Farming Simulator 22 shipped in November 2021 with three maps: Elmcreek in the American Midwest with 82 fields, Haut-Beyleron in southern France with 48, and the alpine Erlengrat with 25. Seasonal growth is the headline change, so each crop now has a sowing and harvesting window instead of growing whenever you feel like planting. Production chains are the other addition, with 13 plant types that turn raw harvest into flour, bread, cake, fabric, clothes and more.
Starting Farming Simulator 22 can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Farming Simulator 22 is a simulation game built around Seasonal growth cycles and Production chains. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Arable crop farming | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Animal husbandry | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Forestry | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Production chain operator | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Contract work | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Animal husbandry. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Contract work as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Seasonal growth cycles
Each in game month advances crops one growth stage, and sowing outside a crop's window means nothing comes up. You set how many days a month lasts when creating the save, so a season can run a single day or most of a real week.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Seasonal growth cycles works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Elmcreek
An American Midwest map with 82 fields, the largest count in the base game, plus a Grain Mill, Carpentry, Spinnery and Tailor Shop already on the map. Flat and wide, so big machinery pays for itself.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Claas Lexion 8900: it's the most accessible early upgrade. A high capacity combine harvester in the base game, paired with wide cutters and a grain tank sized to keep going while the unloading tractor catches up.
Step 4: Understand Production chains
There are 13 production plants you can buy and place on your land. The Grain Mill turns wheat, barley, oats and sorghum into flour, the Bakery turns flour into bread and combines six ingredients into cake, the Spinnery makes fabric and the Tailor Shop converts fabric into clothes.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Haut-Beyleron
A southern French map of 48 fields across hilly terrain, with the climate and slopes suited to grapes and olives that flatter ground cannot grow as well.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Seasonal growth cycles
Each in game month advances crops one growth stage, and sowing outside a crop's window means nothing comes up. You set how many days a month lasts when creating the save, so a season can run a single day or most of a real week.
Production chains
There are 13 production plants you can buy and place on your land. The Grain Mill turns wheat, barley, oats and sorghum into flour, the Bakery turns flour into bread and combines six ingredients into cake, the Spinnery makes fabric and the Tailor Shop converts fabric into clothes.
Field state management
Fields track lime, fertiliser in stages, plough state, weeds and rolling. Skipping lime or letting weeds run cuts a visible slice off the harvest, and root crops such as potatoes and sugar beet leave the field needing a plough afterwards.
Contracts and leasing
Contracts pay you to mow, plough, sow, fertilise or harvest on other farms, and you can lease the exact machine required for a fraction of its purchase price. Early on this earns more per hour than working your own land does.
Construction and terrain shaping
Build mode places sheds, silos, production plants, fences and roads, and the terrain tools raise, lower, flatten and paint ground. Anything you place can be sold back later, so a badly sited barn is a mistake you can undo.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Buying a large combine in the first hour instead of leasing one for the harvest, which locks up the money that should have bought land
2. Sowing outside the seasonal window and then waiting a full in game year for a field that will never sprout
3. Selling everything at the nearest sell point the moment the trailer fills, ignoring that prices move month to month and that the same grain is worth far more processed
4. Skipping lime and weeding because the field still looks green, then blaming the harvester when the yield comes in a third under expectation
5. Running oversized machinery on Erlengrat's alpine slopes, where a large combine cannot turn in a 25 field map built around medium sized ground
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Seasonal growth cycles and Production chains
- Choose Animal husbandry as starting build
- Clear Elmcreek main content
- Acquire Claas Lexion 8900 or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Haut-Beyleron
- Start with contracts and leased implements. A leased plough for one job costs a fraction of buying one, and contract income funds your first field far faster than harvesting a starter plot does.
- Sowing windows are real. Planting outside a crop's window produces nothing at all, so check the calendar and the crop list before you buy seed, particularly for maize, sunflowers and sorghum.
Tips for New Players
- Start with contracts and leased implements. A leased plough for one job costs a fraction of buying one, and contract income funds your first field far faster than harvesting a starter plot does.
- Sowing windows are real. Planting outside a crop's window produces nothing at all, so check the calendar and the crop list before you buy seed, particularly for maize, sunflowers and sorghum.
- Lime on the schedule the game shows rather than by feel. A field that has gone unlimed loses a visible slice of yield, and lime is one of the cheapest inputs in the game.
- Store the harvest instead of selling it at the elevator the moment the trailer is full. Prices move month to month and a silo lets you wait for the spike, which is often worth more than a second field.
- Root crops leave the ground needing a plough. Harvest potatoes or sugar beet and then plough before the next sowing, otherwise the next crop comes in short and you will not see why.
- Production chains multiply value at every step. Wheat sold raw is worth a fraction of flour, and flour is worth a fraction of the bread a Bakery makes from it, so run your own harvest through the chain before you sell anything.
- Match machinery to terrain rather than buying the biggest available. Erlengrat's slopes and 25 medium fields punish oversized combines that cannot turn, while Elmcreek's 82 flat fields reward them.
- Use helpers for the repetitive passes and drive the tricky ones yourself. Hired workers handle straight field work but they are poor at field edges, headlands and anything involving a trailer on a slope.
- Feed animals a mixed ration rather than one input. Cows fed only grass produce far less than cows on a proper mix, and the same principle applies to pigs, where a single feed type wastes most of the herd's potential.
- Terrain tools are undo friendly. You can raise, lower, flatten and repaint ground, and every placed building can be sold back, so laying out a farm yard badly on the first attempt costs almost nothing to fix.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best map to start on?
Elmcreek. It has 82 fields, mostly flat working ground and several production plants already placed on the map, so you can learn the crop cycle and the production chains without fighting the terrain.
How do seasons change the game?
Crops now have sowing and harvesting windows tied to in game months, and growth advances a stage per month. You choose how long a month lasts when creating the save, so seasons can be as short as a single day.
Are production chains worth the money?
Yes, and they are the largest margin increase available. There are 13 production plants, and each step from grain to flour to bread multiplies what the same harvest is worth compared with selling it raw.
Which crops are new in Farming Simulator 22?
Grapes, olives and sorghum. Grapes and olives suit the slopes and climate of Haut-Beyleron, while sorghum joins wheat, barley and oats as a grain the Grain Mill will process into flour.
Do I need DLC maps?
No. The three base maps cover flat, hilly and alpine farming. Silverrun Forest from the Platinum Expansion is worth it if you want forestry as a main income, since it starts with over 20,000 trees, and Zielonka from the Premium Expansion adds a further farming region.
More Farming Simulator 22 Guides
- Farming Simulator 22 Farming Simulator 22 Overview
- Farming Simulator 22 Best Builds
- Farming Simulator 22 Tier List
- Farming Simulator 22 Walkthrough
- Farming Simulator 22 Tips & Tricks
- Farming Simulator 22 Weapons Guide
- Farming Simulator 22 Combat Guide
- Farming Simulator 22 Boss Guide
- Farming Simulator 22 Maps & Locations
- Farming Simulator 22 Crafting Guide
- Farming Simulator 22 Classes & Characters
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