Maybe I should have posted this in the bug section, but it is clearly a suggestion to change the mechanics.
The dirt spots that are left on grassland by grazing cows are not normal clay tiles, and cannot be replanted (i have no problems with this even if I do not understand the reasoning behind it, I would not mind if they were replantable)
If I understand correctly, those tiles will decay back into grassland given enough time (is this correct?)
The trouble is that they can not be plowed either, so if you want to turn a former animal field into crop field, you have a problem.
My suggestion would be to make them at least plowable, maybe also replantable to allow terraforming.
EDIT: you can pave those tiles, and then replant, so there exists a workaround, but IMO it would be nice to be able to do this directly.