running a few dairy cows on small pasture. Looking bad...

I've gotten away with this for a few years without intervening with seeding the pasture, or other inputs. The ground is cracking, even though I irrigate it. Grass doesn't get as tall, of last as long. Now that hay is so expensive, I'm seriously worried about the cows getting enough food. I do have a great chicken run/compost system and I can produce a wheelbarrow full of dark rich compost every couple weeks. I've started spreading this compost on the bald spots on the pasture for now to see if it helps. Am I on the right track here?

I doubt it. Cracking soil sounds like its drying out.
Have you tested the soil for moisture content, its the best way to know if the irrigation is sufficient?
How do you irrigate, sprays or flood irrigation?
If its flood are the paddocks graded to use water smartly?
Have you done any soil testing?
What is the land size and how many cows do you have, it sounds like too many?
Somebody who knows animals in your district might help you sort that out.

There is a TED talk about overstocking to improve soil fertility as well as some good work on this in north west Western Australia.  It sounds counter intuitive.  
It sounds like you have degraded clay soils which will require a fair bit of work.  I would consider goats, sheep and chickens, depending on the predators to really mix things up as well as getting some manure crops as well as pioneer grasses.
Think about working through John's questions.
Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

John C Daley wrote:I doubt it. Cracking soil sounds like its drying out.
Have you tested the soil for moisture content, its the best way to know if the irrigation is sufficient?
How do you irrigate, sprays or flood irrigation?
If its flood are the paddocks graded to use water smartly?
Have you done any soil testing?
What is the land size and how many cows do you have, it sounds like too many?
Somebody who knows animals in your district might help you sort that out.

I don't think I'll have the soil tested. I only have a little over two acres and I use sprinklers to water the ground. I have two cows I'm milking and a heifer calf that are on the pasture.

Paul Fookes wrote:There is a TED talk about overstocking to improve soil fertility as well as some good work on this in north west Western Australia.  It sounds counter intuitive.  
It sounds like you have degraded clay soils which will require a fair bit of work.  I would consider goats, sheep and chickens, depending on the predators to really mix things up as well as getting some manure crops as well as pioneer grasses.
Think about working through John's questions.
Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

I can, and do occasionally run meat chickens on the pasture. I also have nine geese walking around, but they might be doing more harm than good. They pick a lot at the grass. I might opt to having them contained in a specific area for most of the day.

When is the right season to do a manure crop, or plant pioneer grasses? I'm in western Oregon.

I assume that spring is the best time for planting native grasses.

From your picture, it looks like overseeding with native grasses would be a real benefit.

For fall you might try some food plot mixtures.  Or a cover crop like winter rye.

Looks seriously overgrazed to me.  If you have been continuously grazing, the plants have probably gotten weaker and weaker over time.

Seeding will really only help if you can get the animals off of it for several months to allow for the new grass to establish its self.  Are you rotating?  Even on 2 acres it helps a lot.  Start with 2 paddocks if nothing else, then move to 4 as time permits.  

Do you have access to any tree fodder?  I have managed through several grass shortages by cutting and feeding tree branches.  Just be sure to check on toxic species in your area.  The remaining brush is excellent biochar material.

Soil tests are free most of the year here.  Maybe your state has a similar program.  Check with your county extension agent.  Something as simple as a pH  adjustment may really help.

Anne Miller wrote:I assume that spring is the best time for planting native grasses.

From your picture, it looks like overseeding with native grasses would be a real benefit.

For fall you might try some food plot mixtures.  Or a cover crop like winter rye.

I could do it in fall. Maybe put aside certain paddocks and seed with these native grasses. I don't know much about the native grasses but I need to learn. Been putting this off too long. And now I might not be able to support my cows on the pasture anymore... I'll call the Concentrates. They're a very respectable farm supply company here in Portland. They should have all the grasses I need.

It looks like soil compaction may be a factor also. At one point we had three horses on our pasture for a few weeks and they compacted the clay badly. It took years to undo the problem in some areas. You didn't mention rotation of pastures to allow areas to rest.

One of our local farms does high density animal grazing (mob grazing) but they move the animals every one to 2 days, which is probably not feasible for you. But that's how they get away with the high numbers of animals in a small area.

Kevin said, "I could do it in fall.

From this link it sounds like that will work:

Although most perennial forb species will not germinate until the spring, it is necessary that they undergo the chilling and softening process in the soil.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_w7000_1153.pdf

Mixing in some winter rye might give the cows something to eat during the winter if they will eat winter rye.