Soil Improvement

[Jessey]

I'm hoping maybe our green fingered folks will have some thoughts, and anyone else with any experience of rotting stuff in fields

We are on sandy soil which makes grass growth tough, but even tougher is making grass grazing tolerant, it's so sandy it just gets pulled roots an' all half the time Since moving here (may 2017) I have been trying to add organic matter back to the soil, muck, old hay etc. mulched on, but it's not enough.
This is just 1 part that was over used and is trashed and needs serious help...

Last year I lightly over seeded it and rested it a lot and it grew nicely (same spot facing other direction)

At the previous yard I had a disaster with wood chipping the corral in the hopes of making a nice area for the horses, disaster because it rotted to filth in a few months (pics the winter before, new in May and awful by November)

When I had it removed it was dumped in a corner of the field as no where else to put it. The following spring there was so much grass in that corner it was mad.

So I'm debating trying to get a bunch of wood chip to put down with the intent that it will rot and be horrible temporarily, but hopefully would add a huge amount of organic matter back to the land in short order to allow me to seed it in spring, is this a nuts idea? would rotting wood be bad PH for reseeding? I would spread it thinner than I did at the last yard, so hopefully it would mix into the sand more. Would another material be better? I'm veering away from straw because I don't want wheat/barley growing in the field and there's bound to be viable seeds left in it, but it would likely be easier to use.

 

[Kite_Rider]

Well rotted manure and lots of it plus some compost would be the best option and while you have lots of manure, compost isn't cheap unless you've made it yourself?
Wood chippings, take a good while to rot down and you might find your seeds don't germinate well if your planning a spring sowing, however, they do make excellent organic matter once they have rotted as you have seen. I'd be wary of sowing grass seed on it next spring though, the rotting chips use a lot of nitrogen, which your seed will need to grow, plus as you rightly said it will make the area quite acidic.
You can always pee on the area to help it rot quicker, I don't mean squat over it, unless you've a fancy for baring your backside to your neighbours, but you could wee in a bucket and tip that over, or get the ponies to piddle on it!
You could add shredded paper too if you can get it, instead of straw?

 

[Kite_Rider]

Oh and I have zero experience of rotting stuff in fields (only rotting stuff for garden use) so hopefully someone who does will come along and offer some better advice

 

[Jessey]

Shredded paper is a good idea, I could probably get that easily enough and add it to my poo compost heaps. I'm trying to make what I can but it just doesn't seem to be enough, I'm going to try making a 'hot compost' tower in a place that needs it so I can undo it once cooked and Harrow in without too much lugging.
Re making it acidic, it's currently 8-8.5 so a bit of that wouldn't be terrible great insights, thanks @Kite_Rider

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Shredded paper or cardboard is a good base, and you could try some sawdust as well if you can get it untreated. Muck from the very bottom of the heap - I find my horse manure grows a great crop of grass all by itself.

If you have money to spend you could turf it!

 

[Jessey]

Shredded paper or cardboard is a good base, and you could try some sawdust as well if you can get it untreated. Muck from the very bottom of the heap - I find my horse manure grows a great crop of grass all by itself.

If you have money to spend you could turf it!

Nope no turf going to happen here