Do animals increse farming level?

[Mrrshan68]

I know harvesting crops increases your farming level, but does milking cows/harvesting eggs also increase it?
If i want to ignore crops in favor of animals will i still need to plant some just to lvl farming so i can build mayo machine/looms/cheese presses?

[I Kinda Fail]

tl;dr at the bottom
Yes. But slowly. I know that level 1, for example is 100 XP. Petting an animal is 5 XP, as is shearing and milking. However, gathering truffles and eggs does nothing, and neither does making cheese/mayo. Just petting, milking and trimming.

It's recommended you farm on the side, at least a tiny bit. Growing all the parsnips you get at the start for free will get you 100-120 XP, which is level 1. The mayo machine is at level 2...

I'm trying to do a rancher playthrough now, and am only just getting my first chickens at the end of spring. I grew green beans (40-50) and all the free seeds I got (cauliflower from museum, parsnips from starting, wild seeds). I've just been eating or storing the crops to pickle later.

Doing that got me level 5 Farming by the end of spring. The only money I've made is from fishing. Green beans are decent food. >_> But a rancher lifestyle is harder than I realized. The animal aspect of this game needs some serious work.

TL;DR version: Only petting, shearing and milking gives XP. You pretty much have to grow crops to level the skill at the start. Grow something like green beans or hops for food and XP.