---
title: "Farming Simulator 22: Complete Guide"
game: "Farming Simulator 22"
game_url: "https://qna.gg/games/farming-simulator-22"
author: "Qloud"
author_url: "https://qna.gg/players/Qloud"
topics: ["Farming", "Maps"]
summary: "A player's guide to Farming Simulator 22: picking a map and start, early money, the field-work cycle and yield bonuses, seasons, animals, production chains, the expansions, and whether it's still worth playing now that…"
url: "https://qna.gg/g/farming-simulator-22-complete-guide-abbbedd9"
published: "2026-09-27T16:58:55.099Z"
updated: "2026-09-27T16:58:55.099Z"
source: "QnA.GG"
---

# Farming Simulator 22: Complete Guide

A player's guide to Farming Simulator 22: picking a map and start, early money, the field-work cycle and yield bonuses, seasons, animals, production chains, the expansions, and whether it's still worth playing now that Farming Simulator 25 is out.

*Researched September 2026 — FS22 is feature-complete (last paid content: Farm Production Pack, April 30, 2024). Its successor, Farming Simulator 25, launched November 12, 2024. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.*

## Quick Start

1. **Pick "New Farmer" for your first save.** You start with a farm, some machines and owned fields, and the game eases you in. "Farm Manager" and "Start from Scratch" are for players who already know the loop.
2. **Contracts (missions) are the best early money.** NPC farmers pay you to harvest, sow, fertilize, bale, mow and so on. They often lend you the machines, and you keep a share of the crop.
3. **Rent before you buy.** Leasing a specialized machine for one job is far cheaper than owning something you'll use twice a year.
4. **Check the calendar before planting.** Seasons are on by default. Each crop has sowing and harvest windows (shown in the menu's calendar), and nothing grows in winter.
5. **Store crops and sell at the peak.** Prices change through the year. Put grain in silos and sell when the price chart peaks.
6. **Yield bonuses add up.** Lime, two fertilizer stages, weed control, rolling, plowing (or its alternatives) and mulching each add yield.
7. **Hire helpers for boring work.** AI workers charge by the hour but free you up to run multiple fields.
8. **Try the free DLC and ModHub.** Precision Farming and packs like Straw Harvest are free through the in-game ModHub, alongside thousands of GIANTS-tested mods.

## Maps and Start Modes

| Map | Setting | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| **Elmcreek** | US Midwest | Big fields, big machines. Beginner-friendly |
| **Haut-Beyleron** | Southern France | Vineyards and olive orchards, smaller fields |
| **Erlengrat** | Alpine | Hilly animal farming, a challenge |
| **Silverrun Forest** (Platinum Expansion) | Pacific Northwest forestry | Forestry-focused play |
| **Zielonka** (Premium Expansion) | Central Europe (Poland) | Varied fields, root crops |

| Start mode | Money | Farm/fields/machines | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| **New Farmer** | Moderate | Yes | Easiest |
| **Farm Manager** | More money | No farm, fields or machines | Medium |
| **Start from Scratch** | Little | Nothing, and prices are harsher | Hardest |

## First Hours: A Money Plan

1. Do the **tutorial hints** on New Farmer.
2. Take **harvest and baling contracts** on nearby fields. Use leased or lent machinery.
3. Sell the harvest from your own fields, but **store** grain if the price is low.
4. **Buy a second field** next to your farm once you have spare cash. Fewer transport trips means more profit.
5. Get a **mid-sized tractor, cultivator, seeder and trailer** as your core fleet. Rent harvesters and headers until you have several fields of the same crop.
6. Add **one production chain or animal type** you enjoy (see below).

## The Field Cycle

| Step | Machine | Why |
|---|---|---|
| **1. Harvest** | Combine/harvester + header | Collect the crop |
| **2. Mulch stubble** (optional) | Mulcher | Removes stubble for a yield bonus, and lets you replant without plowing on some crops |
| **3. Cultivate or plow** | Cultivator / plow / disc harrow | Prepares the soil. Plowing clears the "plowing needed" state |
| **4. Remove stones** (if enabled) | Stone picker | Stones damage your tools, so clear them before working the field |
| **5. Lime** (every few harvests) | Lime spreader | Fixes soil pH and adds a yield bonus |
| **6. Sow / plant** | Seeder / planter | Within the crop's calendar window |
| **7. Roll** | Roller | Yield bonus |
| **8. Weed control** | Weeder (early) or sprayer + herbicide | Weeds cut yield |
| **9. Fertilize ×2** | Spreader (solid), sprayer (liquid), slurry/manure | Two fertilizer stages give the biggest bonus |
| **10. Wait, then harvest** | | Check the growth stage in the field info |

**Tip:** field info (the map overlay or on-screen field info) shows what each field still needs. Aim to have every box ticked before harvest.

Plowing, weeds, stones and lime can each be switched off in **game settings** if you want a more relaxed farm.

## Crops at a Glance

- **Cereals and oilseeds:** wheat, barley, oat, canola, sunflower, soybean, maize (corn), sorghum. Easy and flexible.
- **Root crops:** potatoes and sugar beet need special planters and harvesters. Premium Expansion adds **carrots, parsnips and red beet**.
- **Special crops:** sugarcane, cotton (needs a dedicated cotton harvester), grapes and olives (orchard/vineyard machines), poplar (energy wood).
- **Grass and silage:** mow, ted, windrow, then bale or ferment into silage. Needed for cows and sheep.
- **Oilseed radish:** a catch crop that acts as fertilizer.
- **Greenhouses** grow vegetables and strawberries year-round with water. **Beehives** make honey passively.

## Seasons

- Growth follows the months. Some crops need a whole year and others only a few months. The **Calendar** screen shows every crop's sowing and harvest windows.
- **Winter:** snow, nothing grows. Use it for forestry, contracts (when available), animal care and selling stored produce.
- **Days per month** can be raised in settings to give you more real time per season.
- Grass keeps growing through the warm months, so there are multiple cuts per season.

## Animals

| Animal | Needs | Produces |
|---|---|---|
| **Cows** | Grass/hay/silage or TMR, water, straw bedding | Milk, manure/slurry, sellable animals |
| **Sheep** | Grass/hay, water | Wool, lambs |
| **Pigs** | Mixed feed (grain, protein, roots) | Slurry, sellable pigs |
| **Chickens** | Grain | Eggs |
| **Horses** | Hay, oats, water, riding/cleaning | Sold at a higher value when well cared for |

- A **feed mixer wagon** making TMR (hay, silage, straw and mineral feed) gives the best cow productivity.
- Productivity drops when food, water or straw run low, so check the animal screen weekly.
- Animals need care every in-game day, which pairs well with a smaller field operation.

## Production Chains

Place production buildings (or use the ones already on the map) to turn raw crops into higher-value goods.

| Chain | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Grain mill | Cereals | Flour |
| Bakery | Flour, sugar, eggs, butter etc. | Bread, cakes |
| Dairy | Milk | Butter, cheese |
| Sugar mill | Sugar beet / sugarcane | Sugar |
| Oil mill | Canola, sunflower, olives | Oils |
| Spinnery + tailor | Cotton, wool | Fabric, clothes |
| Sawmill + carpenter | Wood | Planks, furniture |
| Grape processing | Grapes | Grape products such as raisins and grape juice (check the building's recipe list) |

**Rule of thumb:** production chains make the most money when you **supply them from your own fields** and sell the finished goods. Buying inputs at market price usually wipes out the margin.

The **Farm Production Pack** (April 2024) adds wind turbines and solar panels for passive income, customizable sheds, new selling points with dynamic prices and daily demands (vending machines, market stalls, supermarket, farm store), a distribution center and the Lely Sphere.

## Expansions and Free Content

| Content | Type | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| **Precision Farming** | Free (ModHub) | Soil sampling, variable-rate fertilizing, economic tracking |
| **Platinum Expansion** (Nov 15, 2022) | Paid | Forestry focus, Silverrun Forest map, forestry machines |
| **Premium Expansion** (Nov 14, 2023) | Paid | Zielonka map, carrots/parsnips/red beet, new machines |
| **Straw Harvest Pack** | Free (ModHub, Jan 2024) | Straw pellet industry, KRONE Premos 5000 mobile pellet harvester, balers |
| **Farm Production Pack** | Paid (Apr 30, 2024) | Energy, storage, distribution and selling points |

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

- **Buying a whole fleet on day one.** Loans have interest, and machines lose value. Lease specialist gear.
- **Planting outside the window.** Out-of-season crops don't grow. Check the calendar.
- **Selling at harvest time.** Prices are often lowest then. Store and wait.
- **Skipping lime and the second fertilizer pass.** These are cheap yield gains.
- **Buying fields far from your farm.** Transport time kills profit.
- **Starting animals with no feed plan.** Grow or buy feed before buying livestock.
- **Letting helpers run all night on low-value fields.** Wages add up.
- **Mixing lots of mods on your main save.** Mods can conflict. Test them on a separate save first.

## Advanced Tips

- **Crop rotation for easy money:** a simple cereal/canola loop on big Elmcreek fields, with lime and two fertilizer passes, is the classic reliable earner.
- **Mulch instead of plowing** on suitable crops to cut down field passes.
- **Bale and store straw.** It's bedding for animals, input for Straw Harvest pellets, and sellable.
- **Use silos as a price bank.** Watch the in-game Prices screen for the season's high point.
- **GPS mods:** FS22 doesn't include auto-steer. Popular ModHub mods such as Courseplay, AutoDrive and Guidance Steering add it. Check the ModHub for the current versions.
- **Multiplayer:** FS22 supports cross-platform multiplayer, which makes it easy to split jobs between farmers.
- **Precision Farming** pays off on large operations because you only spend fertilizer and lime where the soil needs it.

## FS22 or FS25?

**Farming Simulator 25** (November 12, 2024) adds rice farming, water buffalo, a new engine (GIANTS Engine 10) with better weather, ground deformation, and built-in GPS steering (which FS22 only gets through mods). Its maps are Riverbend Springs, Hutan Pantai and a reimagined Zielonka. FS22 is still worth playing if you want its big mod library and paid expansions at low sale prices, or a game that runs on older hardware. New paid content now goes to FS25.

## FAQ

**What's the best map for beginners?**
Elmcreek. Flat, big fields and easy logistics.

**How do I make money fast early?**
Contracts. Take harvesting and baling missions with lent machines, then reinvest in nearby fields.

**Why aren't my crops growing?**
Check that you planted inside the crop's calendar window and that it isn't winter. Growth also depends on seasons being enabled.

**Can I turn off plowing, stones or weeds?**
Yes. Each can be disabled in the game settings.

**Is there auto-steer or GPS?**
Not in vanilla FS22. Use ModHub mods like Guidance Steering, AutoDrive or Courseplay.

**Is FS22 still getting updates?**
It's in maintenance. The last paid content was the Farm Production Pack (April 30, 2024), and GIANTS' new content now goes to FS25.

**Does multiplayer work across platforms?**
Yes, FS22 supports cross-platform multiplayer.

## Sources

- [Farming Simulator 22 on Steam (store and announcements)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1248130/Farming_Simulator_22/)
- [Farm Production Pack on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2834020/Farming_Simulator_22__Farm_Production_Pack/)
- [Farming Simulator — Wikipedia (FS22 expansions, FS25 release)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farming_Simulator_22)
- [Farming Simulator 25 on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2300320/Farming_Simulator_25/)
- [Official Farming Simulator site](https://www.farming-simulator.com/)