New to farming? Ask questions here:

[BeardedOne]

Hello! I have a quick question on the sowing machines that fertilize as they plant. Does that fertilization count for the 2x crop yield or do I still need to spread/spray fertilizer down for the 2x yield.

Thank you!

[JohnDeere318]

Do you have the 3 stage fert option on? If not, it will give you max yield.

[Shrtbus420]

how does this direct seedoing work with sowers like the Rapid A 600s? i mean it says it can bypass the cultivating and plowing stages?

[CarsenGray]

Yes, you can harvest a field, then fertilize it, then use the A-600s. that is what I do. Then when I see green, I spray it again, and when I see the final stage of green, I spray it the 3rd time.

[Progeekzy]

the amount of food the pigs require is insane. Got 100 pigs and got 20 pallets thinking thats plenty for awhile. Nope.

[Skridger]

Hi Folks,

I'm having fun learning this game. I find it peaceful and a good stress reliever. I have been watching a lot of youtube videos to figure out how to do various things. The first thing that I've delved heavily into is mowing fields for animals and to sell for money. I've noticed that wrapped hay bales sell for way more than unwrapped. I made the mistake of selling a whole trailer of unwrapped to my barn just this morning and missed out on a lot of money. Now for my questions:

1) How do you break a bale up? I'd like to store hay where my sheep are in bale form. (I find it adds to the atmosphere to see the bales sitting there) Also, does it matter if they're wrapped or unwrapped?

2) Can a grass field be fertilized? When I first seeded the field, I used a seeder that also fertilizes. I mowed/collected, then let the grass grow again. On my second pass on that field, after my grass grew on its own, I only got about half as much from the field. I'm guessing because there was no fertilization. I attempted to fertilize the field before my third mow, but it won't let me. Is there some way to fertilize, or is the only way to cultivate and seed all over again?

3) I've rigged up a sweet mower/tedder for this task, but it doesn't seem to work as well when hiring a worker. I have a New Holland T7 HD, with the pottinger 2 piece mower (Has one in the middle and two that fold down on the sides) on the front and the second to largest tedder on the back. When using this manually it works really well to mow and ted (If that's the right term) at the same time, with quite a wide area covered. When my worker mows, he acts as though the tools are only tractor width, and doesn't take advantage of the added width of the tools. Is there some way to counter this, or would I have to have the worker mow first, then take the mower off and have him use the tedder separately?

Thanks!

Edit: For ease of reading

[fenixguy]

Thanks!

1)You can place a bale of hay directly in the sheep's feeding trough. It will automatically "break up". You can also do that with straw bales for pigs or cows.

2)Yes, you can fertilize grass that you sow if you're using 3 stage fertilization in the options screen. Grass will always be at stage 1 fertilization. I usually fertilize once (manure/slurry/spray/solid, doesn't matter) right after baling/collecting and then once more right before mowing again. (I use manure or slurry right after mowing, then spray the grass right before). That gives you maximum yield.

3) Those triple mowers would not work realistically on the front linkage of a tractor. The in-game helper can only use one grass tool at a time (as far as I know). You'll either have to do the job yourself, or if you want to play realistically, have the AI mow and then have the AI ted if you want the helper to do it. If you want a "one-pass" mow/ted system that's semi-realistic, get yourself a tractor with reverse drive and put the mowers on the back and the tedder on the front and go in reverse drive. You'll still have to do it yourself because the AI won't use a tractor in reverse drive (no idea why) but at least it'll be a bit more realistic. Really though, you should let the grass dry a little before tedding (not that it matters in-game but I try to play as real as possible).

[Skridger]

The in-game helper can only use one grass tool at a time (as far as I know).

He seems to use the two tools quite well. (With the exception of not getting the width right) He'll approach the field, stop at the edge, lower the mowers, move forward until the tedder is at the edge, lower the tedder, and motor on.

I'll have him use the tools separately. You are right in that it's kind of silly to use the mower/tedder at the same time without giving the grass time to dry.

Thanks!

[Skridger]

On a side note, I'm finding that I'm far too much of a perfectionist with my fields to let myself work them. I can't do it as straight as the AI can, so I feel like I'm ruining it if I do, lol. So literally, I'll sit and watch the AI work, even if I have nothing else to work on myself, haha.

[Dougyhowzer]

Hi. So I am still very much new to farming and stuff and I have a question regarding fertilizing .

I planted a soybean field which yielded 7000 grains . Is that the max yield if you fertilize your field three times .

I have fertilize states set to three and here is the process I went through to get the 7000 soybeans .

1.Plowed
2.Sowed Oilseed
3.Cultivate after growing oilseed
4. Sowed Soybeans
5.Harvest

I also went ahead and cultivated the same field after harvest and grower another field
Of soybeans but this time without sowing oilseed first and I got around 4900 grains .

The sower I used is the starter one called Great Plains that allows you to fertilize while so ing .

[JohnDeere318]

7000 is probably the max you can get. Could be wrong though.

[fenixguy]

On a side note, I'm finding that I'm far too much of a perfectionist with my fields to let myself work them. I can't do it as straight as the AI can, so I feel like I'm ruining it if I do, lol. So literally, I'll sit and watch the AI work, even if I have nothing else to work on myself, haha.

I've done that too if it's a perfectly rectangular field. I use the workers as my "GPS". But if it's a small, uneven field, I do the work myself.

[Dougyhowzer]

7000 is probably the max you can get. Could be wrong though.

Okey dokey. Is their a way to confirm this though ?

[Skridger]

2)Yes, you can fertilize grass that you sow if you're using 3 stage fertilization in the options screen. Grass will always be at stage 1 fertilization. I usually fertilize once (manure/slurry/spray/solid, doesn't matter) right after baling/collecting and then once more right before mowing again. (I use manure or slurry right after mowing, then spray the grass right before). That gives you maximum yield.

I'd like to expand on this one a little. I actually got an error, something to the effect that I am unable to fertilize this type of field. (I forget the exact wording) Is that because I have my settings set to 1 stage fertilization?

[fenixguy]

I'd like to expand on this one a little. I actually got an error, something to the effect that I am unable to fertilize this type of field. (I forget the exact wording) Is that because I have my settings set to 1 stage fertilization?

Yes. With stage 1 fertilization, you can't fertilize grass (since grass is always at stage 1 fertilization and your seeder already fertilized it) but your yield will always be 100%.

That is the way I understand it. I've never played with 1 stage fertilization on this game, so I could be wrong.