Grains | Agriculture Farming Simulator 2013 Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
When we begin the game, we have a fleet that allows us to cultivate only grains: wheat, barley and rapeseed. This is why we first need to learn the proper order in which to prepare the field for sowing so that we can maximize our harvest and save time performing unnecessary actions.
The first thing to do on a newly purchased field is to plow it. To that end, you need to use a tractor with an extender and a plow attached to it. Select one of the available vehicles, mount the proper implement and then set it up, lower it and drive through the field a couple of times. If you want to use cruise control (to automatically maintain a set speed), use the one under the 1 button.
The plow has another function worth mentioning: we can use it to combine several small fields in a larger one. To do it, chose the option to create a new field (O) - once it's selected and the tool is lowered, we can plow the area between our fields (as well as any terrain around them), thus securing ourselves a bigger acreage. This option will come in handy in the future, when we decide to automate as many processes on the farm as we can using workers to operate our machineries.
In case the field has been used before to grow crops, we don't need to plow it again. Mount the tractor, attach an extender and a cultivator to it, and drive through the field a couple of times (cruise control - 1). The cultivator will prepare the soil for new crops by removing the leftovers from the last growth, including the straw that had been left over.
The next step is the sowing. To sow the field, attach the sowing machine to the tractor, use O to determine the type of grain (the icon will be displayed in the bottom right corner), and collect the seeds from the seed pallets - simply approach one and press R. When you're ready, set out into the field and begin the sowing process. This part of the game isn't too much different from the other processes on the farm: turn the sowing machine on and drive through the field a couple of times as usual. In case you want to hire a worker, keep in mind that he won't be using the seeds you bought - he has an unlimited supply of them, and their price is included in his services. We can stop preparing the field at this point, but the harvest won't be too big. We can improve it by performing an additional activity - fertilizing.
Fertilizing the field is the easiest way to increase (in this case practically double!) our harvest. The equipment we have at the beginning doesn't include the sprayer, and the cheapest one costs 30 000$, so we may have to go through the first few harvests without it. As soon as you buy a sprayer (preferably an AMAZONE UF 1801) and add it to your machinery fleet, attach it to a tractor (with an extender in the front), and fill it with the fertilizer at the tank. Filling it at 100% costs around 500$, but it's enough to fertilize several growths and the investment returns in an instant. When you're ready, drive into the field, extend the arms (X) and spray the crops (cruise control - 2). Given the large area that the sprayer covers, the process doesn't take long, so as long as you have the proper equipment try not to skip this step. Further in the game, when we have animals, we can use their manure to fertilize the fields. This will make us self-sufficient, but in the long run using the sprayer is the quickest and easiest way to increase harvests, since the effectiveness of the fertilizer and both types of manure is the same.
At this point, the only thing left to do is wait about one day until the grains grow and ripe. We can speed this process up by regulating time flow using the buttons 7 and 8 - the current acceleration can be seen in the top right corner. The time change affects only the growth of the crops; all vehicles will be still moving at their set speed. NOTE! It's not recommended to change time flow while sowing - the crops will be growing at different speeds and it may affect the harvest considerably. We can check the current status of the grains by examining the fields or by using the map under the ESC button. When the crops are ready to be harvested, we should slow the time back. Keep it in mind at all times, because if you leave the crops uncut for about 18 hours of the game, they will start to dry out, so always be quick with the harvest.
The last step is the harvest. To cut the crops use a combine harvester with a mechanical reaper attached to it (cruise control 1 or 4) - the crops are automatically stored inside the vehicle, and when it fills up, we'll need to unload it using the pipe on its side. If you want to speed this lengthy process up, you can hire a worker. To that end, place the combine in the starting position and press H - an AI will control the vehicle, and we'll have the time to attach a trailer to a tractor and go into the field ourselves. The reaper can be unloaded manually (extend the pipe and steer it over the trailer) or automatically, while the machine is working - to do it, catch up with the vehicle controlled by the worker, and he'll do the rest. If you want to make things easier, use cruise control - by pressing 4 you can set it for "cutting speed" and have your vehicle move right next to the combine.
Here's where our field work ends. The only thing left to do is to store the grains in the silos, utilize the leftovers from the harvest and begin the cultivation process anew.