Farming, Seasons & Fertility

Quick answer

August 20 Farming Balance Update

Yield coefficient

Digital Sky increased the non-guaranteed yield coefficient of farmland by approximately 33% to ease later-period food pressure.

What 33% means

This is a coefficient change inside the yield system, not evidence that every field's final harvest simply increased by 33%. The patch does not publish the complete formula needed to calculate final field output.

Worker farming logic

Worker farming logic was re-optimized so similarly sized fields should show less extreme differences in farming speed. The note does not say that all fields now cultivate at identical speed.

Incomplete cultivation fix

Digital Sky fixed one issue where a field could fail to become fully cultivated because too few people were cultivating it. If cultivation still stalls, verify staffing, season and field state, access and newer patch notes rather than assuming every cause was fixed.

How the seasonal cycle works

Spring — Cultivation

The earlier reclamation and sowing steps were merged into one Cultivation action. The official record does not give an exact time per field.

Summer — Maintain

Active summer care consumes water and fertilizer and requires weeding. The UI previews estimated autumn output, and incomplete care still leaves a guaranteed base yield of an unpublished amount.

Summer — Fallow

A fallow field gradually recovers land quality and needs no laborers, but it gives up that field's maintained current-season crop path.

Autumn Harvest

The field UI shows harvest progress and remaining quantity. The official record does not establish a universal yield value.

Land quality and fertility

Starting quality

A new field's initial land quality comes from the average fertility of the selected farmland area at construction.

After harvest

Land quality is reduced gradually after the autumn harvest is completed.

Fallow recovery

Land quality recovers gradually during a summer in which the field is Fallow.

Continuous planting

The launch-build record removed the previous continuous-planting fertility penalty. That change does not prove continuous planting is always the best choice.

New-field default

New farmland defaults to millet in the documented launch rules; this is not a complete crop list.

Maintain vs. Fallow

Consider Maintain

Use the maintained crop path when the city needs this field's current-season output, the field has water, fertilizer and weeding labor, and the UI's estimated autumn output supports the choice.

Consider Fallow

Rest the field when land-quality recovery matters more than its current-season output and the city can tolerate that tradeoff. No official fertility threshold is published.

Switch timing

The August 14 update fixed an issue that allowed already-sown farmland to be changed to Fallow. Do not plan on switching after sowing.

How wells and farm water work

Why is my farm not getting water?

1. Confirm that the well exists and is operational.
2. Confirm that the well has the worker assignment required by the current build.
3. Inspect the well's own water state instead of expecting water to appear in a granary.
4. Check whether the field is in Summer Maintain and currently demanding water.
5. If the observed behavior differs, check the newest official patch notes for a change or known issue.
6. Do not infer an exact radius, water-per-field ratio or worker throughput from this checklist.

Why is my farm not producing enough food?

1. Confirm that the game is on the current patch before comparing the field with older behavior.
2. Confirm that spring Cultivation was completed.
3. Check whether the summer choice is Maintain or Fallow.
4. For Maintain, inspect water, fertilizer, weeding labor and the UI's estimated autumn output.
5. Read the field's current land quality.
6. During Autumn Harvest, confirm that harvest work is progressing.
7. After harvest, trace storage and logistics if food is not reaching consumers; a field result does not prove downstream availability.
8. If the settlement's water chain still looks wrong, inspect the Tent water-storage limit added on August 20 where relevant.
9. Treat the approximately 33% change as an increase to the non-guaranteed yield coefficient, not a guaranteed 33% increase to this field's final harvest.
10. If similarly sized fields behave very differently, check staffing, pathing and newer patch notes; August 20 re-optimized Worker farming logic and fixed one incomplete-cultivation case.

Food at Zero? How to Recover a Failing Farming Cycle

If you already have farmland but food is collapsing, do not assume the solution is “build more farms.” First determine whether the current year's fields completed the required seasonal stages, whether workers and farm inputs are reaching the fields, whether Autumn Harvest completed, and whether harvested food is actually entering storage and logistics.

1. Pause avoidable new demand while you inspect the failure. This is recovery advice, not a universal population threshold or proof that one activity always has priority.
2. Read the current season and each field state. Separate spring Cultivation, summer Maintain, summer Fallow and Autumn Harvest instead of treating farmland as a continuously running workshop.
3. Confirm that spring Cultivation completed. The August 20 patch re-optimized Worker farming logic and fixed one incomplete-cultivation case caused by too few cultivators, but a current stall can still involve staffing, season, field state or access.
4. Confirm the summer decision. Maintain is the active crop path; Fallow restores land quality without workers but does not provide that field's maintained crop path for the season.
5. Inspect worker access and the visible route to the field. Do not assume an undocumented residence radius or worker-per-area rule.
6. For a field on Maintain, verify the supported inputs shown by the current field state: water, fertilizer and weeding labor. Do not reconstruct a hidden yield formula.
7. During Autumn Harvest, distinguish expected field output from completed harvest work. A field can have a crop result while harvesting is incomplete.
8. After harvest, locate the exact food at its storage or consumer. Trace accepted storage, workers, carrying access, logistics and downstream demand before building more fields.
9. Use verified gathered or processed food only as the current build makes it available; this guide does not publish fabricated emergency-food quantities.

Farming questions

How does Fallow work in Mandate Order?

A field left Fallow in summer gradually restores land quality instead of following the maintained crop path for that season.

Does Fallow need workers?

No. The official launch-build record says a fallow field does not need laborers.

What does Summer Maintain consume?

Summer care uses water and fertilizer and requires weeding work. Exact rates and worker scaling are not published here.

Can a farm produce if summer care is incomplete?

Yes. The official record describes a guaranteed base yield even without full summer care, but it does not publish the amount.

Why is my farm not getting water?

Check that the well is staffed and producing, inspect water at the well rather than a granary, and confirm the field is in a stage that currently demands water.

Does continuous planting still have a fertility penalty?

The launch-build record says the prior continuous-planting fertility penalty was removed. That does not establish continuous planting as the optimal strategy.

Can I switch to Fallow after sowing?

The August 14 update fixed an issue that allowed that switch, so already-sown farmland should not be changeable to Fallow under the documented rule.

Did the August 20 patch increase every field's harvest by 33%?

No. It increased the non-guaranteed yield coefficient by approximately 33%. That coefficient is only one part of the yield system, and the official note does not publish a complete final-harvest formula.

Why can cultivation still stall or differ between similar fields?

August 20 re-optimized Worker farming logic and fixed one incomplete-cultivation case caused by too few cultivators. A current problem can still involve staffing, season or field state, access or a newer issue, so inspect those before assuming the same fixed bug returned.

What crop does a new field default to?

The documented launch rules set new farmland to millet by default.

Why do my farms not replenish food?

A field existing is only the first link. Check the current season, field state, completed Cultivation, Maintain or Fallow choice, verified inputs, Autumn Harvest work, then storage and distribution.

Why do I run out of food with multiple farms?

More fields do not prove that seasonal work finished or that harvested food reached consumers. Trace one field through Cultivation, summer state, harvest, storage and logistics before adding more demand or farmland.

What is Cultivation in Mandate Order?

Cultivation is the documented spring task that merges the earlier reclamation and sowing steps. Its completion still depends on the live field state and available Workers.

When does Harvest happen?

Harvest is the autumn stage. The field panel shows harvest progress and remaining quantity; expected output is not the same as food already stored and distributed.

Why did my field fail to finish cultivation?

August 20 fixed one incomplete-cultivation case linked to too few cultivators and re-optimized Worker farming logic. For a current stall, still inspect season, field state, assigned Workers, access and newer official notes.