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Difference between revisions of "Farm size calculations"

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m (Corrected math mistake, added advice about slower-growing crops)
(Sorry for edit spam, I couldn't create a talk page. I think the current text is misleading, because the 5 plants per harvest refers to the averages in the table above. Yes, it is possible to get a 5 stack with a mid-level farmer sometimes, but to reach the average of 300 plump helmets per year, an average of 5 per stack is needed.)
 
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{{Quality|Fine|21:40, 3 April 2012 (UTC)}}
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[[Dwarves]] require approximately 8 units of [[food]] and 15 units of [[drink]] each year. [[Farming]] can produce enough [[crop]]s to satisfy part or all of these requirements. However, be aware that the more and larger your farms are, the more labor time must be accorded to their maintenance.
+
[[Dwarves]] require approximately 2 units of [[food]] and 5 units of [[drink]] each season. [[Farming]] can produce enough [[crop]]s to satisfy part or all of these requirements. However, be aware that the more and larger your farms are, the more time and effort must be accorded to their maintenance.
  
 
==The math==
 
==The math==
−
Your dwarves can plant 1 [[seed]] per tile on each [[farm plot]], and depending on the [[skill]] of the [[grower]], whether the farm plot was [[fertilizer|fertilized]], and random chance, each planted tile will yield a stack of anywhere from 0 to 9 crops, depending on farmer skill and fertilization. Legendary farmers can consistently produce either 4 or 5 (average of about 4.7) without fertilizer, while they will produce 8 or 9 with fertilizer.
+
Your dwarves can plant 1 [[seed]] per tile on each [[farm plot]], and depending on the [[skill]] of the [[grower]], whether the farm plot was [[fertilizer|fertilized]], and random chance, each planted tile will yield a stack of 1-10 plants each harvest cycle. Legendary+5 planters more frequently produce larger stacks - up to 6 plants each (with an average of 3.17) without fertilizer, or up to 10 plants each (with an average of 5.17) when fertilized.
  
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[[Brewing]] always quintuples stack sizes; for example, a stack of [[cave wheat]] [5] is brewed into a [[barrel]] of [[Dwarven beer]] [25] at a [[still]]. Processing [[quarry bush]] plants into quarry bush leaves at a [[farmer's workshop]] also quintuples stack size, as does processing [[sweet pod]]s into [[Dwarven syrup]]. ([[Mill]]ing does ''not'' increase stack size.) These larger stacks are generally not usable directly as food, but can be [[cook]]ed into prepared meals. [[Cave wheat]], [[sweet pod]]s and [[quarry bush]]es grow 67% slower than other crops, (although, except for cave wheat, are the ones that produce 5 times as much food,) and as long as the mature plants are harvested promptly, it is not hard to grow multiple crops of either plant each season from the same plot.
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[[Brewing]] always quintuples stack sizes; for example, a stack of [[cave wheat]] [5] is brewed into a [[barrel]] of [[dwarven beer]] [25] at a [[still]]. Processing [[quarry bush]] plants into quarry bush leaves at a [[farmer's workshop]] also quintuples stack size, as does processing [[sweet pod]]s into [[dwarven syrup]]. ([[Mill]]ing does ''not'' increase stack size.) These larger stacks (including booze!) are generally not usable directly as food, but can be [[cook]]ed into prepared meals. [[Cave wheat]], [[sweet pod]]s and [[quarry bush]]es grow 67% slower than other crops, though they generally provide more valuable ingredients. As long as the mature plants are harvested promptly, dwarves can grow multiple plantings in the same plot each season.
  
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{|class="wikitable"
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{| class="wikitable"
+
!rowspan=2|Plant Name
−
! Plant Name
+
!colspan=5|Active Seasons
−
! Active Seasons
+
!rowspan=2|Underground
−
! Days Per Harvest
+
!rowspan=2|Days Per Harvest
−
! Harvests Per Tile Per Season
+
!rowspan=2|Harvests Per Tile<br>Per Season
−
! Harvests Per Tile Per Year
+
!rowspan=2|Harvests Per Tile<br>Per Year
−
! Average Plants Harvested Per Tile Per Year
+
!rowspan=2|Average Plants Harvested<br>Per Tile Per Year'''*'''
−
! Average Processed Processed Food/Drink Per Tile Per Year
+
!rowspan=2|Average Processed Food/Drink<br>Per Tile Per Year'''*'''
 +
|-
 +
!Sp
 +
!Su
 +
!Au
 +
!Wi
 +
!N
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Plump helmet
+
|[[Plump helmet]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
|X
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Pig tail
+
|[[Pig tail]]
 +
| -
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
| -
 
|2
 
|2
 +
|X
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|150
 
|150
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Cave wheat
+
|[[Cave wheat]]
 +
| -
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
| -
 
|2
 
|2
 +
|X
 
|42
 
|42
 
|2
 
|2
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|100
 
|100
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Sweet pod
+
|[[Sweet pod]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
| -
 +
| -
 
|2
 
|2
 +
|X
 
|42
 
|42
 
|2
 
|2
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|100
 
|100
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Quarry bush
+
|[[Quarry bush]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
| -
 
|3
 
|3
 +
|X
 
|42
 
|42
 
|2
 
|2
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|150
 
|150
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Prickle berry
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|[[Prickle berry]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Wild strawberry
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|[[Wild strawberry]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Longland grass
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|[[Longland grass]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Rat weed
+
|[[Rat weed]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Fisher berry
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|[[Fisher berry]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Rope reed
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|[[Rope reed]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Sliver barb
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|[[Sliver barb]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Sun berry
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|[[Sun berry]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|300
 
|300
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Whip vine
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|[[Whip vine]]
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 +
|X
 
|4
 
|4
 +
| -
 
|25
 
|25
 
|3
 
|3
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|}
 
|}
  
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All garden [[crop]]s take 25 days to reach maturity, and have identical stats to all other above-ground crops, aside from whether it is brewable, millable, or other features. 
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:'''*''': ''Average 5 plants per harvest (Legendary farmer with fertilization)''
−
 
 
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This calculation assumes all your planters have Legendary skill, and that there are enough of them to avoid any significant labor shortages at planting times.
 
−
 
 
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The general limitation, then, is not the size of the farm, but the skill of the growers, as well as other [[labor]] issues: The availability of seeds, (including ensuring prompt brewing or threshing to regain seeds from crops,) ensuring no [[labor]] shortage for planting or harvesting, keeping [[stockpiles]] close to the farm for minimal travel time, availability of [[bag]]s and [[barrel]]s for threshing and brewing, and that crops are properly stored (in more barrels) away from [[vermin]].
 
−
 
 
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(For a similar reason, the slower-growing crops are not actually any worse crops in terms of labor.  You may need to plant crops in more tiles to achieve the same yield, but the ''labor'' is the same 1 labor per seed planted and 1 labor per harvest, and farm plot tiles are cheap.)
 
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Although fertilization hypothetically doubles yields, in practice, it is almost always better to just have twice as much farm than to have to constantly designate more trees to chop, and spend another dwarf labor to burn the logs into ash and ''another'' to turn ash into potash.  Since the size of even a fully-fledged fortress's farmland is generally trivial compared to the overall fortress, the only meaningful measurement of efficiency is amount of time spent in dwarf labor per unit of food.  Since fertilization takes more than three times as many labors per tile to produce less than twice as much food, it is never particularly worthwhile to fertilize crops unless you are low on seeds for a given plant, and want to turn one seed into twice as many as you would get normally. 
 
−
 
 
−
A beginning fortress has 7 dwarves, each of which consumes 8 units of food and 15 drink per dwarf per year, or 56 food and 105 drink for the whole fortress for the year. The starting group can theoretically be supported by a single farm tile, but in practice a larger farm will be necessary since a young fortress is unable to use farm tiles to their fullest potential. (Using brewed plump helmets half the year and processed quarry bushes the other half of the year.)  
 
  
−
Taking up a "Plump helmets half the year, quarry bushes the other half" strategy with only legendary farmers, you can hypothetically produce up to 150 dwarven wine and 100 quarry bush leaves per year per tile, which is enough for 10 dwarves per tile.  A whole 200-dwarf fortress can be kept fed and drunk on just 20 tiles, or a mere single 4x5 farm plot, which is small enough that a single farmer can easily work all the tiles.
+
A beginning fortress has 7 dwarves, each of which consumes 7 units of food and drink per dwarf per season, or 196 for the whole fortress for the year. The starting group can theoretically be supported by a single farm tile, but in practice a larger farm will be necessary since a young fortress is unable to use farm tiles to their fullest potential.  
  
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Keep in mind, however, that a single farmer will likely not be able to immediately replant all seeds, (especially on the turning of Spring, and the need to replant all plots at once,) and occasionally goes on break and eats, him/herself, probably leading to getting one less harvest per year than expected on several tiles.
+
A properly-managed and fully-utilized 3x3 plot growing plump helmets can produce an average of up to 2700 units of alcohol per year, enough to provide food (through booze-[[cooking]] with seeds) and drink for a fortress of 95 dwarves. A similar 5x5 plot can produce up to 7500 units of food and drink per year, enough to support 265 dwarves.
  
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Also, remember dwarves require booze variety to avoid bad [[thought]]s and desire food variety to create good thoughts. Even using less-efficient crops, like eating a (non-brewed) fisher berry is capable of feeding 7.5 dwarves per tile, and keeping 20 dwarves drunk per tile.  That amounts to 10 tiles for drink and about 28 for food, or 38 total tiles even without booze-cooking or threshing for a full 200-dwarf fortress.  Again, however, your farmers will not always be able to get maximum yields, but even so, about 50 tiles of farmland will provide all the food your fortress will ever need, even if divided between disparate types of less-efficient crops, and that is still within the range of what a single farmer can farm.
+
This calculation assumes your planters can consistently produce stacks of 5 plants (with or without fertilization), and that there are enough of them to avoid any labor shortages at planting times. The general limitation, then, is not the size of the farm, but the skill of the growers, the availability of seeds and [[potash]] for fertilizer, and careful management of [[labor]], [[stockpiles]], and the food industry to ensure that crops are harvested (rather than left to [[wear|wither]] in the field), are properly stored away from [[vermin]], the plants are processed, and seeds are recovered so that the cycle can continue next season. However, since adding farm tiles is practically free, most overseers find it easier to create larger farms than to optimize production on a smaller plot.
  
−
Additionally, if your dwarves are going to grow textiles (and [[dye]]s) for [[clothing]] they will need more farmland.
+
In practice, dwarves require booze variety to avoid bad [[thought]]s and desire food variety to create good thoughts. Additionally, if your dwarves are going to grow textiles (and [[dye]]s) for [[clothing]], they will need more farmland.  
  
−
At bare minimum, each dwarf needs 4 types of clothing (torso, head, legs, and feet), taking 4 units of cloth per 3 years to prevent unhappy thoughts.  Dye does nothing for happiness and is useless unless making a trade good for [[value]].  This totals up to extremely little cloth necessary to keep a fortress running - 268 cloth per year is only about 4 tiles of dedicated rope reed farm, or 8 tiles of dedicated pig tail farm for even a 200-dwarf fortress. (Just don't brew your cloth.) Additional tiles will probably be necessary for cloth to create more bags and possibly rope.
+
At the high end, 50 tiles of farmland should provide all the food your fortress will ever need, even if divided between disparate types of less-efficient crops.
  
 
==Approaches==
 
==Approaches==
−
Some fortresses begin with a single large farm (5x5) with [[plump helmet]]s. However, if you embark with crops and brew them immediately, it is better to start with a few smaller farms (3x3 or 1x5 are common) with a wider variety of crops. Given the small number of dwarves, only a few tiles (about 10 total) are needed for a beginning fortresses, although you can plow a plot and leave it fallow until you have more dwarfpower to spare your farmer to dedicated farming. As the growers [[experience|level up]], farm yields will increase, lowering the need for large plots. Smaller plots with diverse crops can be used, instead. The more tiles of farm plot you have, the more growers (and harvesters) you will need. A single legendary farmer can seed up to about 100 tiles of farmland if they never harvest themselves and the seed stockpile is only a half-dozen tiles from all farm plot tiles. Consider making the seed stockpile in the middle of a ring of farms to save travel time.  
+
Many fortresses begin with a single large farm (5x5) with [[plump helmet]]s, or several smaller farms (3x3 or 1x5 are common) with a wider variety of crops. Given the small number of dwarves, only 10 or so tiles are needed for a beginning fortress. As the growers [[experience|level up]] and farm yields increase the farm can be expanded and newer, smaller farms with different crops can be added to enable new growers to practice their skills. The more tiles of farm plot you have, the more growers (and harvesters) you will need. A single legendary planter can plant up to 100 tiles of farmland if they never harvest themselves and the seed stockpile is only a half-dozen tiles from all farm plot tiles. Consider making the seed stockpile in the middle of a ring of farms to save travel time.
−
 
 
−
Since a tile is "aboveground" if it has EVER been the top non-open space tile, underground and aboveground farms can be placed side-by-side, and the pit you dug to make the aboveground farm can be [[bridge]]d, [[floor]]ed, or [[wall]]ed over. 
 
  
 
If you plan to [[farming|fertilize]], farm plots should ideally be one less than a multiple of 4 tiles -- ex. (1x3), (1x7), (3x5), (3x9), (5x7), (7x9)
 
If you plan to [[farming|fertilize]], farm plots should ideally be one less than a multiple of 4 tiles -- ex. (1x3), (1x7), (3x5), (3x9), (5x7), (7x9)
  
−
{{Template:Farming FAQ}}
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{{Category|Agriculture}}
 +
[[ru:Farm size calculations]]

Latest revision as of 19:01, 24 April 2024

!!UNKNOWN!!  · xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼
v50.14 · v0.47.05
This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

Dwarves require approximately 2 units of food and 5 units of drink each season. Farming can produce enough crops to satisfy part or all of these requirements. However, be aware that the more and larger your farms are, the more time and effort must be accorded to their maintenance.

The math[edit]

Your dwarves can plant 1 seed per tile on each farm plot, and depending on the skill of the grower, whether the farm plot was fertilized, and random chance, each planted tile will yield a stack of 1-10 plants each harvest cycle. Legendary+5 planters more frequently produce larger stacks - up to 6 plants each (with an average of 3.17) without fertilizer, or up to 10 plants each (with an average of 5.17) when fertilized.

Brewing always quintuples stack sizes; for example, a stack of cave wheat [5] is brewed into a barrel of dwarven beer [25] at a still. Processing quarry bush plants into quarry bush leaves at a farmer's workshop also quintuples stack size, as does processing sweet pods into dwarven syrup. (Milling does not increase stack size.) These larger stacks (including booze!) are generally not usable directly as food, but can be cooked into prepared meals. Cave wheat, sweet pods and quarry bushes grow 67% slower than other crops, though they generally provide more valuable ingredients. As long as the mature plants are harvested promptly, dwarves can grow multiple plantings in the same plot each season.

Plant Name Active Seasons Underground Days Per Harvest Harvests Per Tile
Per Season 		Harvests Per Tile
Per Year 		Average Plants Harvested
Per Tile Per Year* 		Average Processed Food/Drink
Per Tile Per Year*
Sp Su Au Wi N
Plump helmet X X X X 4 X 25 3 12 60 300
Pig tail - X X - 2 X 25 3 6 30 150
Cave wheat - X X - 2 X 42 2 4 20 100
Sweet pod X X - - 2 X 42 2 4 20 100
Quarry bush X X X - 3 X 42 2 6 30 150
Prickle berry X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Wild strawberry X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Longland grass X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Rat weed X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Fisher berry X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Rope reed X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Sliver barb X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Sun berry X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
Whip vine X X X X 4 - 25 3 12 60 300
*: Average 5 plants per harvest (Legendary farmer with fertilization)

A beginning fortress has 7 dwarves, each of which consumes 7 units of food and drink per dwarf per season, or 196 for the whole fortress for the year. The starting group can theoretically be supported by a single farm tile, but in practice a larger farm will be necessary since a young fortress is unable to use farm tiles to their fullest potential.

A properly-managed and fully-utilized 3x3 plot growing plump helmets can produce an average of up to 2700 units of alcohol per year, enough to provide food (through booze-cooking with seeds) and drink for a fortress of 95 dwarves. A similar 5x5 plot can produce up to 7500 units of food and drink per year, enough to support 265 dwarves.

This calculation assumes your planters can consistently produce stacks of 5 plants (with or without fertilization), and that there are enough of them to avoid any labor shortages at planting times. The general limitation, then, is not the size of the farm, but the skill of the growers, the availability of seeds and potash for fertilizer, and careful management of labor, stockpiles, and the food industry to ensure that crops are harvested (rather than left to wither in the field), are properly stored away from vermin, the plants are processed, and seeds are recovered so that the cycle can continue next season. However, since adding farm tiles is practically free, most overseers find it easier to create larger farms than to optimize production on a smaller plot.

In practice, dwarves require booze variety to avoid bad thoughts and desire food variety to create good thoughts. Additionally, if your dwarves are going to grow textiles (and dyes) for clothing, they will need more farmland.

At the high end, 50 tiles of farmland should provide all the food your fortress will ever need, even if divided between disparate types of less-efficient crops.

Approaches[edit]

Many fortresses begin with a single large farm (5x5) with plump helmets, or several smaller farms (3x3 or 1x5 are common) with a wider variety of crops. Given the small number of dwarves, only 10 or so tiles are needed for a beginning fortress. As the growers level up and farm yields increase the farm can be expanded and newer, smaller farms with different crops can be added to enable new growers to practice their skills. The more tiles of farm plot you have, the more growers (and harvesters) you will need. A single legendary planter can plant up to 100 tiles of farmland if they never harvest themselves and the seed stockpile is only a half-dozen tiles from all farm plot tiles. Consider making the seed stockpile in the middle of a ring of farms to save travel time.

If you plan to fertilize, farm plots should ideally be one less than a multiple of 4 tiles -- ex. (1x3), (1x7), (3x5), (3x9), (5x7), (7x9)

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