Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

Well, yes and no, and maybe.

I ran a small test on field 7 on the Southern Cross Station map. Whenever I buy a new field, I always plow them unless I plowed them under contract and bought them immediately after. Anyway…

I bought the field. Plowed it up and did all the field prep for corn—lime, fert, roll, weed. Of all the prep work for yield, plowing is the only task your score doesn’t improve. Now the Environmental Score is separate from yield bonus. And this test was all about yield bonus.

The game says you must plow the field after corn, potatoes, sugar beets, and sugarcane. (Sugarcane being strange as the plowing technically only needs done after every third harvest if periodic plowing is turned on, but it will immediately go to “needs plowed” status as soon as you drop a harvester on the field.)

With Precision Farming you get conflicting ideas within the game itself. If you plow your field, you won’t get weeds. If you use PF it says plowing is bad because it brings weed seeds to the surface, burns fuel, blah, blah, blah. Kind of an odd juxtaposition. Anyway…

I’ve been doing a bit of research, and found in the US, farmers are going away from plowing altogether. And even give reasons to not plow. Like this article: https://necornstalk.com/why-most-farmer ... ir-fields/

So, I thought why not try it out. Break the rules of the game and not plow after corn harvest. My results after this cycle: bought field, plowed, prepped, planted grass. Harvested grass, prepped, planted corn. Harvested corn, prepped without plowing, planted grass. Harvested grass, prepped field, planted corn. All aspects of field prep were done exactly the same way except plowing after corn harvest.

I DO have Periodic Plowing turned ON (this might matter).

Results after first corn harvest: 410,000 liters of corn.

Second corn harvest without plowing: 390,000 liters of corn.

I rounded both harvests down. That’s 20,000 liters difference but only a 5% reduction in yield.

I found that 5% intriguing as it’s exactly 1/3 of the 15% yield bonus for plowing. With Periodic Plowing turned on, you need to plow after three harvests. So would this mean a second corn harvest under the “needs plowing” state reduce the yield and additional 5%? Or is it completely unrelated and I’m chasing ghosts?

So, do you need to plow with Precision Farming? Honestly, I have no idea. I should have been penalized for not plowing by 15%, but wasn’t. But was the 5% I did get penalized for only related to periodic plowing and you lose 5% for each harvest until you reach the 15%? I don’t know.

With a huge field like the one I used in this test does 5% matter? Does it matter more than a smaller field? A smaller field will yield less crop so the penalty will be even less significant.

For now, I’m simply not going to plow any fields unless they are new purchases.
Honkyfarmer_v1010
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2022 7:19 pm

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by Honkyfarmer_v1010 »

I think if you get less weeds from plowing arent you gaining by saving spray there also? I agree its confusing remembering all the rules but since I dont farm in real life I try to deal with these " rules" just as someone in real life deals with figuring out what works and what doesn't. I started a new save Saturday and will plow my fields when needed until I get so many fields it becomes too time consuming or only fieldss close to the home farm. I will try not to sweat the small details and just experiment with my fingers crossed.
FTF
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

Honkyfarmer_v1010 wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 4:35 am I think if you get less weeds from plowing arent you gaining by saving spray there also? I agree its confusing remembering all the rules but since I dont farm in real life I try to deal with these " rules" just as someone in real life deals with figuring out what works and what doesn't. I started a new save Saturday and will plow my fields when needed until I get so many fields it becomes too time consuming or only fieldss close to the home farm. I will try not to sweat the small details and just experiment with my fingers crossed.
You don’t get weeds at all if you plow, plant grass or oilseed radish. Even if you miss a strip of land planting grass and oilseed radish, and weeds grow, they won’t disappear if you spray them. If you don’t use Precision Farming, plowing only impacts yield. With PF, if you plow your Environment Score can’t be maxed and you won’t get the bonus check.

Since plowing is on its way out in the US, I won’t be plowing after every harvest that requires plowing. A 5% hit doesn’t matter as you’ll spend that potential profit in fuel, wages, and maintenance.

Mostly, it’s unfortunate that PF doesn’t just overwrite the base game field prep. I think the use of PF would be less confusing and potentially more effective.
User avatar
Tranceformer81
Posts: 58
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2020 7:09 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by Tranceformer81 »

LittleWatt wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:17 pm

With PF, if you plow your Environment Score can’t be maxed and you won’t get the bonus check.

You can still get max Environment score on tillage after plowing so long as you use a direct drill seeder/planter.
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

That seems to be inconsistent for me. Could be map related or something. Regardless, since the use of a plow in the States is diminishing, I’ll likely forego plowing unless it’s a new field.
Mwal
Posts: 3270
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:59 pm

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by Mwal »

Find yourself a modded chisel plow or disc that clears the plow state. Heavy tillage isn’t going away it’s just only being done when needed rather than a staple of every fall after harvest. Plowing is a dumb way for them to phrase it. Most any type of disc or chisel plow that turns a decent amount of ground can do the job giants is portraying with the periodic plowing after corn and root crops. In fact I much prefer my disc as it cuts, flips, and lightly blackens the ground kick starting the breakdown process without taking all the protection from washing or blowing of the soil away. Then I have a chisel plow that I use on the heavy traveled areas or after liquid manure to get a good cover on it so it doesn’t evaporate to many nutrients away
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

I’m just not going to worry about plowing. I only use chisel plows when I do plow anyway. Sometimes a subsoiler. But after that initial run, I don’t bother. This was mostly a test. I wanted to know what would happen. The results weren’t going to change my approach. There are literally hundreds of articles on the internet, from general blog to scientific journals from universities, explaining the no-till or low-till farming. Even the Big Bud 747 showed up in an article as it’s use being switched to no-till operation.
Eische
Posts: 3773
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 5:17 pm

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by Eische »

1. There is no periodic plowing anymore
In the Englisch game version it might still be called like that. But plowing is now needed if the game tells you so.
Not all crops need plowed ground (lowSoilDensityRequired parameter in fruitTypes.xml), so you don't have to plow for each crop.

2. Yield reduction is always applied to base yield, not final yield including fertilizer, etc. effects.
So assuming you had an overall yield of 100% (which would be 200% base yield) in your test, your yield difference would be:
410000/2 = 205000
205000/20000 = 10.25%
Playing on PC - Win10
Ryzen 3600
RX 5500XT
16GB Ram
How to post log file
How to upload pictures
Please report bugs for FS22 using the bugtracker
Mwal
Posts: 3270
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:59 pm

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by Mwal »

LittleWatt wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:46 am I’m just not going to worry about plowing. I only use chisel plows when I do plow anyway. Sometimes a subsoiler. But after that initial run, I don’t bother. This was mostly a test. I wanted to know what would happen. The results weren’t going to change my approach. There are literally hundreds of articles on the internet, from general blog to scientific journals from universities, explaining the no-till or low-till farming. Even the Big Bud 747 showed up in an article as it’s use being switched to no-till operation.
If you’re a reader and at all interested doing some research on vertical tillage will probably explain what I’m attempting to explain better
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

Mwal wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:44 pm
LittleWatt wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:46 am I’m just not going to worry about plowing. I only use chisel plows when I do plow anyway. Sometimes a subsoiler. But after that initial run, I don’t bother. This was mostly a test. I wanted to know what would happen. The results weren’t going to change my approach. There are literally hundreds of articles on the internet, from general blog to scientific journals from universities, explaining the no-till or low-till farming. Even the Big Bud 747 showed up in an article as it’s use being switched to no-till operation.
If you’re a reader and at all interested doing some research on vertical tillage will probably explain what I’m attempting to explain better
I am, and I will. Thanks for the direction.
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

Mwal wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:44 pm
LittleWatt wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:46 am I’m just not going to worry about plowing. I only use chisel plows when I do plow anyway. Sometimes a subsoiler. But after that initial run, I don’t bother. This was mostly a test. I wanted to know what would happen. The results weren’t going to change my approach. There are literally hundreds of articles on the internet, from general blog to scientific journals from universities, explaining the no-till or low-till farming. Even the Big Bud 747 showed up in an article as it’s use being switched to no-till operation.
If you’re a reader and at all interested doing some research on vertical tillage will probably explain what I’m attempting to explain better
Which one of these definitions to you agree with?

https://www.farm-equipment.com/articles ... age-anyway

And a handy little article from NRCS Iowa

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nr ... DB1077078/
Mwal
Posts: 3270
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:59 pm

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by Mwal »

LittleWatt wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:23 am
Which one of these definitions to you agree with?

https://www.farm-equipment.com/articles ... age-anyway

And a handy little article from NRCS Iowa

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nr ... DB1077078/
Both seem pretty critical but I know what I need to do to get into the field, get planted, and mostly make money where I farm, which would coincide with some points made in the first article about soils being different. Let’s face it, no till is great if it works for you but if come June the frost is just leaving the ground and I can barely drive through my fields my yield will be zero that year. I’m not going to say anything about the second because I’m not from Iowa so I have very little idea how their soil or weather behaves so that means mostly nothing to me personally. Im also not going to tell you no till is stupid or argue it, just in fuel alone if you can make it work it’s a big savings. I’m just pointing out that it’s a poor way of giants saying what tillage actually accomplishes by calling it plowing and that stems from growing and working with the in question crops that need “plowing” after in real life. I also wouldn’t be so quick to believe things knocking vertical tillage when most state and federal guidelines allow and suggest for crimping straw in as a form of slope stabilization when there’s a chance for erosion.
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

I’m understanding more of your point of Giants oversimplification of tillage concepts. Not that I would want more complicated scenarios, though. I always prefer that games are games, and real life is real life. I honestly don’t even know how real farmers play farming games. I would never have played a game about anything medical. Still won’t in fact even though I’ve kicked medicine to the curb. I am grateful real farmers are around as I’ve never been around farming.
Mwal
Posts: 3270
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:59 pm

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by Mwal »

It’s mostly just my taste in games changed as I got older. I got tired of destroying stuff and it’s fun to build stuff up instead. I also work in construction and I would agree I wouldn’t really care for a construction simulator but farming is weird. It’s one of those things where it can be a labor of love at times so to continue rather than just rent out the land you have to like the work. You are right about heavy tillage like moldboard plowing it is on its way out in the states and in all honesty it’s been pretty uncommon for thirty years or more in my opinion.
LittleWatt
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:00 am

Re: Do you need to plow with Precision Farming?

Post by LittleWatt »

Mwal wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:33 pm It’s mostly just my taste in games changed as I got older. I got tired of destroying stuff and it’s fun to build stuff up instead. I also work in construction and I would agree I wouldn’t really care for a construction simulator but farming is weird. It’s one of those things where it can be a labor of love at times so to continue rather than just rent out the land you have to like the work. You are right about heavy tillage like moldboard plowing it is on its way out in the states and in all honesty it’s been pretty uncommon for thirty years or more in my opinion.
Might even be closer to 100 years. This is very speculative though. The first chisel plow was invented in 1933 as a way to help preserve topsoil. There’s a lot of connecting dots relating to the increasing care of topsoil during westward expansion in the US and the chisel plow was a centerpiece. That’s for a different day.
Post Reply