Grasslands are more important in Farming Simulator 22 than you might think, and grassland maintenance is a successful business. Of the various growing options available to you, the humble patch of grass should not be overlooked.
Grass is one of the most versatile crops in Farming Simulator 22; it can be used as fodder or as fuel, it is the fastest growing crop and it persists season after season with little maintenance. There are countless tools specifically designed for grassland maintenance and in this iteration of the game we have new tools to boot
In this Farming Simulator 22 guide, we dive into grassland maintenance to learn all about these new tools and this endlessly useful crop that should have at least one dedicated field on your farm.
Farming Simulator 22 Grassland Maintenance Guide
Harvesting and fertilizing meadows
Grass grows from planted seed to harvestable product in 2 cycles of "days". Once the growth time is reached, the grass growth can be mowed with a dedicated mower or tractor, and there are several ways to use the clippings. You could:
- Use a tedder to turn the grass into hay or bale it as is.
- windrow and pick it up with a forage cart or baler to wrap it
- Turn it into silage.
- Throw it in a bunker silo to ferment in bulk.
A mowed meadow will be naturally fertilized at 50%. You can leave the meadow as it is if you don't want to maximize your yield or spread various fertilizers on it. For a small investment and little extra time spent after mowing, however, there is a one-time fee option to keep your grass fields 100% covered.
Go to the Grassland Care section of the farm supply store. Find Grass Rollers in the Grassland Maintenance tab. These are very different from their counterparts in the roller section. Instead of dropping small stones into the ground, they compress the freshly cut grass on itself to increase the yield.
There is no change in growing time and no need for fertilizer/slurry/manure. Just buy a grass roller and attach it to a tractor with enough horsepower to run it, then roll out to the field after mowing.
You can pick up the mowed grass before or after rolling it. However, do not drive on a meadow before harvesting the grass. You will destroy your field and have to wait two cycles before the grassland is ready to harvest again.
If you play with seasons enabled, you may also notice that your grass is not harvestable during the winter months. According to some posts on the official Farming Simulator 22 forums, this is a known bug that should be fixed in the next official update patch.
The importance of bonsilage
To increase the yield by another 5%, use bonsilage. Bonsilage is an additive that can be found in the pallet section of the store. It can be added to some of the more expensive forage carts and some of the forage harvesters before harvesting or collecting grass.
Bonsilage is quite useful in general, but most of all you want to increase your volume while harvesting larger meadows. This is perfect if you plan to build the biogas plant as a source of income using silage.
Whether you use grass for extra income at the biogas plant or use it to feed your livestock, grassland maintenance in Farming Simulator 22 is an important task that should not be overlooked. For more ranch tips, be sure to head over to our FS 22 guides hub!
