Farming Simulator 2013 The Farmer's guide to: Crops

The Basics

You have the possibility to plant 7 distinct crops in Farming simulator 2013, all of them are slightly different and some of them require specific equipment to be planted or harvested.

Some crops are easier to work with than others, but ideally you will want to have a wide selections of crops in storage to be able to sell them when the price is at it's best.

Keep in mind that selling the same crop all the time also drive it's price down.

Growth timeGrowth rate in the configuration menu is also linked to the timescale you are using:

Slow: 2 days 5h20 (ingame), 10h40 real time at x5, 26 minutes at x120

Medium: 1 day 2h40 (ingame), 5h20 real time at x5, 13 minutes at x120

Fast: 13h20 (ingame), 2h40 real time at x5, 6 minutes at x120

Wither timeAfter the crops are fully grown, you need to harvest them before it withers or the harvest will be lost.

Slow: 1 day 16h00 (ingame), 08h00 real time at x5, 20 minutes at x120

Medium: 20h00 (ingame), 4h00 real time at x5, 10 minutes at x120

Fast: 10h00 (ingame), 2h00 real time at x5, 5 minutes at x120

Preparing the landYou can prepare an existing field with a cultivator or a plow, it doesn't make any difference, the only difference being that a plow can create/extend fields while a cultivator only work within the boundaries of an existing field.

NOTE: Preparing a field is mandatory after each harvest.

Newly bought fields are already ready for seeding.

SeedingOnce you prepared a field you can seed it, not every seeders can seed every seed types, and some crops such as potatoes can only be seeded with a dedicated seeding implement.

(optional)FertilizingYou can fertilize the land if you want to as soon as the land has been cultivated. Fertilising will darken the color of your field and double the yield of your harvest. You have a choice between using manure or chemical fertilizers but they produce the same result.

HarvestingHarvesting can be done as soon as the crops matured. Be mindful of the weather as you cannot harvest while it is raining.

Canola

Also called "rape" is a good beginner crop in Farming simulator 2013. Until you can afford larger trailers, it's low yield and high initial value should get you going for your first few harvests.

Harvesting canolaCanola can be harvested with any standard self propelled harvester fitted with a grain header.

Summary Doesn't produce any straw.

Low volume.

Highest initial sale price.

Wheat

Wheat is a high volume crop and produces about twice as much as canola, you will want to have large trailers to unload your harvesters with. This crop will also produce a lot of straw that you can pick up and bale, either for selling it or to give to your cows.

You should cultivate wheat in rotation with barley since they tend to be fairly similar, it will increase the chances of having one of them in stock during a high price period.

Harvesting wheatWheat can be harvested with any standard self propelled harvester fitted with a grain header.

Summary: High volume.

Medium price.

Produce straw.

Similar to barley.

Barley

Barley is close second to wheat when it comes to volume to a point their yield is nearly identical. This crop will also produce a lot of straw (but not as much as wheat).

You should cultivate wheat in rotation with barley since they tend to be fairly similar, it will increase the chances of having one of them in stock during a high price period.

Harvesting barleyBarley can be harvested with any standard self propelled harvester fitted with a grain header.

Summary: High volume.

Medium price.

Produce straw.

Similar to wheat.

Corn

Corn, also referred to as "maize" is usually considered as an "end game" crop because of the expensive equipment required to harvest it, it's price at the start of the game generally isn't that great but it can be used to produce chaff. Corn will not produce straw, no matter which way it is harvested.

Corn can also be turned to chaff which has a number of uses in the game.

It's yield is similar to wheat and barley but it is worth much less at the beginning of the game, unless you are ready to go all the way to the port for selling.

Harvesting corn grainTo properly harvest corn and be able to sell it you will need a harvester that can harvest it, and there is only one in the game, the DEUTZ 7545 RTS. Don't forget to also pick up it's matching corn header.

The header can be folded so you don't need to use a header trailer if you want to go through narrow passages.

NOTE: There is a bug in the game that will allow you to attach the corn header of the RTS on any combine, it might not fit perfectly but it will work.

Harvesting corn chaff (silage)To turn corn into silage you will need the forage harvester KRONE Big X 1000 and it's corn header.

NOTE: The Big X 1000 Doesn't have an internal storage like the other self propelled harvesters, you will have to attach a small trailer behind it to collect the chaff (Emsland, Kröger 302 and Krampe 500 only), or have a trailer driving on it's side. The KRONE Big X 1000 unloading pipe, when deployed will automatically aim at the nearest trailer

Alternative setupA small trailed forage harvester, the Pöttinger Mex 6 can be pulled behind a tractor, it's working width is only of 2 meters but it is much cheaper. You will also have to hitch a small trailer behind it to collect the chaff.

Summary: Expensive equipment.

Doesn't produce any straw.

High volume.

Potatoes

Potatoes give you the highest volume harvested in the game but are also one of the most expensive to harvest efficiently. Most of the potato equipment cannot be used for any other crops.

Harvesting potatoes with a tractorThis is the cheapest way to get potatoes. To harvest potatoes with a tractor you will need two specific implements:

Grimme KS75-4

Grimme KS75-55The KS75-4 has to be used first to remove the top of the potatoes, it attach to the front of your tractor, like a mower.

Then you can use the KS75-55 to collect the potatoes, they will be collected from the side when the implement is deployed and only harvest one "row" at a time (the potato seeders plant 4 and 8 rows at a time)

Harvesting potatoes with the Tectron 415The Grimme Tectron 415 will remove the tops and harvest the potatoes in a single step, across 4 rows at a time, simply use it like any other self propelled harvester.

Summary Require dedicated implements.

Prefer the self propelled harvester if you can afford it.

Highest yield in the game.

Sugar Beets

Sugar beets are second best when it comes to highest yeld crop in the game. Like potatoes, the equipment required is fairly expensive, but it is sharing it's seeding equipment with corn.

Harvesting sugar beets with a tractorThis is the cheapest way to get sugar beets. To harvest beets with a tractor you will need two specific implements:

Grimme BM 300

Grimme Rootster 604The Grimme BM 300 has to be used first to remove the top of the sugar beets. Then you can use the Grimme Rootster 604 to collect the beets.

Harvesting sugar beets with the Maxtron 620The Grimme Maxtron 620 will remove the tops and harvest the beets in a single step, simply use it like any other self propelled harvester.

Summary Require dedicated implements.

Prefer the self propelled harvester if you can afford it.

Second highest yield in the game.

Grass

Grass is already growing when you start the game, it is basically everywhere a field or construction is not present. It has a few of uses and regrow without reseeding.

Seeding grass on a field "delete" it, in the sense that the plowed dirt disappear and you will have to re create this part of the field to seed anything else than grass on it.

The golf course also pay a little bit of money when you dump grass on the pile there.

Harvesting grassGrass can be harvested with several pieces of equipment. The cheapest one being the AMAZONE Profihopper Which is a very small mower with a built-in tank.

Larger mowers can be attached on a tractor, the grass can then be collected using a forage wagon.

Harvesting chaff from grassThe KRONE Big X 1000 can be fitted with the KRONE XDisc Direct to mow and chop grass into chaff. This is similar to making corn chaff and you get roughy the same volumes.

Summary Can be used to delete or recut fields.

Regrow without reseeding

Isn't worth much sold "as is".

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=119517853

The Farmer's guide to: Crops