Some, now that all my fields are in the 90s and about half at 100… (only took me 100 plus years) I would like to give a few thoughts as someone who has lived on a farm, is an avid gardener, and lives in the midwestern US farming communities…
Fertility in the game is bit too volatile. Yes, there is a great deal of work that goes into fields and farming, but I don’t believe there are ANY farmers that plant ground cover on EVERY field, EVERY year. Nor do the leave a field fallow (with two ground covers) every 3rd year. This is not economical nor sustainable.
Also, as someone who has worked in orchards, and who has fruit trees, orchard fertility and livestock fodder are not the same things. Orchards should be tied to the same fertility map as fields, or have one created for them (as they aren’t exactly the same as fields either, but they are much closer related to fields than cows).
Possible solutions/changes:
- Reduce the decay of fertility, and increase the growing season length of crops. Many fields are a one crop a year deal, increase the length of time the crop takes to mature, and shift the focus more towards, planting in the correct season to avoid frost/heat (frost might need a bit of tweaking too as it sometimes comes a bit later and early).
- Increase the amount of work it takes to keep the field weed-free, I only have to weed my fields in game once every 3 years (cold probably go more if there were a 4 or 5 year rotation). Maybe make the time of working the field 1/3 shorter, but is needed every year instead.
- Focus more on crop rotations in field and adjacent fields. Though this mechanic does work, if you choose to ignore it, the penalty isn’t hefty enough to make one care.
- (Not entirely real world but plausible) Though I don’t see this as needed, because it would be a rarity in RL, allow grazing of herds on fields. To balance this and see if it is really worth it, this would be counted as a significant wildlife event.
- Herd fertility affect on land, especially if allowed to graze on fields, needs to be reduce. It should take more than a couple of years of poop to raise an area to 100 fertility. Personally, a think a good balance point would be, take your turnup crop, and if they were grazed on that field, a 75% crop loss, with a 5% fertility gain.
- Continue to allow the grazing of cows in orchards, but tie orchard fertility to the base map fertility and water.
Just some thoughts 