Sheep

Another kind of animals that you can keep are sheep. They're more expensive than chickens and require attention, as well as equipment, which allows you to feed them and sell the wool. They're kept outside the farm (sheep icon on the map).

When you buy sheep, they will appear on your farm automatically. However, they won't start producing wool if you don't feed them (practically, they will, but the production will be so low that keeping them wouldn't make sense). To do that, you will need at least two machines: a mower (FC 3525 F for 13 500$) and an Euroboss 350T loader for 27 000$. Having this equipment, you can start to mow the grass.

An efficient mowing system.

To make your work much easier, attach the mower at the front and the loader at the back of the tractor. By doing so, you will be gathering the grass that you mow. There's always enough grass - at first, you can mow the road verges nearby, area around the fields, etc. When the loader is full, you can go back to your sheep to feed them.

Feeding your sheep is very easy - you just have to unload the grass

To do that, drive near the trough so that the back of the loader faces it. Then, unload the grass [Q]. Loading the trough once will be enough for six days (more sheep = more grass), so it is good to leave the loader somewhere near the pasture. When the sheep are fed, they will produce wool faster. You can check the amount of grass in the trough and the amount of wool in the Animals tab in your PDA [I].

The sheep are eating, which means they wills start producing wool soon.

When the pallet with wool is full, you have a few options: you can transport it to the shop right away (using a front loader) and sell it. You can also start to stack up the pallets on a trailer, as transporting them one by one is tiring and time-consuming (in the shopping menu, enter the bales technology tab and choose DPW 180 for 12 000$). No matter of which option you choose, you have to have a tractor with a front loader (the cheapest model that will do is T4.75 for 64 000$ and a FZ 30 loader for 5 400$), pallet fork and a weight.

Load the pallets slowly, not to damage anything.

Take the tractor with the loader and slowly drive at the pallets. When picking up the pallet, never hurry - it is better perform that task a bit longer than to pick up a dropped load. After setting the pallet on the right place... wait for the next batch of wool. If you've decided to drive to the shop, head to the place marked by a thread ball icon. This way, you will earn about 4700$.

The place where you sell your wool.

Keeping sheep is so absorbing only at the beginning, when you have to provide a lot of grass. Later, depending on the number of animals you have, you will only have to supply food from time to time and collect and sell pallets of wool. As opposed to keeping chickens, here, you can earn quite a lot of money, so it is a good idea to invest in sheep when you have the capital.

Required equipment: T4.75 tractor (64 000$) with a FZ 30 front loader (5400$), a pallet fork (800$) and a weight (800$). Additionally, FC 3525 F (13 500$) and Euroboss 330T loader (27 000$). Sheep cost 300$ for one. At the start, you should have at least 25 (75 000$). When your farm develops, the optimal number is 100 sheep (30 000$).

Recommended purchase: When having 25 sheep, you can transport one pallet once every 3,5 days, but when you have 100 animals, it doesn't pay off. Therefore, it is good to invest in a DPW 180 tipper for 12 000$. Later, because of the increased need for grass, you may also consider purchasing a new field near the pasture, a better mower and a new loader. However, buy one thing at a time. Even when you have 100 sheep, you can make good profit on them using the basic machines - it will simply take more time.

The lost sheep.

Advantages:

- when having the optimal amount of sheep, they bring quite a good profit;

- doesn't require much attention;

- the necessary equipment can be also used for completing missions and earning back some of the invested money.

Disadvantages:

- high starting costs;

- you have to use a front loader to pick up the goods, which is not very convenient;

- the transport is also difficult.

Minimal version

It is a starting option, so you should buy more sheep over time and reach the optimal version. For the start, buy all the necessary equipment (mentioned above) and 25 sheep. After feeding them (3000l of grass), they will start producing wool. Producing one pallet of wool will take them about 3,5 days, so you won't be very absorbed by your sheep during the process. After 3 days, simply check how the production is. When the pallet is ready, transport it to the shop and sell it. Then, remember to feed the sheep and after next 3 days - about the pallet.

It's very difficult to attach two trailers.

Cost of equipment: a tractor with a loader (71 000$), a mower (13 500$), a tipper (27 000$) and 25 sheep (7500$). The total cost of starting this business is 119 000$. As you can see, the cost is high, but certainly within your reach. Remember that after buying the loader and the mower, you don't have to keep them near the sheep all the time - it is a good idea to earn some money by completing missions.

Profit: 4500 for a pallet, which gives you 1285$ for a day.

In this version, keeping sheep is not very viable - high starting costs and relatively low profits (because of the long waiting time). However, this is only the beginning and the equipment that you buy can be used for completing missions. A good thing is that sheep do not require much attention - 2 times a week you have to transport the pallet and feed the sheep once a week.

Optimal version

This is how your business with sheep should naturally develop. Buying more animals will increase the speed of producing wool considerably. The equipment that you will need is identical as in the minimal version. Feeding more sheep requires more grass of course (12 000l). It takes only 21 hours to produce a pallet, so you will need a bale trailer, on which you can load up to 4 pallets.

Remember to place the pallets close to one another so that you can fit 4 stacks onto the trailer.

When loading the wool, place each pallet close to the other one, not to leave too much empty space. If the pallets are to close to the edge, you can push them a little to the middle with a loader. When you load the wool, go to the shop - drive slowly and carefully. It is best to stick to asphalt roads and break before turns - dropping the pallets will make you a lot of trouble. You can also buy two trailers and attach them both to the tractor (do that before you start to load the pallets. However, it is not an easy task - try to place one behind the other one, close to it and start moving the first one (switch on the action menu [F1] - when the appropriate option appears, attach the trailer [Q]). Despite the difficulties that this task brings, it is worth the effort, as with two trailers, you will have to transport the pallets only once every 8 days.

You only have to sow the grass once.

Later in the game, when you buy a piece of land near the pasture, sow some grass on it (you will find the seeds in the bags). When you sow it once, it will then no longer require doing that. When you have the best version of mower attached at the back, attach the smaller one at the front. This way, you will work more efficiently. A large trailer will store the grass for a longer period.

Cost of equipment: A tractor with a loader (71 000$), a mower (13 500$), a trailer (27 000$) + another one (12 000$) and 100 sheep (30 000$). Later: a new field, for example no. 10 on the Bjornholm map (37 575$), better mower (FC 10030 for 52 000$) and a larger tipper (Carex 38S for 59 000$). The cost of running such a business is higher and amounts: 153 000$ (basic costs) + 132 375$ (field, mower, new trailer - after selling the previous one), which gives you 285 875$ in total. The cost is very high, so remember that you can live without a better mower and the filed - it is not a necessary purchase, so buy it only if you have a lot of money. The same goes for better trailer.

Profit: averagely 4500$ for a day.

The most efficient method of mowing.

Keeping sheep is much more profitable, especially that you will have to buy the machines anyway. Even with the weakest mower and trailer, you can do quite well and theirs is enough grass everywhere. If you don't want to drive to the shop everyday, you just need a second trailer. The rest of the equipment described above is optional, but you should remember that newer machines and an additional field will make the work faster, especially later in the game, when you will have a lot on your plate.

Farming Simulator 15

October 30, 2014

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