A “typical” American farm

[Jeramy]

Here is a great post about the equipment they run on the real Lone Oak Farm.

viewtopic.php?f=952&t=123060&p=979268#p979268

Combines
JD 9650 Combine (Sidehill)
JD 9770 Combine (Sidehill)

Tractors
JD 4020 Tractor (2 of them)
JD 4630 Tractor
JD 8330 Tractor
JD 9430 Tractor

Trucks
Ford Truck F700
Freightliner
Peterbilt
Dodge
International
Various pickups

Swathers
MacDon Swather
Premier 2930 Swather
John Deere R450 Swather
John Deere 3830 Swather

Other
D4 Cat Dozer
Cat Excavator
Forklifts
4460 Spray Coupe
Etc....

[Riven326]

Yeah. I'd really like an excavator anvd th3 ability to dig.

[Gimli54]

The farm I grew up nearby with some of my family working on (I helped when school allowed typically during planting or harvest) had about 6000 acres total which they now split with about 3000 being rice 2500 being soybeans and 500 being corn, rice and beans get rotated every year on the west side of Crowley’s ridge (NE Arkansas) and on the east side it varies depending on what field needs to be rotated to what, they don’t have any animals so it’s purely agricultural
As for equipment it’s something like
2 case 8250 combines with wide tires on the front (they used to have 40s with duals)
2 420 steigers with duals no three point
1 370 Steiger again duals with no three point hitch
1 350 Steiger same set up (I think they traded this one since I left for college this fall)
4 case 310 magnum, they used to have single front tire with dual backs but now I think they’ve gone back to duals on both
2 110 maxxums with custom flat blades on the front for cutting levees
1 case backhoe
5 trucks (I think most are international but it’s been I while since I’ve been around the trucks as I’m usually on a tractor working ground) the trucks pull Wilson trailers
3 case disks (ones newer the other 2 are older but all are about 34-36 ft wide I can’t remember which
1 Krause cultivator that’s 52ft wide
1 case disk drill, it’s pretty new so I don’t know much about it
1 stack planter for corn, again I don’t know much about it
3 J&M grain buggys (or carts)
The carts take the grain outta the field to the trucks which then take it to the bins, they put up all the rice and corn and if there’s any room left the put beans in it but they don’t normally have enough room for beans

[Jonhinkerton]

From reading these descriptions and watching some videos that have been recommended (I really like MN Millennial btw), I am wondering where these big cultivators are in the game? The 12m lemkin has to stand in for a lot of hardware on a quick look through. There’s not much else in the gap between it and the 500hp stuff that can’t be pulled by all the JD 7 and 8 tractors everyone seems to have. At least the Great Plains seeders fill in for the planters and seeders somewhat. I am beginning to better understand the friction between the US and EU players, but am surprised there’s not more mods. At least not on console. Is PC just way more common in the US?

Anyway, I really appreciate all the lists. It’s been a really cool thread and way more info than I expected to get!

[Mwal]

So if a console map is 2kmx2km that puts these two farms just on either side of filling the whole map. So maps like Welker and Dahl are more realistic as an average than expected.

Only one combine in each case as well. How long does it take to plant and harvest?

I suppose the idyllic one tractor farm just is not an economic reality.

Even on a small farm a one tractor farm is tough. Most small farms need two or three usually set up for different applications. A bigger horsepower tractor for tillage or pulling a cart, a medium size for planting,spraying and pulling gravity boxes, and a smaller utility style for running augers or a silage blower and just running general utility implement or moving things around the yard. You can get by with two or one but hooking/unhooking when doing things like silage with boxes or trying to plant one crop while doing tillage for another can become a real time wasting pain especially on a year when the weather isn’t cooperating. Think of a small farm to run more like a big one just with smaller and older equipment.

[bossmanslim]

American farms are split into a couple different categories, mainly depending on size. There are small farms of under 500 acres that rely on older/smaller equipment and range from basically hobby farms to break even farms (Boehm Farm). The next range is probably what I would call midsize farms that are small enough to still be a family farm, but are farming a lot of acres still; with grain farms, this can be relatively big (How Farms Work, Welker Farms, Brain's Farm Videos, Millennial Farmer, Onelonelyfarmer). Lastly, there is high employee commercial farming that are either huge livestock operations are farming upwards of 10000 acres (main farm on bigtractorpower, Farming Fixing & Fabricating).

It's basically a combination of equipment and employees that sets farms apart. Acreage is not really a good measure due to which crops (some areas are one crop only, others are double cropped) are grown and how labor intensive livestock is.

• 1-4 employees and older equipment
• 3-6 employees and newer equipment
• 10+ employees and newer equipment

[twfish]

Ah finally a subject matter that made me make an account instead of just reading. I am in indiana and have worked at a couple farms and now I work at a Dealership. The first farm I worked for was my uncles. A 1500 acre farm that had 3 employees, My uncle, a semi driver and myself. Equipment we had a JD 9770 sts, JD 8400 tractor JD 5425, JD 8640 articulating and a JD 8760 articulating tractor. A kinze 2600 planter, 26 foot cultivator and a couple 12 foot chisel plows. Corn soybeans and wheat. In harvest it was combine to grain cart to semi to the elevator (which is mostly the way everyone runs unless they have their own grain bins). Thats a pretty small farm around here and really just big enough to be a full time farmer and have some full time help. Any less it makes it harder to make ends meet. The farm I worked at while i was going to college had 7 full time employees (including owners) and during harvest we had 5 additional truck drivers. We ran around 6500 acres and where a larger farm for the area. During my 3 year tenure there they where mostly a lease farm on equipment with it being equipment such as 400 row track Quad track 380 half track row track magnum, 620 quad track, 500 quad track 120 farmall, 2 8230 combines, 8240 combine, 3330 patriot sprayer and then a 4440 patriot sprayer, 8360RT, 7250R with a front loader, 6145m, 4020, Lexion 770, MT738 (was the first one in the state when they got it). 50 foot Krause cultivator, 30 foot krause excellerator, krause 13 shank ripper, JD 45 foot cultivator, 2 unverferth 1,000 bushel grain carts, Fast 60 foot 32% applicator, JD 1770 planter 2 DB60 planters 2 Geringhoff corn heads, 2 Macdon draper heads. Fertilizer was put on with the planter and then side dressed for corn with 32%. Sprayer was used for fall burn down and then 1 application during summer. We where on 20 inch rows as well. Working at a dealership i pretty well have unlimited access the red equipment so if anyone has any questions on anything as they are making mods i am an open book. I was mainly a console player but the lack of U.S mods forced me too p.c

[Farmercaseih]

On my farm we have around 700 acres, and we have one combine currently with a 8 row corn head and 30 ft bean head.

[Deadeye]

American farms are split into a couple different categories, mainly depending on size. There are small farms of under 500 acres that rely on older/smaller equipment and range from basically hobby farms to break even farms (Boehm Farm). The next range is probably what I would call midsize farms that are small enough to still be a family farm, but are farming a lot of acres still; with grain farms, this can be relatively big (How Farms Work, Welker Farms, Brain's Farm Videos, Millennial Farmer, Onelonelyfarmer). Lastly, there is high employee commercial farming that are either huge livestock operations are farming upwards of 10000 acres (main farm on bigtractorpower, Farming Fixing & Fabricating).

It's basically a combination of equipment and employees that sets farms apart. Acreage is not really a good measure due to which crops (some areas are one crop only, others are double cropped) are grown and how labor intensive livestock is.

• 1-4 employees and older equipment
• 3-6 employees and newer equipment
• 10+ employees and newer equipment

While this is a very general description, I would argue that it is not correct. A small farm under 500 acres can make money, not just break even. A good family friend of ours is a picture perfect example of this. Just him and his son. Neither his wife or his son's wife work a full-time job. They support their families off of farming. What equipment used depends on the individual farm. I've seen what you consider to be "small farms" with brand new, late model Deere's. I've also seen a farm with a 2000-3000 acres that have 5 or 6 full times employees and several more part-time, seasonal employees, and farm with 32 bottom plows and dozens of grain trucks. It all depends on the individual operation.

Granted, you won't see a 3,000 acre farm farmed with one tractor, but as you said, acreage is not a good measure, and neither is equipment or employees. Just look at How Farms Work. They farm around 1,500-2,000 acres I believe, and only run 4 tractors, and have no "employees" . All depends on the operation.

[Cmtaylor]

Googling doesn’t really help me answer this question, but what does an average US farm look like today? I get the impression something like Welker is bigger than average, and the USDA says the average in acreage is 400ish, but no info on machinery. So, for a farm that does mainly grains somewhere west of the Mississippi:

how many workers?

How many tractors?

What kind of tools are owned vs. leased/borrowed as needed?

Combines, own or lease?

How is the grain moved, auger wagons to silos or wagons to trucks?

What trucks are owned vs hired?

Any info is appreciated, I am generally curious but it will certainly influence how I play FS.

The average size of a farm in Indiana is 1200 to 2400 acres trucks and equipment are very farm to farm

[bossmanslim]

Just look at How Farms Work. They farm around 1,500-2,000 acres I believe, and only run 4 tractors, and have no "employees" .

They have at least 3 full time employees (Ryan, Travis, Dad). Just because they are family doesn't mean they aren't employees.

[Illinois Farmer]

I would say someone who works for you is an employee otherwise they are owners. Like my dad brother and I are all spilt and are owners.

[AmericanFarmer23]

It’s really hard to describe American farming in my opinion. I strongly suggest Welker if you’re geared towards crop farming. Same can be said with MillennialFarmer. If you’re into dairy you never can go wrong with FarmingFixingAndFabricating on YouTube. In my opinion his videos describe American farming to a t!

[Arrancar88]

My sister came recently from her farm tours in Midwest and she told me they look exactly like in movies/games. So imagine farm in the middle of nothing/fields : Big Red/Yellow barns, wind wheel, huge fields filled with corn and ofc everyone have pickup truck. She also said : everything had perfect square/rectangular shape.
So pretty much Westbridge Hills(if it was flat) came as close as it could.
Btw all the farms were cattle farms and were either Beef or Dairy. She was very impressed by this guy around our age(30), who was running large dairy farm on his own. Also getting a job on farm like that, even for family members is not easy. When she explained all the stuff one have to do, I was baffled. Also she said she would trade Mexican workers for Ukrainian workers(they got at place she works), coz they worked like machines.

[Deadeye]

Just look at How Farms Work. They farm around 1,500-2,000 acres I believe, and only run 4 tractors, and have no "employees" .

They have at least 3 full time employees (Ryan, Travis, Dad). Just because they are family doesn't mean they aren't employees.

Hence, the quotes around the word "employees" just as I did here as well. They all have money invested in the farm. They work it together. It just goes to show like I said, it's impossible to describe American farming, or any agriculture for that matter, in a specific manner. EVERY situation is different. Agriculture is such a diverse industry.