Farmhand Bug or Multiple Fields are better than Single Big Field??

[Onikage]

So I made a 16x16 Field in the first Spring of a new save to make a ton of Flax, pushed Reputation to get 4 Farmhands and with Seeding being the only task left only ONE of the 4 was laying seeds, the other 3 were just sweeping... plenty of bags and seeds to go around.
So is that the limit per field is only one worker can do one stage of the task at a time?
I'm assuming that's what it is and I'd be better off with two 8x16 fields instead for my Summer Cabbage

[Sikk]

AFAIK There can only be one person assigned to each task per field. If you want tech it's best to just have them help while you manually do most of it (also look for any quests related to farming), or do as you mentioned and split the fields/workers. So if you had 3 equally skilled farmers they would be working one square after the other per task.

I similarly expected a farmer to start seeding on like the other side of the field or something, but they just never coded it into the game that way and most likely never will. At a certain point you won't need big fields. It becomes trivial and automated besides the fact you have to set the field crop every season.

[galadon3]

Its why I prefer more smaller fields, gives the farmhands more flexibility

[Onikage]

Yeah this has really screwed up the start of my summer. I have to fully clear all that Flax so I can destroy the field to re-do it... but at least I know going forward I guess. What sizes have you found the most effective? I'm thinking the 8x16 will be best

[Kwalyz]

I find 2 x whatever fits in the space to be effective. You might be able to get 8 sets of 2 x 16 into the area that you had the 16 x 16 field. The farmers will work the fields in the order of how close they are to a farm shed, depending upon the priority order of the tasks.
so having a lot of small fields when you have a lot of the same thing to plant or harvest - eg flax is more efficient than larger fields.

[galadon3]

I put mine down in a 5*4 checkerboard pattern, but tbh its mostly because I like the look.^^
No idea wich size is most efficient I just learned early on that too big is bad.

[-shhfiftyfive]

farmhands will prioritize fertilizing.
if 1 farmhand is already on that job, then the 2nd farmhand will follow with a hoe.
a 3rd farmhand will follow with seeds if the field has been given a designation for what to plant.

if more than 1 field exists, these rules apply.
meaning they will choose to fertilize if any harvest has been collected.
so i harvest first thing in the morning, so they are most efficient with their day.
because they will just begin fertilizing for next season instead of focusing on harvesting this season...

7x7 field maybe 8x8 is about as much as a farmhand can handle.
either 3 fields for 3 days with 3 farmhands, each field gets 1 worker.
or 1 field with 3 farmhands.

if you need farmhands to harvest, (instead of the player) then in this case, you will likely need 4 day seasons -which i do not prefer. or smaller fields, or LESS fields (because they're programmed to ignore harvest if they can find a field that needs prep for out of season...)

when you're busy doing other things (mining, questing, recruiting, etc away from town) you also have to consider margin of error, for when workers run out of tools, fertilizer, or seeds, or you forgot to change what seed to plant one season... in this case you might miss the entire season / year's planned harvest.

i have 3 field buildings
i have 10 8x8 fields. i also have 8 4x4 orchards.
i usually harvest everything. they place down fertilizer and seeds.

with that big of a farm area, the fields building will fail to cover the distance.
i placed 3 field buildings (surrounding 3/4th's of the field) to make sure all fields are near enough to be worked by the npc's.

[Willow Rivers]

Only 1 farmhand can do a single task on a field. You cannot have 2 people sowing the same field at a time, it will always be just 1 worker. You can have multople farmhands working the field if there are different tasks to be done though. For instance one will fertilize, one will hoe and another will sow.

I do my fields in a 10 x 10 size. I have 8 10x10 fields with 2 farm sheds of farmhands.

[-shhfiftyfive]

Originally posted by Willow Rivers:

Only 1 farmhand can do a single task on a field. You cannot have 2 people sowing the same field at a time, it will always be just 1 worker. You can have multople farmhands working the field if there are different tasks to be done though. For instance one will fertilize, one will hoe and another will sow.

I do my fields in a 10 x 10 size. I have 8 10x10 fields with 2 farm sheds of farmhands.

yes. 10x10 is really stretching your luck though. 8 workers on 8 fields that big. i think you'd need a 4th day per season for them to also harvest, unless you harvest it all yourself (which i do)

in my past experience, the workers will end their day before working 100 tiles (a 10x10)
but they can do 64 tiles.. so i stuck with that.

also i'm not sure if they get more efficient at higher skill level (work faster) as it is really hard to tell.

[Lailantie]

My biggest fields usually are 6x10. I had no idea that this was the optimal field size, but I found it worked in all my games.

[TheOriginalMark:-)]

Just to add - you can simply force farmers to do all harvesting first by hiding the fertiliser.

[Foxglovez]

5 x 10 fields work well for me. They can get through that size field in quick order compared to bigger ones and the size isn't either too small or excessive so placement hasn't been a issue.
And no, I don't want to do the work myself except early years I do the harvesting as I have the 30% (iirc) perk. At some point I don't care any more. One pig is more than enough, in a 5 day season I only use one farmer for it all, except spring when I move the beekeeper over for a day or two. Have 10 fields which is actually way more than I need. Be sure and get the perk that speeds up NPCs work speed. No stopping for a latte.

[Onikage]

Originally posted by Mark:

Just to add - you can simply force farmers to do all harvesting first by hiding the fertiliser.

See I prefer to harvest since I've got the 100% bonus with the Farming Feats, so at least in the first few years, I don't want them harvesting at all

[barbaraclubb]

I find that if I "hide " the fertilizer they all go on strike and don't do anything

[Foxglovez]

Their union contract is stronk. No Poop, No Work.