Farms VS Farm Fields

[philriggin]

I am finding that using Farm Houses is problematic in so far as making its inhabitants happy. When I build a Farm House, white I do get extra population/workers, they are not affected by the happiness AOE of the Temples or State/Administration buildings. The happiness AOE is so small that the farm houses are generally the residents who get angry the fastest. If the Farm Fields are used they don't supply workers, but you can place a town house (from which workers will be drawn) near the Happiness AOE buildings in your city. Their workers don't get angry as quickly when they can get a +2 TO +4 happiness bonus from your temples or State Buildings. The Farms Houses are a bit less temperamental after you research "Rural Independence" under the "research tab". Are the rest of you finding this true? Do you guys have any pearls of wisdom?

[Thadom69]

my farm house is not getting emptied atm idk why. i have 4 of them and i eventually lost my game bc demand for wheat was not met, please help

[Composition GS]

Originally posted by Thadom69:

my farm house is not getting emptied atm idk why. i have 4 of them and i eventually lost my game bc demand for wheat was not met, please help

Did you have a market? Were the farms connected by road?

[Byzantium]

Interesting. I myself tend to use Farm Fields only if I am not planning on getting the secondary demand from the field (Meat, Olive Oil, Wine).

One main benefit of the Houses is that they don't need to request Labor from Townhouses and immediately start working the fields when their season starts. Farm Fields always tend to have lower yields unless your city is able to maintain a constant surplus of Labor. Not to mention that Farmhouses technically produces 1 additional yield of their crops due to self sufficiency.

As for the happiness issue, I avoid it by making the Townhouses always happy with nearby happiness buildings like Temples, Gymnasium and Monuments.

[Viriathus]

In my experience, what determines the choice between a farm and a field is its proximity to the market.

Farms have their own workforce but need a market for the consumption of goods, access to religion and entertainment.

Fields need labor but can be distant from the market, but tend to produce less because access to labor is not always accessible and immediate.

However, they do not consume goods or need their own access to entertainment or religion.

In conclusion, if the production site is close to the market - choose the farm, if the production site is far from the market - choose the field.