Compost as a Soil Amendment

In restoring drastically disturbed landscapes, the inclusion of additional nutrients into the restoration program can potentially have a beneficial impact on the overall efficacy of the restoration project. Traditional use of inorganic fertilizer is one means for increasing the amount of nutrient stored in rangeland systems. However, the potential opportunity for using organic forms of nutrient enhancement on Fort Hood was presented with the availability of composted dairy manure from an adjacent watershed impacted by nutrient impairments.

Augmenting nutrient availability in rangeland systems has been questioned because most native rangeland species have evolved under nutrient-limited processes. However, the potential for positively influencing restoration programs on Fort Hood while reducing water quality issues in an adjacent watershed presented a viable research program. Efforts are ongoing at Fort Hood to evaluate the efficacy of nutrient amendments to assist in revegetating rangelands used for military training maneuvers.

The compost BMP is being actively researched in partnership between the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA-NRCS and Fort Hood land management entities.

Application of compost using a spreader	Field site one year after compost application

Photo acknowledgements to Bill Fox, TWRI.