Hi all, I was wondering is there any advantage to having a single 10x10 farm or four 5x5 farms? Just wondering if I should make fewer large farms or lots of smaller farms. Cheers.
If you look at it in isolation. The best size for a field is 5x6 (1 farmer for 30 tiles - more yield per farmer).
In comparison, 5x5 (and 5x10) is 1 farmer for 25 tiles and 10x10 is 1 farmer for each 20 tiles (5 for 100).
… But you can lower the number of farmers for each field, so this optimization doesn’t really apply.
Then there is the fertilization mechanism that enters into play. The bigger the fields, the more impact it has.
Grazing done by your cows apply for patches of land of 10x10 … so you kind of feel pushed towards this size (although you could put 4 5x5 fields next to each other - haven’t tested).
The final point is whether you want more fields enabling more diverse cultures, or less fields and the associated management.
Ideally I would have 1 barn for 3 10x10 zones of fields, so each year the cows go graze on the 10x10 patch that grows clover … but you could also send them to your fruit trees I guess (haven’t tested yet).
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Don’t know if this has any effect on cows grazing on clover in the fields though.
Maybe he just reduced the percentage. 
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Nope, there was an exploit we discovered. I doubt anyone was using it as it’s very specific, but in case anyone had discovered it…well now they know.
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Thanks Pantolomin, good answer. When we apply fertiliser to a farm does anyone know if the size has an effect on how much fertility boost we get? So if we get the same boost for a 5x5 or a 10x10 then a larger farm would be better for that I guess.
The game didn’t allow my cow to graze my field when I tried it, it was only allowed on orchards
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2 of my barns had no problem with cows grazing on 10x10 patches growing clover.
However, for my third one, the grazing area became red, and my cows where in very bad health. Had to make them graze somewhere else. Don’t know why this happened.
My hunch is that it has to do with weed levels. When weed levels are high, cows can graze. If weed levels are low, they can’t.
I am also wondering if it was because my fields were only 6x10 rather than 10x10
in my little experience, i use 8x7 fields , they allow 3 workers and its a good size if u use stone walls and paths between them , 3 workers worked very well for me, if u fertilize a 10x10 every time , 1 path 2 stone walls and 2 stone walls the other side, inside its 8x7 and the minimum size for 3 workers ( TOC enjoyer)
Here is the solution I use for 3 fields of 60 boxes.
The cows graze outside the fields. I always have too much compost so I don’t find it useful to fertilize the fields with the cows.
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Same. Grazing on 10x10 clover always turns out Red
In the latest update, it seems like it’s much more difficult to raise fertility even by doing clover all the time ??!!??
- beans, clover, radish
- clover, beans
- clover, rye
is my current rotation and the fertility hardly goes up
Maybe because I play on arid … maybe because the soil is 100% sand … would be nice to know how all of this works.
On the wiki Farming - Farthest Frontier it states:
Plan to graze livestock on your fields when grains or root vegetables are growing, as this will boost your field fertility and provide fodder for the livestock. Since the livestock grazing area is 10x10 it is advisable that your field size is standardized to at least this size. Note that grazing on clover is no longer possible as of patch 0.7.5.
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In my first map, fertility went high without cows grazing on fields.
I’ll need to dig into the code I guess to understand the mechanism better.
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I posted in the other thread on fertility, I am playing Idyllic and clover and fertilisation is having a good effect on my fields. So maybe it might be the type of map you are playing on? Also I think the fertility boost is variable but I’m not 100% sure on that.
I always do 6x12 crops and can lower the farmers to 1 with no real issue for a year or two if need be. I use cattle to fert before I plant for a couple years.
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Don’t you want crops for the food before you have access to cattle (Tier 1)?
It’s nice some times but crops really are not a huge boost. Get that barn working ASAP if you are on a poor fertility map. If not then Build the crops as soon as you want. If you have issues with poor soil ( fert levels ) on your map then by all means get some barns up.