permaculture

[Thomas Gorman <tom@honeychrome.com>]

I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but my partner and I have  
made an offer on a parcel of land that is about 1/2 of what was once  
a small, 100 acre dairy farm in upstate NY.  As near as I can  
determine, it hasn't been active for twenty years, possibly much  
more.  Our eventual goal is to build a small strawbale/cob house and  
design and 'develop' a portion of the property along permaculture  
lines, seeking to eventually approach self-sustainability and maybe  
even some surplus.  I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas what  
kind of soil problems might be resultant from using land to raise  
dairy cows?  As it's been inactive for so long, my hope is that the  
land has at least begun to repair it's self...  I'm also assuming  
that small dairy use would have been a little less impactful than  
intensive row cropping.  Still, information or experience from others  
would be appreciated!

If we do end up with the property, I'll write up a fuller description  
of it and our plans for feedback and will no doubt have many, many  
questions as we go along!
Tom