Farming Simulator 17: Complete Guide

A practical Farming Simulator 17 career guide: how to start, which crops and animals pay, how to handle equipment and helpers, what the DLC adds, and how to play it well in 2026 alongside the newer games in the series.

Researched September 2026. Current as of the final FS17 PC release with the Platinum Expansion and the ROPA, KUHN and Big Bud packs (the last DLC shipped March 2018). The game no longer gets updates. Check the linked sources if something differs.

Status in 2026

• Released October 24, 2016 by GIANTS Software.
• Superseded by Farming Simulator 19 (2018), 22 (2021) and 25. GIANTS stopped posting FS17 news years ago, and the last official FS17 content was the ROPA Pack (March 13, 2018).
• Why still play it: it runs well on modest PCs, has a large back-catalogue of mods, and has a simpler economy than newer entries. FS17 introduced soybeans, sunflowers and oilseed radish, drivable trains, and in-game radio.
• Multiplayer: up to 16 players in co-op.

The retail Official Expansion 2 (PC, March 2018) bundles the ROPA, Big Bud and KUHN packs (35+ vehicles and tools) plus modding e-books and tutorial videos. On Steam, buy the packs individually or look for a bundle edition.

Base maps: Goldcrest Valley (US) and Sosnovka (Eastern Europe).

Quick Start

1. Play Goldcrest Valley first. It's the default US map with a train, a straightforward layout and good sell points. Sosnovka has big, open fields, great for large machinery later.
2. Start on Easy if you're new. Easier difficulties give you more money and better selling prices. You can still reach every machine.
3. Grain pays the bills early. Wheat, barley and canola are cheap to grow and use equipment you already own.
4. Hire helpers. Workers (hired AI) can plow, sow and harvest while you do other jobs. They cost money per hour, but time is your scarcest resource.
5. Do missions. Neighbouring farmers post field jobs (fertilize, sow, harvest, transport). They're guaranteed money and let you use fields you don't own.
6. Watch the prices. Each sell point pays differently and prices move. Store grain until a good price or a high-demand event comes up.
7. Fertilize. Fertilizing raises yield. Oilseed radish grown as a cover crop and worked in also counts as fertilization.
8. Save often. FS17 only saves when you ask it to.

Your First Few Hours: A Step-by-Step Opening

This is a low-risk way to turn a new career into steady income without debt.

1. Look around before spending. Open the map, find your farm's owned fields, the nearest grain sell points and the shop. Note which sell point is closest to your fields; travel time is money.
2. Harvest or work what you already own. New careers start with some fields and basic machines. Use them before buying anything.
3. Take missions straight away. Missions are generated dynamically, have a time limit, and pay a reward plus a bonus for finishing quickly. They're the fastest early cash and let you work fields you don't own.
4. Buy one extra trailer before anything big. A combine standing still because the grain tank is full is the most common early bottleneck.
5. Reinvest in land next to your farm. Adjacent fields cut driving time and let one set of machines cover more ground.
6. Add fertilizing once the basic loop runs. A sprayer and fertilizer (or manure from animals later) is a cheap yield boost across every field.
7. Only then consider a specialist crop or animals. Potatoes, sugar beet and livestock all need extra machines or buildings, so wait until grain income covers the purchase.

Missions at a glance

Always check the deadline and the field size before accepting. A mission you can't finish in time wastes the trip.

Settings Worth Adjusting

The Crop Cycle

1. Prepare: plow or cultivate harvested fields to get them ready for sowing.
2. Sow: a seeder for the right crop type. Refill seeds from a seed pallet or the shop.
3. Fertilize: spray fertilizer or spread manure/slurry to increase yield.
4. Grow: crops progress through growth stages over in-game time. Adjust growth speed in the options.
5. Harvest: use the matching header on your combine (grain header, corn header and so on) or a dedicated harvester for root crops.
6. Transport and sell: tipper trailers to silos or sell points, or load the drivable train (new in FS17) for big volumes.

Crop overview

Straw and hay: after harvesting grain, straw can be baled and sold or used as livestock bedding. Grass dries into hay after tedding.

Animals

Animal tips:

• Keep productivity high. A missing feed type or no cleanliness/straw lowers output. The animal screen shows what's missing.
• Recycle manure. Manure and slurry from the barns are free fertilizer for your fields.
• Don't overbuy animals early. Livestock ties up money and constant attention. Get a solid crop income first.

Money Management

Forestry and Other Income

• Forestry: buy chainsaw and forestry equipment, cut trees on your land, and sell logs or wood chips. Good income between harvests.
• Transport jobs: missions and the train let you move large volumes of goods.
• Pallets: wool and eggs are small but steady.

Mods

• FS17 has a huge mod catalogue on the official GIANTS ModHub, plus community sites. Mods add maps, vehicles, gameplay scripts and realism features.
• Install mods only from reputable sources. Keep a clean, mod-free save for troubleshooting.
• Don't mix map mods with an existing save unless the mod supports it. Start a new career on mod maps.
• Multiplayer players must all have the same mods. The host's list is authoritative.
• The most famous FS17 mod is Seasons by the Realismus Modding team, which added weather, seasonal growth and animal changes years before seasons became a base-game feature in FS22. If you want FS17 with more depth, start there.

Multiplayer

• Co-op supports up to 16 players on PC (host a game from the Multiplayer menu or rent a dedicated server).
• Everyone shares one farm and one bank balance, so agree who spends money on what.
• Give each player a lane: crops, animals, forestry, logistics. Four people doing the same job is slower than one.
• Keep the mod list small and identical. Mismatched mods are the most common reason people can't join.
• Save from the host's machine. Clients can't keep progress on their own.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Overbuying machinery early. Your first money should go to fields and simple tools.
• Forgetting to fertilize. Unfertilized fields leave yield on the table.
• Selling everything right after harvest. Prices often drop at harvest. Store and wait.
• Letting animal productivity collapse. Check feed, water and bedding every in-game day.
• Using the wrong header. Each crop needs its matching header or harvester.
• Hiring helpers without enough seed or fertilizer. They stop when tanks run dry. Top them up.
• Not saving. Crashes and quitting without saving lose progress.

Advanced Tips

• Crop rotation for efficiency: follow grain with oilseed radish on idle fields to fertilize them for free before the next cash crop.
• Fleet planning: one large combine plus two tractors with trailers keeps harvesting running nonstop. Assign helpers to haul.
• Use the train: FS17 was the first entry with drivable trains. Load the wagons at the loading station and drive large volumes to the sell point in one trip instead of many trailer runs.
• Silage for cows: chop grass or maize, compact it in a bunker silo, let it ferment, then feed it. It's cheaper than buying feed and keeps productivity high.
• Multiplayer division of labor: in co-op, one player runs animals, one runs crops, one runs logistics or forestry.
• Move to the sequels when ready: FS19 adds horses, oats and more. FS22 adds seasons and production chains. FS25 adds rice and water buffalo. Skills from FS17 carry over directly.

FAQ

Is Farming Simulator 17 still worth playing? Yes, if you want a lighter economy, a low-spec game, or a specific FS17 mod. For seasons, production chains and modern graphics, FS22 or FS25 are better.

What maps come with FS17? Goldcrest Valley and Sosnovka in the base game. The Platinum Expansion adds Estancia Lapacho.

How many players can play multiplayer? Up to 16 in co-op.

What's the best early money maker? Grain crops (wheat, barley, canola) plus missions for your neighbors. Add animals once your cash flow is stable.

Does FS17 have seasons? Not in the base game. Seasons arrived as a big community mod and later as a native feature in FS22.

Is the Platinum Edition worth it? If you want more to do: it adds the Estancia Lapacho map, Volvo machines and sugarcane farming.

Sources

• Farming Simulator 17 on Steam
• Farming Simulator 17 on Wikipedia
• FS17 Steam news (ROPA Pack and Official Expansion 2 announcement, March 2018)