Making money on Hard mode

[MrRyanC7]

I got bored on my farm on normal mode as I have literally got everything and have started a new game on Hard difficulty on old streams farm. I've spent a few hours on it and doing ok.but in real need of upgrading all my equipment. As it's such a grind on Hard mode I want to spend my time effienctly and make the most money from the work I do so I was wondering if anyone has got any tips or advice on what to invest in, what work etc. Appreciate any replies

[JohnDeere318]

My advice is to plant soybeans every year, and sell them when the price is high. That's what I did when I started FS17 on my savegame.

I have done the test about planting wheat, then selling the straw. Too much time, money, and work to do that. It will average out about the same for both crops (if you sell the straw!), but it is not worth it to do that. Just my two cents.

[cr41g_1965]

I only play on hard and yes it's a grind... I have yet to see a lot of the more expensive equipment in the game as I am ALSO playing three different maps. Straw is a good source of money that most people waste by disabling straw swath on the harvester... bale it or use a loading wagon...whichever you prefer... the only real cost is hours on equipment...and your time. Cut grass everyday and bale and wrap it and sell as silage... these two things will make you lots of extra coin. Store everything you don't immediately need for cash in the event there is a great demand and then sell it in usually the last hour available as this is the highest price it will reach.

The last thing is buy responsibly... don't buy anything you don't need (I usually only have ONE tractor but make sure it's a good one I like the MF7700 with full HP upgrade)... that means bare minimum in equipment, NO hired workers and only buy pallets of seed and fert... don't use any map based storage as it can be quite expensive... other than that... I am sure others will have tips that even I would love to hear...

[MrRyanC7]

Thanks for your responses, why do you day soybeans? Are they very profitable? I'm asking due to the fact I would have to buy equipment to plan your and harvest them. And I didn't know you could silage grass, what would be the most cost effective way to do it?

[CombineBert]

And I didn't know you could silage grass, what would be the most cost effective way to do it?

Use a wrapper on grass bales so they ferment into silage bales. If you have the Kuhn DLC there is now a baler / wrapper combo and a square bale wrapper. Previously there was only a round bale wrapper.

[cr41g_1965]

Thanks for your responses, why do you day soybeans? Are they very profitable? I'm asking due to the fact I would have to buy equipment to plan your and harvest them.

Soybeans are good money...low harvest volume..higher selling price.. same goes for canola.. I don't like to stick to one crop and replant it over and over... I like to have everything and watch prices closely. Both canola and soybeans can be done with the basic seeder and header you use for grains... less outlay of money.

And I didn't know you could silage grass, what would be the most cost effective way to do it?

Some may argue but I think baling is better... the price for silage bails is FIXED and does not fluctuate like it does for clamped silage at the BGA

[aklein]

silage bale = $980 all day every day

Old streams has a fair amount of free grass fields identified by G# on the map. Sell your harvester and head right away. buy a baler and wrapper and make sure you have a tractor powerful enough to pull the baler. purchase a fertlizer spreader as the grass fields can be fertilized so as to maximize production. I dont recall if old streams includes a mower with the starting equpiment so if you dont have a mower purchase at a minimum a front mower so you can mow int he front and bale in the back. again make sure your tractor has the power to run both when operating up a slope. also need a bale trailer.

Mow all the grass fields and bale and wrap them all and sell the bales. You should have a nice nest egg after just 1 grass harvest. fertilize and repeat for some more profits. If you want plant grass on all the fields you own and go to town making silage bales till you have enough to invest in a nice herd of sheep. Since sheep only take hay/grass and water you can start profiting from 100+ sheep and their wool production. At some point purchase a field and get a harvester and wheat header and plant wheat in the field for straw and diversify into cows.

By this time you should have a few mill in the bank from cutting grass and wrapping.

[ouhaha]

I've been playing on hard since the game was released, on 1 map (GCV).

My advise :
- either farm silage and feed the biogaz plant : best money the field-area I think. A corn seeder is quite cheap, eventually the front harvester + a decent trailer. Use belts to empty the bunker.
- either keep cows and feed them grass + silage from hay [to make TMR]. The time can be accelerated largely to increase cows production by hour played. use a belt or a loading wagon to keep them clean.
- either sell everything [to avoid maintenance] and install solar collectors (first) or windmills (later) and accelerate massively the time (there is a mod to go 1200x).
- collect 100 gold if available to have 1M$.

[MrRyanC7]

I've wrapped grass up in foil but how long does it take then for it to ferment into silage?

[cr41g_1965]

I've wrapped grass up in foil but how long does it take then for it to ferment into silage?

its instant...lol.. thats the BEST part

[MrRyanC7]

That's handy haha

[Tuurboclaw]

Lots of good advice so far.

I also only play on hard. I think it's fun. When I start a new map I try to multitask. Like when the smaller planters are planting I will be off cutting down trees for either logs or wood chips. I think trees are an easy way to make a lot of money at the start of a new map. You can rent a chipper or logging trailer. I usually phase out of trees though once I get going.

I do the "plant soybeans only" thing sometimes also, they are the cheapest seeds I think. And you don't use very much seed at all. But sometimes I rotate crops too. It's just more fun for me.

Thanks!

[The Dude]

I play on hard mode most of the time without the money cheats. The fastest way to get ahead is making haylage bales. It will take thousands but it works

[Guil]

Unless there is a great demand soybeans usually work out less profitable than wheat or barley. Yes it sell for a lot more but the yield from soybeans is tiny compared to wheat or barley.

[DukaSoft]

Unless there is a great demand soybeans usually work out less profitable than wheat or barley. Yes it sell for a lot more but the yield from soybeans is tiny compared to wheat or barley.

Thats true when doing 1 trip
But if you take into account that you'll have to do multiple trips to sell the wheat/barley the price drops quite alot.
And then theres the seed costs.. Wheat/barley uses more seed per ha than soybeans