Advice on Time Speed/Seasons Days

[jasonbarron]

This is really up to you. How do YOU play the game? I run a 2 day month with Precision Farming. I don’t want to miss a chance to get a full harvest, and I do a lot of the work myself. I also use an adjustable time speed related to weather conditions, time of year, etc.

I suggest playing around with time speed and days. If you do all the work, you might need more days. If you hire out workers, maybe fewer days. Other factors are animals and productions. Horses take time, chickens don’t. Precision Farming has rules to follow, while regular doesn’t have as many. More rules equals more time.

There’s no right or wrong answer here.

I've been playing for a few days now and I see the wisdom of your advice. As a beginner I settled on real time and 6 day months, at least while I try to understand what everything does and how much time it will actually take to accomplish any given task. I'll probably wind up adjusting it later on when I'm more experienced. I'm doing all the work without any AI and plan to take on a bunch of contracts so I don't mind having more time on the clock. And I'm playing with seasons enabled and precision farming turned on. In the case of PF I don't know much about it, hopefully just doing all of my farm chores such as plowing/liming/fertilizing/mulching etc etc sets me up for success.

[LittleWatt]

PF is actually easy once you get it. It follows the exact same path as regular farming with a few adjustments. You must use organic fertilizer at least once. Theoretically you should be able to use oilseed radish as an organic fertilizer, I’ve never tested it. You must use herbicide on every field not plowed or subsoiled (always check field info for weeds, if it isn’t maxed, use herbicide). You must use a direct drill, or maybe, a shallow cultivator (I rarely ever cultivate without a direct seeder, I use a modded potato planter that allows direct planting). You must use manure sensor on slurry tanks ( I suggest a manure spreader instead to get started), Spot Sprayer on herbicide, and crop sensor for non-organic fertilizer. You must get a soil sample after every 6 harvests (field can’t be limed or fertilized without a soil sample if you don’t know why you can’t do those tasks). Other than that, you’ll use less seeds, less fertilizer, and less lime. Your yield will be higher for some soil and less for other. By combining all soil types, you average more yield than normal farming, get bonus checks, and use less material for the same work. Your upfront costs are higher though. You’ll need to buy a manure spreader (liquid or solid), buy manure or slurry, but use less lime and fertilizer, buy crop sensors, buy soil sample. But those costs are quickly mitigated with the bonus checks.

[jasonbarron]

PF is actually easy once you get it. It follows the exact same path as regular farming with a few adjustments. You must use organic fertilizer at least once. Theoretically you should be able to use oilseed radish as an organic fertilizer, I’ve never tested it. You must use herbicide on every field not plowed or subsoiled (always check field info for weeds, if it isn’t maxed, use herbicide). You must use a direct drill, or maybe, a shallow cultivator (I rarely ever cultivate without a direct seeder, I use a modded potato planter that allows direct planting). You must use manure sensor on slurry tanks ( I suggest a manure spreader instead to get started), Spot Sprayer on herbicide, and crop sensor for non-organic fertilizer. You must get a soil sample after every 6 harvests (field can’t be limed or fertilized without a soil sample if you don’t know why you can’t do those tasks). Other than that, you’ll use less seeds, less fertilizer, and less lime. Your yield will be higher for some soil and less for other. By combining all soil types, you average more yield than normal farming, get bonus checks, and use less material for the same work. Your upfront costs are higher though. You’ll need to buy a manure spreader (liquid or solid), buy manure or slurry, but use less lime and fertilizer, buy crop sensors, buy soil sample. But those costs are quickly mitigated with the bonus checks.

Interesting. I'm just starting out and immediately harvested the fields my farm came with, plowed and spread lime even though I didn't see any notifications to do so. I definitely didn't purchase any soil samples. Haven't planted or fertilized yet. Did I waste the lime?

[LittleWatt]

Yes, you wasted lime unless you quit the game and returned. Any lime or fertilizers used before a soils sample are completely negated with a soil sample. You won’t get alerts about what to do. You’ll need to check the field info. You’ll need lime and fertilizer every time for all crops except soybeans, they only require lime and actually fertilize the soil.

Any purchased fields that are ready to harvest won’t be impacted by lime or fertilizer. But your Environmental Score will be. So a new map with ready to harvest fields other than your own should be ignored or done under contract. Unless you’re willing to take the hit. Then buy the fields and prep properly. Always get a soils sample. I suggest just buying them from the PF screen. It’s fairly cheap and takes far less time than buying a sampler (Miscellaneous) and taking your own samples. Definitely check out the Help section on PF on your map PDA. It gives everything you need to know except some tips by seasoned PF users.

[jasonbarron]

Yes, you wasted lime unless you quit the game and returned. Any lime or fertilizers used before a soils sample are completely negated with a soil sample. You won’t get alerts about what to do. You’ll need to check the field info. You’ll need lime and fertilizer every time for all crops except soybeans, they only require lime and actually fertilize the soil.

Any purchased fields that are ready to harvest won’t be impacted by lime or fertilizer. But your Environmental Score will be. So a new map with ready to harvest fields other than your own should be ignored or done under contract. Unless you’re willing to take the hit. Then buy the fields and prep properly. Always get a soils sample. I suggest just buying them from the PF screen. It’s fairly cheap and takes far less time than buying a sampler (Miscellaneous) and taking your own samples. Definitely check out the Help section on PF on your map PDA. It gives everything you need to know except some tips by seasoned PF users.

Great advice, much appreciated.