Plowing vs. cultivation vs. subsoiling

[valenti_scott]

Hello-
The ideas of plowing, cultivating and subsoiling leave be feeling bewildered and confused. I looked it up on Google, and the articles or vids about it seem kind of spotty.

This all started when I tried switching a field from wheat to soybeans. It didn't say "needs plowing," so I thought I could just fertilize and then seed with soybeans.

I seeded the entire field (a small field), and when I was done, the field still said "harvested." So my seeding was a complete waste of time and seed. So I plowed the field, and then seeded.

Then I have this other field which is wheat, and recently harvested and baled and fertilized. This field I want to keep as wheat.

I figured, since I'm not changing the crop, I don't need to plow. So I fertilized and seeded, but just one line of seed. I got out and looked at the line of seed, and it just said "harvested."

So what do I do? Do I plow? Cultivate? Subsoil? None of the above? Would I get a yield penalty with cultivating or subsoiling or "do nothing" (if I don't plow)? You hints are appreciated as always.
-Scott

[Fisher]

tin the game menu you gonna see what you need to doo .take it easy

[Tankfriend]

Originally posted by valenti_scott:

Hello-
The ideas of plowing, cultivating and subsoiling leave be feeling bewildered and confused.

Technically, there is only plowing and cultivating in the game. Subsoilers in terms of game mechanics are both a plow and a cultivator, and do both jobs at the same time. Unlike plows, you can't use them to create or expand fields, though.

This all started when I tried switching a field from wheat to soybeans. It didn't say "needs plowing," so I thought I could just fertilize and then seed with soybeans.

Fields always have to be plowed or cultivated before you can plant new crops, UNLESS you use a seeder that is capable of direct seeding - in game mechanics, these work as a combination of a cultivator and a seeder and do both jobs at the same time.
The store descriptions tell you whether a seeder is capable of direct seeding or not.

The "needs plowing" state of a field means that you definitely have to plow it before seeding to prevent a penalty to crop yield. Typically, this state happens at the start of the game or after planting specific crop types.

[valenti_scott]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'm wondering what to do if I want to plant the same crop as last time. Do I have to plow in that case?

Later, I performed an experiment on this field. (This field grew wheat last time, and was harvested and fertilized.)

I ran a subsoiler across two lines of the field. Then I planted one line of wheat seeds.

I got out of the tractor to check the status of the field. The line which I planted now shows "growing," which I take as a good sign. I just hope I don't get some kind of penalty!

I'm also wondering why you ever use a plow instead of a cultivator or subsoiler. Obviously you can use a plow to create fields, but why else would you want to use a plow?

IRL, in my neck of the woods, farmers normally do "no till planting," which I believe would be equivalent to the cultivators and/or subsoilers. It prevents soil erosion.

[valenti_scott]

So I used a subsoiler last time on this wheat field, and everything seems fine. The wheat is growing. And then I wonder, why would I ever buy a cultivator? What are cultivators for?

[Tankfriend]

Originally posted by valenti_scott:

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'm wondering what to do if I want to plant the same crop as last time. Do I have to plow in that case?

If the field "needs plowing", you should plow it before planting to increase your crop yield.
If it doesn't, you can just cultivate or use a direct seeder.

If you're unsure whether you're getting it right or not, then here's a rule of thumb:
1. Plow every field you own before you plant any crops on it for the first time.
2. Plow any field you have grown and harvested corn, potatos, and sugar beet on.

Sugarcane regrows without having to plant new one, but you eventually need to plow the field if you want to have the highest yield. Because planting cane is so time-consuming and crop yield is very high, anyway, you might want to not plow, though.

I ran a subsoiler across two lines of the field. Then I planted one line of wheat seeds.

I got out of the tractor to check the status of the field. The line which I planted now shows "growing," which I take as a good sign. I just hope I don't get some kind of penalty!

As I wrote in the last post, subsoilers in-game work as both a plow and a cultivator, so there won't be a penalty for "needs plowing" here.

I'm also wondering why you ever use a plow instead of a cultivator or subsoiler. Obviously you can use a plow to create fields, but why else would you want to use a plow?

Compared to the cultivator:
Cultivators cannot remove the "needs plowing" effect. If you want to get maximum crop yield, you have to use a plow or subsoiler in these cases.

Compared to the subsoiler:
Plows tend to need more engine power for the same working width as subsoilers, and they're also more cumbersome to handle due to how they're mounted to the tractor.
On the other hand, the top models also have a much larger working width, which makes them more attractive on big fields.

IRL, in my neck of the woods, farmers normally do "no till planting," which I believe would be equivalent to the cultivators and/or subsoilers. It prevents soil erosion.

No-till planting would mean using a direct seeder combined with *not* using plows, cultivators, and subsoilers.

Originally posted by valenti_scott:

So I used a subsoiler last time on this wheat field, and everything seems fine. The wheat is growing. And then I wonder, why would I ever buy a cultivator? What are cultivators for?

Working width and engine requirements.
Depending on the model, cultivators have much larger working widths at much lower engine power requirements relative to their working width compared to both plows and subsoilers.
So unless you have to plow/subsoil to get rid of the "needs plowing" effect, cultivators are far more efficient at preparing the field before seeding.

The only things more efficient would be large direct seeders that can cultivate and seed at the same time.

IRL, plows, subsoilers and the different kinds of cultivators all have very different jobs to do, of course, so you wouldn't ask the same questions there as in the game.

[valenti_scott]

Thanks for the in-depth reply; I think I'm finally getting it...