Moving Farm

Sunday was the day of decisions in Farming Simulator 19. I was up early after entertaining family visitors the previous afternoon/evening and took advantage of a quiet house to do some in-depth looking at my map options. I mentioned 3 possible maps. The first is Marwell Manor Farm which is our Hampshire option and another map by OxygenDavid – author of the Oakfield Farm map on which I was playing Oak Glen Farm. I ruled this one out early because if you are playing in any mode other than New Farmer the buildings are removed which I think is unrealistic – it’s also why I don’t like playing on the maps supplied with the game. Additionally, the pricing of the land strongly pushes you down the road of playing the main farm. I may play this map in New Farmer mode sometime in the future as the scenery is excellent. The other options I had in mind were Six Ashes in Shropshire and West Newton Farm in Ayrshire.

West Newton Farm is a very interesting option. It is the first map by NM Modding and is reputedly a model of his uncle’s farm and the surrounding area. On this map the main farm comes with a lot of equipment, some of it in good condition and some needing repair. The modelling of the land is pretty good, especially as this is a first attempt. I looked at some different land purchase options to start on this map but all that equipment at the main farm becomes the elephant in the room. If you start elsewhere you would probably either sell that equipment (which would be unrealistic as it’s not really yours) or leave it there until you buy the main farm later on. So this map too is auto-suggesting that you should start at the main farm 😉 The only issue for me is that the main farm is a dairy farm and I’m not really wanting to be farming Heilan Coos just now. I will definitely have a go at this map in the future though.

So that leaves us with Six Ashes – a brand new map that released just a few days ago. The map is located along the A458 with the hamlet of Wooton near its centre……and the author, GBModding, has given us a challenge :-

“Welcome To Six Ashes.
You have just been left a house and small overgrown yard with limited equipment and money by your late grandfather.
You will need to clear the yard to get at some of the machinery.
Can you build the farm into a profitable business and even extend into one of the nearby farms?”

If you decide to take on the challenge you will be buying this plot of land……which comes with some run-down equipment, a small barn with lean-to, a silo and workshop. There is a farmhouse too (which in real life is called Wooton Farm House). After buying the land (if you’re playing in Start from Scratch mode) you’ll have £264k left to buy equipment or repair the existing machinery. You can sell the old items if you want and that will boost your money up to around £350k. The good news is that the one field you get has a good crop that’s ready to harvest. The bad news is – It’s a very big field for small equipment!

There are other options of course, for example Pine View Farm……with its small fields and very cramped yard. You will have more money in the bank but a quick look at this option convinced me that you’d need to buy some more land and build a bigger barn for equipment and a silo for storage not long down the road of owning this one, especially as it has a piggery! There are three other farm options but as two are beyond the Start from Scratch budget and the other wouldn’t leave enough money for equipment, I have to rule those out. Two of them would be good options for the Farm Manager mode and the largest one is probably best played only in New Farmer mode.

So – I’ve accepted the challenge and have my grandfather’s farm at the crossroads on Duken Lane. Unlike Pine View Farm across the way, it doesn’t have an in-game name so I’m going to call it ‘Boundary Farm’ as Duken Lane forms the Parish Boundary and I suspect I’ll be owning fields on both sides of the road. Boundary Farm will be the title for my new Farming Simulator 19 series which should start appearing tomorrow.