Farm
| Farm | ||
| ||
| Research | ||
|---|---|---|
| Basic Building | ||
| Building Resources | ||
 Planks
|
8 | |
| Workers | ||
 Farmers Guild Prefrence
|
No teaching required | 2 |
| Foot Print | ||
| Gathers nearby crop plants. | 2x2x1 | |
The Farm building allows up to 2 Whiskers to create, maintain, and harvest farms within its radius. Farms must be created with the Farm tool. Farms and the Farm building are not exclusive to each other and Farm buildings with overlapping areas may be beneficial to help expedite planting and harvesting farms.
Farm buildings are the only resource gathering Building that is gated by resources at the start of the game. It requires Planks to be built which are not immediately available, so other food options should be pursued at first. This is also because all crops require a significant investment in time before viable harvests begin. Build Farms before you need them or you may run into starvation issues.
Farming is complex and requires careful consideration. Areas with green grass growing on the surface are usually good indicators that the soil is ripe for farming. One should also activate the Farming Tool and select the desired crop to see which areas of the map have the best conditions for that crop. Keep in mind that some crops are more sensitive to soil conditions than others. Also consider that some crops, like Cotton and Tea Leaves, will rapidly deplete soil nutrients requiring long fallow periods or fertilizer to recover. Mushrooms are a special case and more information can be found on that page regarding growing that crop underground.
Native crops (ones you find on the map in wild form), are the easiest to grow because they minimally impact soil nutrients. Berries and Trees are really good early game options for Farms as they provide sustainable food and building material/fuel. Flax is also a good early crop to ensure Whiskers have Woven Cloaks for winter. While Cotton is available from the start, considerable care should be taken in planting it due to its nutrient resource drain and that it will primarily be a cash crop for tax purposes rather than provide any use until late game.
More detailed information about each crop is provided on the associated resource pages and concepts around farming in general is in the Farmer's Almanac.
Sunlight is needed for all crops so take care in building over the top of Farms as this will reduce the overall fertility of the Farm (exception being Mushrooms which desire no light).
Crops are sensitive to temperature and will stop growing when temperatures get too low. Farmers will harvest viable crops during the winter but will otherwise idle without warning if they're waiting out the cold season. Crops can continue to grow if warmed by a heater, but may be stunted by the associated produced pollution until Steam Radiator are used. It is not economical to plan on heating all Farms during the winter as it will cost a substantial amount of Fuel. Keeping some Tree and Berries Farms going through winter can slow the inevitable burn rate of those resources during the season.
Existing Farms can be expanded by selecting a tile on the Farm with the Farm Tool and dragging to make the farm bigger. This is preferable to painting a bunch of mini Farms. Farms can be reduced in size by holding down Shift while selecting a portion of an existing Farm with the Farm Tool. You may need to do this to make room for buildings, for example.
Farms selected without the Farm Tool can have their crops changed at will with the additional option of Fallow which will end further planting after harvest. Fallow Farms will recover nutrients until they reach their max possible (may be less than 100%).
You can also select whether or not a farm should apply Fertilizer (later game technology). This can improve soil's maximum nutrient amount and even boost the current nutrient amount to over 150%.
You can also select whether farmers should remove rocks from the fields. This can slow planting, but should otherwise be done to improve soil fertility. Rock removal is not instantaneous and much like the rest of farming, you may have to wait awhile to see results.
Whiskers assigned to farms can harvest wild crops within their radius, but unlike the Forage Hut, it cannot be moved once placed.
