American Map - Tiny Fields

John.Ivy
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2022 8:58 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by John.Ivy »

chedly_farms wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:42 pm
John.Ivy wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:25 pm Thanks for the map recommendations, I will check them out. Baffles me that a farmer in the US would buy or lease a combine to harvest <1 acre field. Not sure their is a cash crop high enough that would cover that expense at that size. Where I live in TX our farms are pretty large most are providing feed for the even larger ranches. To the guy who mentioned GA , do you have farmers making a living on 1-2 Acres farms? what do they produce? what size equipment would you even need for a 2 acres field little ford N series ?
I'm not judging here, but the type of questions you are asking makes me believe you are young or haven't been around the block yet. A lot of farmers that farm small fields in the north east use older equipment and smaller equipment to farm the smaller fields we have here between the ridges and creeks and housing developments. You drive what you can fit down the roads. And a lot small farmers are "hobby farmers". They have day jobs and farm at night or on weekends. Cattle farms will range between 10-20 head. So no they are not making a living. But they are raising beef for family and friends. And most pay out local contractors to harvest fields, or have a 70+ year old combine that harvests 4 rows a pop.
Again thanks for the reply, definitely not young even though its been 25 years since I been back East but even then in rural VA fields being worked were much bigger than 1-2 acres, I guess I was not considering "Hobby Farming" our gardens here in Texas usually are bigger than the size of these fields on the Elmcreek US map. We didn't consider the little house garden as farming I suppose that is just a regional/cultural bias on my part. Thanks for the reply and it is pretty enlightening to know that in North East America they have guys consider themselves "farming" working a piece of land smaller than the lots our houses sit on here in town.
Mwal
Posts: 3270
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:59 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Mwal »

John.Ivy wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 9:39 pm
Again thanks for the reply, definitely not young even though its been 25 years since I been back East but even then in rural VA fields being worked were much bigger than 1-2 acres, I guess I was not considering "Hobby Farming" our gardens here in Texas usually are bigger than the size of these fields on the Elmcreek US map. We didn't consider the little house garden as farming I suppose that is just a regional/cultural bias on my part. Thanks for the reply and it is pretty enlightening to know that in North East America they have guys consider themselves "farming" working a piece of land smaller than the lots our houses sit on here in town.
If you’re on console you’re not going to find what you’re looking for. It’s already been touched on but the standard size map will give you three fields if they’re 200 acres plus and not much else
Airborne82nd
Posts: 318
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 4:53 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Airborne82nd »

John.Ivy wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 9:39 pm
chedly_farms wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:42 pm
John.Ivy wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:25 pm Thanks for the map recommendations, I will check them out. Baffles me that a farmer in the US would buy or lease a combine to harvest <1 acre field. Not sure their is a cash crop high enough that would cover that expense at that size. Where I live in TX our farms are pretty large most are providing feed for the even larger ranches. To the guy who mentioned GA , do you have farmers making a living on 1-2 Acres farms? what do they produce? what size equipment would you even need for a 2 acres field little ford N series ?
I'm not judging here, but the type of questions you are asking makes me believe you are young or haven't been around the block yet. A lot of farmers that farm small fields in the north east use older equipment and smaller equipment to farm the smaller fields we have here between the ridges and creeks and housing developments. You drive what you can fit down the roads. And a lot small farmers are "hobby farmers". They have day jobs and farm at night or on weekends. Cattle farms will range between 10-20 head. So no they are not making a living. But they are raising beef for family and friends. And most pay out local contractors to harvest fields, or have a 70+ year old combine that harvests 4 rows a pop.
Again thanks for the reply, definitely not young even though its been 25 years since I been back East but even then in rural VA fields being worked were much bigger than 1-2 acres, I guess I was not considering "Hobby Farming" our gardens here in Texas usually are bigger than the size of these fields on the Elmcreek US map. We didn't consider the little house garden as farming I suppose that is just a regional/cultural bias on my part. Thanks for the reply and it is pretty enlightening to know that in North East America they have guys consider themselves "farming" working a piece of land smaller than the lots our houses sit on here in town.
I think you're right, certainly in how you answered him. Your OP was not about farming up in Jersey, or a "hobby" farm of any kind, but the farm belt portion of this country, in which you mentioned some states from the Dakotas down to Texas and everything in between, east and west. That's where most the mass farming is produced in this country.

When i get on a Farming Simulating game, i would think i'm getting into a tractor, and seeing flat land and farms as far as the eye could see. Instead, we have the suburbs.

And i think that's the issue, in that the developers, and many modders at least on console development want to the areas to look "pretty'. Mountainesque landscapes in the alps seemingly, beautiful bridges, forests and streams, and everything else in between...except farming.

We may seem selfish in our requests, but it is a farming game. On the PC platform i notice modders seem to "get it" over there, and so i can't see why Giants does not. Anyhow, look out for Welker Farms, maybe Millenial Farms, those maps may be up the pike in the future.
Cmtaylor
Posts: 584
Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 10:48 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Cmtaylor »

Well depends on the region you live in take Indiana USA for example, you go north the fields are 100+ acres go south they are anywhere from 10 - 100 acres, i live in west central Indiana and the field sizes range from 1 acre to 600 acres, so its not uncommon for some to think the field sizes are correct and others say its wrong just depends on what state your from.
humbe
Posts: 1376
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by humbe »

There are varying sizes in Europe too, but nothing as big as the huge farms that exist in the US I guess.. I think there are many reasons contributing to why it's not that easy to find maps with huge fields here:
- There are probably a ton more small farms than huge farms in general, so the farmers that are used to huge farms are probably a small group among players.
- Huge farms doesn't fit well in the 2x2 km form factor of the map, and larger maps may have performance issues. Especially on a flat US map where nothing is blocking sight, so you're supposed to render what's on the other side of the map.
- An assuming most players want to be able to work fields in reasonable game time, and not actually have to set a 10 day season to have time to harvest a single field.

Tailoring the game towards the huge farms is probably a ton of work few players are willing to pay for, so you're pretty much stuck with some huge modded gear and some extra large modded maps.

I can't really put my finger on it, but it feels like there's some undocumented size scale somewhere.. Maintenance costs and what seems to constitute a heavily used tractor in game certainly is far from in real life.. Sales prices are considerably higher from what I hear.. Kind of feels like the game has a scale so you work fields faster, wear out equipment faster, but get more money for products (and maybe higher yield than natural?), to make it so you turn a good profit with fairly small sized fields too...
Peter Griffin
Posts: 506
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:56 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Peter Griffin »

Cmtaylor wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:44 pm Well depends on the region you live in take Indiana USA for example, you go north the fields are 100+ acres go south they are anywhere from 10 - 100 acres, i live in west central Indiana and the field sizes range from 1 acre to 600 acres, so its not uncommon for some to think the field sizes are correct and others say its wrong just depends on what state your from.
You around the indy area then? I'm down around Terre Haute
XBOX/ FS22
SimulatedFarmer
Posts: 442
Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2017 3:40 am

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by SimulatedFarmer »

LittleWatt wrote: Mon Jul 18, 2022 11:58 pm
John.Ivy wrote: Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:04 pm What is with the US maps that have 2-5 acres fields , Where we live no farmer has fields under 200+ acres , the ones who have anything smaller are cutting hay. Do you think farmers in Texas, OK, MT , WY are working 2 acre fields ? Where are the large field maps? Yields also seem a bit on the stingy side.
We don’t have a lot of farming here in Wyoming. The climate is considered arid high desert. And the lowest elevation is 3300ft above sea level. I see alfalfa farms for animal feed and some corn fields in the southeast. But an arid climate with dry rain isn’t good for needy crops.

But we have huge cattle ranches. Even small ones go 1500 acres—maybe 50-60 head on something so small.
I lived in Powell and Cody, Wyo in the late 60s. I remember huge piles of sugar beets at the Powell train yard. Do you know if they were grown nearby? I don’t remember seeing any fields, but I wasn’t all that observant 50 years ago. I DO remember the odor as they started to rot and ferment. I didn’t live there long, but loved it.
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by LittleWatt »

SimulatedFarmer wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:58 pm
We don’t have a lot of farming here in Wyoming. The climate is considered arid high desert. And the lowest elevation is 3300ft above sea level. I see alfalfa farms for animal feed and some corn fields in the southeast. But an arid climate with dry rain isn’t good for needy crops.

But we have huge cattle ranches. Even small ones go 1500 acres—maybe 50-60 head on something so small.
I lived in Powell and Cody, Wyo in the late 60s. I remember huge piles of sugar beets at the Powell train yard. Do you know if they were grown nearby? I don’t remember seeing any fields, but I wasn’t all that observant 50 years ago. I DO remember the odor as they started to rot and ferment. I didn’t live there long, but loved it.
[/quote]

My guess is Idaho. Given Idaho’s location within the Rockies, and their higher level of moisture, it would likely be better suited. Even in Pinedale, 70 miles south of Jackson, the climate is arid at 7200ft. There used to be a sugar beet refinery in Torrington as well. But it’s shut down to the best of my knowledge.
bossmanslim
Posts: 698
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:13 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by bossmanslim »

American farms and highly variable based on local geography and historical development.

The Appalachians and east of the them are close in field size to Europe due to the region being older and having rougher terrain. (onelonelyfarmer, Farming Fixing & Fabricating)
The Midwest is big rolling fields (Brian's farm videos, Millennial Farmer)
The great plains is big flat fields (Welker Farms)
The deep south is all size flat fields (South Georgia Farming, Aerial Ag)
The west is rolling fields of various sizes with lots of irrigation

The perception of what is an American farm will vary drastically based on where the person has been exposed to farming.
mike33s
Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:59 am

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by mike33s »

John.Ivy wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 9:39 pm
chedly_farms wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:42 pm
John.Ivy wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:25 pm Thanks for the map recommendations, I will check them out. Baffles me that a farmer in the US would buy or lease a combine to harvest <1 acre field. Not sure their is a cash crop high enough that would cover that expense at that size. Where I live in TX our farms are pretty large most are providing feed for the even larger ranches. To the guy who mentioned GA , do you have farmers making a living on 1-2 Acres farms? what do they produce? what size equipment would you even need for a 2 acres field little ford N series ?
I'm not judging here, but the type of questions you are asking makes me believe you are young or haven't been around the block yet. A lot of farmers that farm small fields in the north east use older equipment and smaller equipment to farm the smaller fields we have here between the ridges and creeks and housing developments. You drive what you can fit down the roads. And a lot small farmers are "hobby farmers". They have day jobs and farm at night or on weekends. Cattle farms will range between 10-20 head. So no they are not making a living. But they are raising beef for family and friends. And most pay out local contractors to harvest fields, or have a 70+ year old combine that harvests 4 rows a pop.
Again thanks for the reply, definitely not young even though its been 25 years since I been back East but even then in rural VA fields being worked were much bigger than 1-2 acres, I guess I was not considering "Hobby Farming" our gardens here in Texas usually are bigger than the size of these fields on the Elmcreek US map. We didn't consider the little house garden as farming I suppose that is just a regional/cultural bias on my part. Thanks for the reply and it is pretty enlightening to know that in North East America they have guys consider themselves "farming" working a piece of land smaller than the lots our houses sit on here in town.
RE: Field sizes in FS22. Regionally as others have said field sizes vary depending on terrain, availability, location, etc. However, in this game they have to scale things down a bit. Just because fields are 0.5 - 2HA on an EU map and the map says "Derbyshire" doesn't necessarily mean that it is 100% accurate to that region. There is only so much map space available resource wise in the game and honestly even though it is a sim game, it has to cater to people's whims. Some like yourself want a map with 200+ acre fields which takes many hours to work, involve large equipment, etc. Others want to be able to go through a season in 2-4 hrs and see progression that way.

RE: Farm bias - Farming is lumped into "growing corn, wheat or beans" often in the US but there are a boat load of variants regionally and globally that fall under the broad definition of farming. Honestly, people need to open their minds to the definition of farming to be something as broad as "growing things to eat or sell". For example, there are urban "farmers" here in NA that grow saleable items on 1/4 acre lots inside cities like Toronto (for example) that are quite productive both plant and $ wise. They might even be more profitable than a massive farm on 5000-10000 acres of land just because of their ability to scale and requirement for less capital inputs for large machinery, land, etc.
Cmtaylor
Posts: 584
Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 10:48 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Cmtaylor »

Peter Griffin wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 4:04 pm
Cmtaylor wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:44 pm Well depends on the region you live in take Indiana USA for example, you go north the fields are 100+ acres go south they are anywhere from 10 - 100 acres, i live in west central Indiana and the field sizes range from 1 acre to 600 acres, so its not uncommon for some to think the field sizes are correct and others say its wrong just depends on what state your from.
You around the indy area then? I'm down around Terre Haute
Actually im one hour due north of you in warren county
Peter Griffin
Posts: 506
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:56 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Peter Griffin »

Ahh gotcha
XBOX/ FS22
Cmtaylor
Posts: 584
Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 10:48 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Cmtaylor »

Yep
BigfootFarmer79
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2022 1:36 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by BigfootFarmer79 »

Cmtaylor wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 12:30 am
Peter Griffin wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 4:04 pm
Cmtaylor wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:44 pm Well depends on the region you live in take Indiana USA for example, you go north the fields are 100+ acres go south they are anywhere from 10 - 100 acres, i live in west central Indiana and the field sizes range from 1 acre to 600 acres, so its not uncommon for some to think the field sizes are correct and others say its wrong just depends on what state your from.
You around the indy area then? I'm down around Terre Haute
Actually im one hour due north of you in warren county
I'm live in Warren county too. North Eastern part of the county.
Spardose
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2022 1:38 pm

Re: American Map - Tiny Fields

Post by Spardose »

by the way, if there is still anybody looking for bigger fields you might want to check out Gnadenthal, at least when you are on PC. Simple but with big fields, kinda like Fox Farms, just as 4x
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