Farms

Farms are fields managed by farmhouses where beaver workers plant and harvest crops to produce food. Farm areas are marked using the Plant crops tool group on suitable ground within a farmhouse’s working range, which is outlined when the farmhouse is selected. A farmhouse assigns farming tasks to the closest farmer, who proceeds to harvest and (depending on settings) replant marked blocks.

Farmhouses have two work modes: planting and harvesting. In planting mode, a block is automatically replanted immediately after it is harvested, producing a steady work cycle that is most efficient for farm areas served by a single farmhouse. In harvesting mode, no replanting occurs until all possible harvesting is complete. A specific crop can be set as the priority; crop priority is subordinate to work mode. For example, a farmhouse set to harvesting with a priority of potatoes will prefer harvesting potatoes first, then other harvests, then planting potatoes, then planting other crops. Because tasks go to the nearest farmer, fields tend to develop waves of harvesting and replanting that propagate outward from the farmhouse, producing offset growth timings across the field.

Farms stabilize into an effective radius where crops are actively serviced. Blocks too far from their farmhouse may never be maintained if closer blocks keep faster cycles, so widely spread fields reduce per-farmer throughput. Compact farms average about 6 to 7 harvests per farmer per day; when crops are not being serviced and demand exists, add additional farmhouses to increase capacity.

The game’s farm-related buildings and changes introduced over updates include the Efficient Farmhouse (cost: Logs x25), exclusive to the Folktails faction and staffed by three workers; a smaller 2x2 Farmhouse that requires Logs x20 and is restricted to the Iron Teeth faction with two workers; and the Aquatic Farmhouse (cost: 150 SP; 30 logs, 10 planks) with two workers. The default farmhouse action was changed to planting in a past update. Farmhouses now display a “Nothing to do in range” status when no fields lie within range. Farmhouses were introduced in Open Alpha.

• Mark farm blocks with the Plant crops tool while a farmhouse is selected to see working range.
• Prefer planting mode for a steady, efficient cycle after initial growth; planting does not require a return trip to the farmhouse between each block, which speeds work.
• When multiple farmhouses cover the same field, set all but one to harvest to gain efficiency from having at least one planter.
• Set a priority crop temporarily when you need short-term focus, but remember work mode overrides priority.
• If farmers fail to reach distant blocks, add another farmhouse closer to those blocks or compact the field layout.