Weeds/Farming Simulator 19

Farming Simulator 19 introduced Weeds as a new type of field state. Weeds grow on top of regular Crops, reducing the harvest yield by 20% of its normal amount. They can be removed at any time before the crops are ready to harvest, given the correct machinery.

Weeds grow automatically on any field that is sowed or growing (except on Grass fields). This occurs at random intervals of between 5-8 hours (on Normal crop growth speed). If allowed to remain on the field, existing weeds will mature within one additional 5-8 hour growth cycle.

While still in their first stage of growth, Weeds can be removed using a Weeder. If the weeds are already mature, they can only be removed using Herbicide from a Sprayer. Herbicide can also be used on a field before weeds grow on it to prevent them from growing. In either case, any piece of weed removed with a Weeder or Herbicide will not regrow until the harvest.

Weeds can be completely disabled from the options menu while in-game. This only affects the current save.

Growth

On "Normal" crop growth speed, the game triggers a weed growth event every 5-10 in-game hours. The interval is longer on "Slow" crop growth speed, and shorter on "Fast" crop growth speed. It will usually occur a short time before the crops themselves grow from seeds into the first growth stage.

Once the event is triggered, the game scans the map for fields to grow weeds on. The scan starts in the top left corner, moves right until it hits the end of the map, and then continues the same way on the next row down. Each piece of field encountered during the scan is tested to see whether it will grow Weeds. It takes the game several in-game hours to scan the entire map, so weeds will grow first near the top-left corner of the map, and last near the bottom-right corner several hours later. You can speed up the process by increasing the time scale Increase Time ScaleDefault Buttons: 8 ?? ??.

Each piece of field will only grow weeds if it answers all of the following criteria:

• A crop is sown or growing on this particular piece of field, but has not yet reached the Harvest stage.
• The crop on this field is not Grass.
• This particular piece of field has not been treated with Herbicide since the current crop was sown.
• This particular piece of field has not had Weeds removed from it since the current crop was sown.

If the piece of field answers the criteria, it will grow young weeds immediately. If it already has young weeds on it, the weeds will instead become Mature.

Note that each part of the field must pass the check independently. It is quite possible for part of a field to grow weeds, while other parts remain untouched - for example, when only part of the field has been sprayed with Herbicide.

Effect

Any piece of field that is affected by weeds at harvest time will yield 20% less product than normal. This reduction is additive with any other bonuses and penalties to crop yield, such as Fertilizer, Plowing, and Lime.

Note that this applies to each particular piece of field, not to the field as a whole. If only a tiny corner of the field has weeds on it during the harvest, only that corner will yield less crops when harvested; The rest of the field will yield its normal output.

The effect is only applied if the weeds were not removed or killed before the crop reached the harvest stage. Otherwise, regardless of which method you used to remove the weeds, that piece of field will not yield 20% less crop. This is true even if the dead weeds are still visible on the field (when killed with Herbicide).

Once the crop is harvested (or plowed/cultivated), the weeds are removed together with the crop, and the cycle begins again from scratch once the field is re-sown.

Checking Weed State

To see which fields are currently affected by weeds, you can use either of the following options:

1. Open the Overview Menu Overview MenuDefault Buttons: ESC ?? ??, select the Map tab in the top bar (the world icon), and then switch the map to "Soil Composition". Any crops currently affected by Weeds will be colored pink. This color overrides all other colors in the Soil Composition mode.
2. Drive to the field you want to check, exit your vehicle, and look at the field from up close. The information box in the bottom right will show whether the piece of field you're looking at requires weeding. You might also be able to see the weeds themselves, especially if the crops on the field have not yet grown to obscure them.

Unfortunately, the map option does not show any difference between young weeds and mature weeds. It is only possible to see mature weeds "in person" as they are much taller than young weeds and also grow light pink and white flowers.

Weeding

Main article: Weeders (Farming Simulator 19)

If the weeds on the field are still young (first growth stage), they can be removed with a Weeder. This simple machine works much like a Cultivator, dragged across the field to remove the weeds.

Unlike a Cultivator, a Weeder only removes weeds - it does not damage the growing crops. However, if you have the Crop Destruction option enabled, make sure to use a tractor or other towing vehicle with Narrow Wheels, otherwise you'll destroy any plants you drive over.

Weeders have the advantage of not requiring any additional materials, thus making the process effectively free. The largest weeder available in the base game is more than 12 meters wide, and can complete the work relatively quickly.

Once a weeder has removed weeds from any piece of field, weeds can no longer grow on that particular piece of field until the crop is harvested (or otherwise destroyed and regrown). However, Weeders are not preventative: If a piece of field has not yet grown weeds since it was sown, the weeder will not prevent weeds from growing on it later.

Weeders cannot affect mature weeds. Once weeds have reached the second ("mature") stage, you'll need Herbicide to remove them (see next section).

Tips

(These tips apply only to Weeders.)

• If a weed growth cycle is currently in progress, wait for it to end before seeding any fields. This will prevent newly-seeded fields from becoming partially covered with weeds. Once the next weed growth cycle occurs, the entire field will be covered with weeds and you can remove them all in a single pass.
• Similarly, before you start using your weeder on any field, make sure that the current weed growth cycle has finished covering that field with weeds. Starting prematurely can result in a field that is partially covered with weeds after you've finished processing it.
• If the current weed growth cycle has already ended but the field is still not fully covered with weeds, consider removing them anyway to prevent them from maturing. If you wish to ensure that you won't have to weed the field again later, consider using Herbicide.

Herbicide

Main article: Herbicide (Farming Simulator 19)

Herbicide can be used to remove weeds from a field at any stage of growth before the crops reach the harvest state, or be used as a preventative measure to ensure that weeds will not grow on a field at all.

Herbicide is purchased at the Store in Pallet form. It can then be loaded into any Sprayer. If the Sprayer already contains Liquid Fertilizer, you will not be able to fill it with Herbicide until the Liquid Fertilizer is used up or unloaded Unload SprayerDefault Buttons: I ?? ??.

Spraying Herbicide on a field works exactly the same as spraying Liquid Fertilizer. Any weeds touched by the Herbicide will immediately be killed off, without affecting the crops themselves. Unlike with weeders, the dead weeds remain on the field - but will not affect the crop yield at harvest time.

If you have the Crop Destruction option enabled, make sure to use a tractor or other towing vehicle with Narrow Wheels, as these will not destroy the crops.

Once a piece of field has been treated with herbicide, it will not grow weeds at all until the harvest. This applies even to fields that have not yet grown weeds at all. This means that you can use Herbicide on a field immediately after sowing it, to prevent weeds from growing on it altogether. This effect only lasts until the field is harvested or cultivated.

Herbicide is the more expensive option for weed removal, since it requires buying and using material. However it has four important benefits over Weeders:

1. You can use Herbicide to remove mature weeds. This is the only way to remove mature weeds.
2. You can use Herbicide at any time after sowing a field to ensure that weeds will not grow on it until the harvest.
3. The largest Sprayers are far wider than any Weeder available in the base game, and can complete the work much faster (though the DLCs do add a very wide Weeder).
4. Spraying Herbicide is considered a field state change. This means that you can Fertilize a field to 50%, spray it with Herbicide, and immediately fertilize it again to 100% without having to wait for the crops to grow a little.