Farmer just sits down and does not farm

[BlackPhoenix]

I assigned a villager to be a farmer. He has a rake, has seeds available, and has a water source nearby. But for some reason he just sits down and does absolutely nothing. Am I missing something?

[Sqeekie]

They do that when they don't feel safe. It's frustrating. Defense, at least 1 guy patrolling usually helps. I usually assign the one complaining about being safe to the barracks, lol

[ArgonGas]

Originally posted by Sqeekie:

They do that when they don't feel safe. It's frustrating. Defense, at least 1 guy patrolling usually helps. I usually assign the one complaining about being safe to the barracks, lol

Jokes on you - barracks and archery ranges boost villager's happiness!

[miauukisu]

Originally posted by ArgonGas:

Originally posted by Sqeekie:

They do that when they don't feel safe. It's frustrating. Defense, at least 1 guy patrolling usually helps. I usually assign the one complaining about being safe to the barracks, lol

Jokes on you - barracks and archery ranges boost villager's happiness!

Joke's on the complainer >;-)

[Lumberjack]

If its a defence issue put someone on barracks and set a marker to patrol near the farm, if its a Task issue ( wrong season ?) maybe have a look in there.

[Aurelius]

You didn't mention if this is your first farmer or not, so for safety's sake, here's a couple steps that are necessary:
1) After the farm is built you have to build fields. They're like an upgrade to the farm and you lay them out by plot. Each farm can support three fields of max size 25 plots each although you can vary the geometry to fit them in, so long as you don't exceed 25 plots.
2) Once the fields are built and farmer(s) assigned, you have to tell them what to plant in each field via the tasks tab on the farm. You select the crop that's in season and you have to click each plot to select it for a given seed, then click save. It is possible to add partial crops of different seeds to one field.
3) Different crops only grow in their appropriate seasons. If you have crops out of season you'll get a brief pop-up on screen and it'll show in the village issues list.
4) Generally only flax and beetroot grow in the winter. Spring and summer are more variable and have a broader range of crops available.
5) It is possible to unclick "repeat this order" when setting the crop type, in which case the farmers won't automatically replant.
5a) Seeds are generated at harvest and should yield more than are necessary to replant the field.
5b) Once you're rolling, seed storage fills up quickly and they'll rot on the ground if you're not careful. Usually best to ensure you have gatherers running year-round to keep your seed stocks topped off, especially for seasonable re-plants.
5c) Extra seed storage can be built at the warehouse, but you'll have to have a worker assigned to gather up the seeds the farmers drop if their on-farm storage is full.

Hope that helps.

[Tarciryan]

AI being useless is what made me stop playing the game. Multiple issues including what OP is describing. Had the same issue as OP, they just stood there waving and being brainless. They had the tools, the seed, the water. No defense issue, no seasonal issue. Didn't even care to troubleshoot it anymore, flawed on a fundamental level.

[Quinoa]

Originally posted by BlackPhoenix:

I assigned a villager to be a farmer. He has a rake, has seeds available, and has a water source nearby. But for some reason he just sits down and does absolutely nothing. Am I missing something?

So you have to set Task for each field what they are going to plant for the season, different seeds grows diffrent seasons. And give your farmer 4-5 water pouches, it's needed

[Forced2Finish]

Originally posted by Tarciryan:

AI being useless is what made me stop playing the game. Multiple issues including what OP is describing. Had the same issue as OP, they just stood there waving and being brainless. They had the tools, the seed, the water. No defense issue, no seasonal issue. Didn't even care to troubleshoot it anymore, flawed on a fundamental level.

Sounds like user issue. I'm on like day 200+ and not having these issues. It's ok if you don't understand some of the game mechanics or don't want to bother learning how things work, but don't blame the game. It's the user.

[BulletMagnet]

When in the task(Q) menu of the field select the seed you want to plant up top then click the empty boxes in the grid below (they represent the field squares that stuff will be planted in)

[marmik1456]

I had similar issue, but turned out my partner gave them more off work hours lol i hope it's ok to ask here, as it's somewhat related - where do farmers put crops they harvested? I planted plenty of garlic, they harvested it, planted new plants but I can not find my garlic :( I checked their inventories and it wasn't there, neither in the stashes on the farm or cooking station

[Amrak]

There are bins on the farm building. One for fiber, one for seeds and one for crops. Be sure to keep the farmer supplied with rakes.