Straw and grass | Agriculture Farming Simulator 2013 Guide

Straw is a by-product of harvest, while grass has to be grown on our own (the process in the same as with the grains), and then cut with one of the many available mowers. Both materials can be sold at a selling station or converted into animal fodder. Depending on how we want to use it, we can collect it loosely or in the form of bales, using a bale loader.

The description of the harvest process and acquiring straw can be found in the Cultivation - Grains section. To get grass for further processing we first we need to mow it with a proper machine. Although we can easily buy a very cheap AMAZONE Profihopper mower, I would recommend saving some cash and choosing equipment that can be attached to a tractor, such as Kuhn PZ 280 or a double Kuhn 980. They're much more productive and much better equipped to cut large surfaces of grass than the little AMAZONE. Using the mower is identical to the other agricultural machineries: attach it to a tractor, place it in front of the field, turn it on and drive over the grass (cruise control - 2). It's worth mentioning that you don't need to cultivate and seed the soil again - fresh grass will cover the field in a while all on its own.

Mowing grass with the Kuhn mower.

At this point we will have two choices. We can store the straw and the grass loosely in order to feed it to animals or sell at a selling station, or use a special machine to press it into bales, which can be easily stored and then sold or converted into animal fodder.

If we don't have either the proper equipment or enough cash, the best solution would be to buy an automatic bale loader (NOTE! The first bale loader can't fill the cow manger on the cow pasture, so save up and buy the next one). Next, attach it to a tractor (this time you don't need to use an extender), turn the mechanism on and drive through the field. The collected straw or grass can be sold at a selling station or used to feed the animals on the pastures.

Unloading the collected straw at a selling station is a way to repair the state of our account.

If, however, we decide to make bales, we will have to go through two additional processes: drying the grass with a tedder and raking it into windrows (equal rows) with a windraker. To use both machines you'll need to attach an extender to a tractor - then just simply drive over the mowed (and the dried) grass using cruise control at 2. Grass processed this way can be then formed into bales.

One use of a tedder is enough to dry the grass.

Forming mowed and dried grass or straw into bales requires the use of specialized equipment. There are two machines that can do it: a round baler Krone Comprima V 180 and a square baler Krone Big Pack 1290. The main difference between the bales is the way in which they are loaded: the round ones have to be transported with a front loader, while the squares can be easily picked up with a Arcusin Autostack FS 63-72 trailer. No matter the method, attach the machine to a tractor and, following a lesson from the tutorial, drive it over the straw or grass rows. The square baler drops bales automatically, whereas the round baler requires manual unload. The collected straw/grass can be sold at a selling station or transported to pastures where we can later use it to prepare animal fodder.