenic is a chemical element, it cannot become something else less toxic. So, be sure to consult the county agent and see if Arsenic testing is warranted. There might be a concern if you plan on producing vegetables on any scale from home use to marketing the produce. Wells are a problem too and are a source of arsenic if you irrigate.

You really want to contact these guys before you buy:
http://extension.uga.edu/county-offices/bartow/anr.html

Ask about use history and soil and groundwater contaminants like arsenic.