Precision Farming time consuming

[Procobator]

From what I have seen so far this DLC coding structure has been set up very well for updating. I would expect that we should see more details of this mod or maybe add ons to it in the future.

Right now the soil types affect yields as a whole. Not for a particular crop.

[PrincessJessi84]

Ok I setup a simple test.. I didnt go through every hoop but I did well enough to say that its worth using, especially if you use a lot of hired help.. I setup a small level field with no obstructions on a base map with nothing but the dlc installed, once without Precision DLC and once with.. using exactly the same conditions for both times I went thru an entire cycle..

the base sowing time was 5:47 while the time with the dlc AND tower installed was only 5:08.. fert time was virtually the same but on a bigger field I would expect a slight reduction in time on a bigger field.. harvesting time was 5:02 base and only 4:07 with the dlc and tower installed..

I used less fertilizer depending on the field and crop, sometimes none was even needed.. the yield on a field with "bad" nitrogen was a bit less than base game with ideal conditions while "good" nitrogen yielded slightly more..

I dont know how long it lasts but you also dont have to test the soil every harvest.. other than the occasional soil testing there (I read you can increase the circle size but idk how) is nothing to lose (other than potential mod conflicts) and it could easily increase the overall productivity and realism of your farm..

So the mod does what it says... your (base game ai) workers are faster and with the variable application rate you can save a fair bit on supplies if you keep your fields up properly and plan them for the best crop.. hope this helps a bit.. this mod/dlc gets an A+ from me

[Mwal]

I'm pretty stingy, I try to save every penny, I try not to waste time, I work on 1x time (the night is very dark in FS19 and I dont like very much, so sometimes I "sleep" or fast forward 120x if it rains [in Erlengrat it never snows??? very stupid, probably from global warming!!]).

Maybe you should try the seasons mod if you want snow

[Dairydeere]

My advice to the original post. From using the DLC some already, as long as you take the time to apply the things like lime and nitrogen to your fields, you'll make a good profit. Also realize that farmers do this and a lot more in real life to keep their fields productive and good for crops to grow. We spend a lot of our time each year on the farm taking soil samples and working out nitrogen charts so we can apply manure where we want with how much we want. Then test again and again, year after year. This DLC only scratches the surface of what happens in the real fields

[mirceast19]

Ok I setup a simple test.. I didnt go through every hoop but I did well enough to say that its worth using, especially if you use a lot of hired help.. I setup a small level field with no obstructions on a base map with nothing but the dlc installed, once without Precision DLC and once with.. using exactly the same conditions for both times I went thru an entire cycle..

the base sowing time was 5:47 while the time with the dlc AND tower installed was only 5:08.. fert time was virtually the same but on a bigger field I would expect a slight reduction in time on a bigger field.. harvesting time was 5:02 base and only 4:07 with the dlc and tower installed..

I used less fertilizer depending on the field and crop, sometimes none was even needed.. the yield on a field with "bad" nitrogen was a bit less than base game with ideal conditions while "good" nitrogen yielded slightly more..

I dont know how long it lasts but you also dont have to test the soil every harvest.. other than the occasional soil testing there (I read you can increase the circle size but idk how) is nothing to lose (other than potential mod conflicts) and it could easily increase the overall productivity and realism of your farm..

So the mod does what it says... your (base game ai) workers are faster and with the variable application rate you can save a fair bit on supplies if you keep your fields up properly and plan them for the best crop.. hope this helps a bit.. this mod/dlc gets an A+ from me

Oh, now you really convinced me to try this new DLC, you made me curious. Thank you very much.

[Dairydeere]

	Ok I setup a simple test.. I didnt go through every hoop but I did well enough to say that its worth using, especially if you use a lot of hired help.. I setup a small level field with no obstructions on a base map with nothing but the dlc installed, once without Precision DLC and once with.. using exactly the same conditions for both times I went thru an entire cycle.. the base sowing time was 5:47 while the time with the dlc AND tower installed was only 5:08.. fert time was virtually the same but on a bigger field I would expect a slight reduction in time on a bigger field.. harvesting time was 5:02 base and only 4:07 with the dlc and tower installed.. I used less fertilizer depending on the field and crop, sometimes none was even needed.. the yield on a field with "bad" nitrogen was a bit less than base game with ideal conditions while "good" nitrogen yielded slightly more..

I dont know how long it lasts but you also dont have to test the soil every harvest.. other than the occasional soil testing there (I read you can increase the circle size but idk how) is nothing to lose (other than potential mod conflicts) and it could easily increase the overall productivity and realism of your farm..

	So the mod does what it says... your (base game ai) workers are faster and with the variable application rate you can save a fair bit on supplies if you keep your fields up properly and plan them for the best crop.. hope this helps a bit.. this mod/dlc gets an A+ from me

It's a simple xml change, I recommend watching this video

[Bryan83]

Hopefully Giants will make some kind of option on radius, otherwise I might spend the next 6 months getting samples on the Welker Map.

[aklein]

IMO the addition of precision farming makes things less time consuming than with out. Reason. With seasons you can get full fertilization with just 1 pass or 2 passes at most and for some crops like soybeans no fertilization is needed at all because of its lack of needing nitrogen.

If you schedule your crop rotation you can apply an organic fertilizer then seed say Wheat, then apply chemical fert. Your now done with maximum nitrogen levels for the crop. harvest the crop and immediately plant soybeans, no need to fertilize them as they do not require nitrogen and then harvest that crop and the beans will actually introduce nitrogen into the field so no mater what crop you add afterwards you need to apply less fertilizer to the field for that third crop simply because you followed the crop behind soybeans. Its possible if you followed up with sunflowers you might not need to apply any nitrogen again due to its low requirement so you could in theory maybe go 3 harvests with only applying one pass of organic fert and one pass of mineral fert.

I posted the first part to a three part series on precision farming in my channel.

[TruenorthKing]

Ya seriously it’s time to make soil sampling a hireable job. I’ve had enough of doing this on welker farms map lol.

[aklein]

As mentioned the time you dont have to fertilize for select crops if you take note of nitrogen levels before planting/seeding will make up for the occasional need to sample the soil. For example with seasons the time to fertilize a field of soybeans 3 times when they do not need to be fertilized at all in precision farming, or the low nitrogen requirements of say sunflowers you can easily just plant and fertilize in one pass and be done saving 2 passes on the field.

[tom1979]

I have tried Precision Farming on PS4 for a few weeks and found it quite frustrating. Soil sampling in the real world you would not sample every square inch of your land, however in FS19 you do need to as I found when applying fertiliser that any areas you missed sampling don't get any fertiliser at all. This meant that some large fields up to 90 samples were required. RTK stations made no noticeable improvement to workers that I could see. With the time and cost of the soil sampling I don't personally see any benefit to Precision Farming as it stands currently.

I like the concept of Precision Farming in FS19 but for me I would like to see :

- representative sampling, i.e. perhaps X no. of samples per hectare
- fert/lime application averaged across the field according to sampling results so that areas are not missed out completely
- the ability to hire a worker to carry out sampling, or perhaps the ability to purchase a survey of the land. In the real world you would have an agronomist out to do all this for you, and you pay for it with slightly higher chemical costs.

I was running it on Oakfield 19 with Seasons.

[Aggie24]

The ability to hire an agronomist to do the sampling is intriguing. I have spent time as an agronomist doing just this and this is really how it’s mostly done in the part of the US where I’m from. In fact, a lot of fertilizer and chemical dealers will offer the service in return for you using their services and recommendations.

[Juls]

In my game at least the DLC offers the possibility of up to 125% yield assuming you get all the requirements in the field sorted and planted the right crop vs soil type.

My understanding was that the extra 25% isn’t possible without the dlc.

I could be wrong but that’s how it seemed to work in my game.

[tom1979]

The ability to hire an agronomist to do the sampling is intriguing. I have spent time as an agronomist doing just this and this is really how it’s mostly done in the part of the US where I’m from. In fact, a lot of fertilizer and chemical dealers will offer the service in return for you using their services and recommendations.

That's pretty much how it works in the UK, although their recommendations are normally the more expensive chemical !

[tom1979]

In my game at least the DLC offers the possibility of up to 125% yield assuming you get all the requirements in the field sorted and planted the right crop vs soil type.

My understanding was that the extra 25% isn’t possible without the dlc.

I could be wrong but that’s how it seemed to work in my game.

I was thinking the time and cost of sampling outweighed the potential 25% increase in yield. I didn't fully test that theory though.