Farming Simulator Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Grass

The in-game symbol for both Grass and Hay.

Grass is one of the crops in Farming Simulator 15. Grass grows by default all over the map, and extra patches or meadows can be sown manually. Grass can be cut and collected, to be used as feed for Sheep and Cows or for the production of Silage. It can also be transformed into either Hay or Chaff (which are more lucrative materials), or simply sold as-is. Grass does not need to be tended in order to grow and re-grow, making it the least work-intensive crop, but also the cheapest.

Several Missions in the game will require you to mow a certain field of grass, for a worthwhile sum of money.

Quick Summary[]

Grass grows pretty much everywhere on the map, alongside fields and roads. It is a crop that requires practically no attention, since it will always grow, even after being harvested, and will never wither. You do not need to buy any land in order to harvest Grass.

Grass can be sowed almost anywhere, an action that not only increases the amount of Grass available on the map, but can also be used to split fields or increase the size of the maneuvering space around them. This is because whenever Hired Workers encounter Grass, they believe the field has ended and will turn around. Grass can be removed by plowing it - allowing you to increase the size of a field or even join two adjacent fields together.

Grass is mowed with mowing equipment, which leaves the worked area covered with a layer of loose Grass. This can be collected with Loading Wagons. The loose Grass can then be sold, fed to Sheep or Cows, or turned into Silage. Alternatively, Grass can be dried on the ground, and then picked up as bales of Hay, which is a more useful substance.

Note: None of the work that involves Grass can be handed to a Hired Worker, except when sowing Grass onto an existing field. Mowing, tedding, windrowing and collecting must all be done manually.

Finally, Grass can be turned into Chaff - another lucrative substance used for Silage production. This requires specialty equipment, and can be done with or without mowing the Grass first (for different yields).

Grass Growth[]

Grass 3 Stages FS15

The three stages of Grass growth. From left to right: Freshly-mowed Grass; harvestable Grass; fully grown Grass.

Grass does not grow in fields by default. Instead, most of the surface area of the map (in both Bjornholm and Westbridge Hills) that does not contain a road, building, or field is covered with Grass as the game begins. Generally, Grass is distributed as long, narrow strips of grass around fields (known as the field's "Header") and alongside roads. Maps may have more or fewer additional open spaces containing Grass, particularly near the edges of maps or in "left-over" locations where fields could not be placed.

When the game begins, all Grass on the map will be in its fully-grown state, where it will appear as overgrown weeds speckled with yellow flowers.

If a patch of Grass is mowed (see below), it will immediately start growing again, with no need for cultivating or re-sowing whatsoever. Grass will grow until it reaches its highest harvestable state, and will never wither.

Planting Grass[]

Additional Grass

ss in bulk somewhat easier, to widen headers for fields, or even to split fields apart.

About 1,000 liters of seeds are required to plant one hectare of Grass. This translates to roughly $600 worth of seeds per hectare.

Meadows[]

Meadow FS15

Field 20 on Westbridge Hills, turned entirely into a Meadow. This field can provide ample Grass to feed the cows at the nearby pasture, and is also close to the Bio Gas Plant. Note the thin, bright-green line on the left, showing where the edge of the old field used to be.

By sowing an entire field with Grass, you can create an open Meadow. This wide, open area of Grass is much easier to process than the strips of Grass commonly found all over the map - it concentrates the work in a specific area. Players will often sow Grass over a field close to their Sheep, Cows, or Biogas Plant, so that the crop can be quickly delivered to these locations.

Sowing with Grass can be handled by a Hired Worker, assuming you wish an entire field covered. If you want only part of a field covered with Grass, first split the field (see below) and then put your Hired Worker to work on the part of the field you want sowed.

Expanding Headers[]

Expanded Header FS15

The southern header of Field 10 on Westbridge Hills, expanded with one lane of Grass in order to give field equipment more space to park and turn without hitting traffic.

A "Header" is the boundary of a field, covered with Grass. This boundary helps recognize where one field ends and another begins, but also provides space for machinery to park, as well as room for working machinery to maneuver when it reaches the end of the work area. On some of the default fields, the Header is very narrow, which can cause problems when a road runs on the other side of the header, or when machine work spills over into an adjacent field. In such cases, it may be necessary to widen the Header.

Expanding a Header often comes at the expense of the field itself. In other words, a narrow strip at the end of the field is sowed with Grass, shrinking the field and widening the Header. This can be done with a Hired Worker, but you should be ready to dismiss the Hired Worker once he gets to the end of the field - otherwise he can end up covering the entire field with Grass.

Splitting Fields[]

Split Field FS15

Field 11 on Westbridge Hills, split by a row of Grass, and planted with different crops on each side. Note the minimap in the corner still showing it as a single field. Hired Workers will not cross from one field to another.

A strip of Grass can also be sown right through an existing field in order to split it into two parts. Although the map will still show the field as being one piece, Hired Workers will consider each part of the field as separate, working only on the part they were tasked with. Therefore, it becomes much easier to grow a different crop in each part of the field. This is entirely a matter of convenience, but many players will find it necessary in a multitude of situations.

Even if you do not use Hired Workers at all, the Grass strip will be a visible marker for you, indicating where one field ends and another begins.

You may split a field in any way you want - there is no requirement to split fields along straight lines. However, the straighter the split, the easier it will be for Hired Workers to work each of the resulting parts.

Removing Grass[]

Whether or not a patch of Grass has been there from the beginning of the game, or has been planted by you for any reason, you may remove that Grass to restore or even expand your existing fields. This can only be done by running a Plow over the grass. Cultivators cannot perform this operation. Note that you must activate the "Allow Create Fields" option for the Plow in order for it to remove Grass.

If the newly-plowed land touches any of your existing fields, Hired Workers will ideally consider it an integral part of that field, and will work it as part of their work on that field. If the newly-plowed land is separate from any existing fields, then it is essentially a field of its own (no matter how small), and can be worked as one.

You may use this function to connect two adjacent fields into a single entity. Workers will automatically continue from one field to the other as though they were one.

Note that it is not possible to hire a Worker to remove Grass. Workers will never stray outside existing fields as they work. You will have to do the work manually - which has the unfortunate potential of creating misshappen (or at least, not perfectly-straight) fields. Use with care.

Mowing Grass[]

Mowing with Triple Headers FS15

A tractor operating three mowing heads, leaving three distinct trails of loose Grass behind it.

Grass can be mowed in order to use it for a variety of profitable ventures. Unlike other crops, Grass can only be mowed with special equipment known as a Mower. Harvesters (other than the Krone Big X 1100, which is unique) cannot do anything with Grass, and will stop working when they reach Grass.

The base game contains two types of Mowers, which are quite similar. The Kuhn FC 3525 F is the basic model, attached either at the front or back of a Tractor, which will mow any grass it comes into contact with. The second model is the Kuhn FC 10030, which is essentially two Mowers hanging off the sides of a tractor. The FC 3525 and FC 10030 can be mounted on the same tractor to give the best work area possible for cutting Grass - but this requires a rather powerful tractor.

Upon contact between the Mower and a piece of grown Grass, that Grass is turned into a patch of shredded leaves, light-green in color, on the ground. As the tractor moves across a patch of grass, it will leave one or more trails of these shredded leaves behind it. This is loose Grass, the actual yield of the crop, which will need to be collected separately.

Note that loose Grass will remain on the ground forever - until picked up. Continuously mowing the same piece of land without picking up the loose Grass will cause it to simply build up. There is no known limit to the amount of loose Grass that can occupy a single spot on the ground this way.

Windrowing[]

Windrowing FS15

A Windrower combining 6 separate loose Grass trails into one, for easier pick-up.

Mowers leave a trail of loose Grass directly behind them. When several mowers are used simultaneously, or several passes are made across the Grass patch, it will likely end up covered with mowed Grass. This can take a very long time to collect, especially due to the narrow width of Loading Wagons.

Therefore, as an optional step in the process of collecting Grass, it is possible to run a Windrower over the mowed Grass before collecting. This wide trailer will pull all mowed Grass within its work area into a single, compact trail. Most Windrowers are wide enough to process large patches of grass or even entire meadows in short order. A Loading Wagon can then run over the resulting compact trail, collecting large quantities of Grass very rapidly.

Note that as with all other Grass-working equipment, windrowing cannot be assigned to a Hired Worker.

Collecting Grass[]

Grass Collecting FS15

A Loading Wagon collecting loose Grass.

Grass can only be collected using a Loading Wagon (also known as a "Forage Wagon"). This trailer is attached behind a tractor, and pulled over patches of mowed Grass. It will automatically collect any piece of mowed Grass that passes under its forage device.

The Loading Wagon can then be driven to a Grass Heap (to sell the Grass directly), to the Sheep or Cow Pastures (where it can be fed to your animals), or to the Biogas Plant (where it can be turned into Silage). In all three cases, the wagon can unload itself without the need for any other equipment.

Note: If you are using the Kuhn FC 3525 F mower, you can mount it on the front of the tractor and attach a Loading Wagon at the rear. This will cause all Grass mowed by the mower at the front to be collected by the Loading Wagon, essentially mowing and collecting with a single vehicle in one go, and removing the need for Windrowers . This works best when making long, straight passes over large patches of grass. However, due to the narrow width of the FC 3525 and most Loading Wagons, it may take longer to work the same size patch.

Selling Grass[]

Grass Unloading FS15

A Loading Wagon being unloaded into a Grass Heap.

The world map has several locations where Grass can be offloaded and sold directly out of a Loading Wagon. These are the Grass Heaps, which are marked on the map with a green-colored "Offload" symbol. To sell Grass, simply drive the Loading Wagon close to the heap and unload.

There is an additional, unmarked offloading point at your farm. It is a brown barn, with its door open, that has straw spread out in front of the door. To sell here, you'll need to back your Loading Wagon right into the door, until the option to unload comes up.

Regardless of where it is sold, Grass sells for $100 per ton. It is therefore one of the cheapest crops in the game, with a value less than 1/4 that of Wheat. This price does not really justify the amount of (manual!) work required to produce Grass, unless you are early in the game or are strapped for a little bit of extra cash.

It is far more cost-effective to use Grass for other purposes, i.e. to produce Silage or to feed Cows. Of course, if you have the right equipment, it is almost always better to either Chaff your Grass, or to make Hay out of it.

Feeding Cows and Sheep[]

One of the two primary uses for Grass is to feed it to your Sheep and/or Cows. This is done by driving a Loading Wagon with Grass in it right up next to the feeding trough at the Sheep Pasture or Cow Pasture, respectively, and unloading.

Sheep require nothing but Grass in order for their Wool production to begin. They will not produce any Wool without being fed. As long as there is any Grass left in their feeding trough, they will continue to produce Wool at a steady rate, which depends only on the number of Sheep in the pasture.

Feeding Cows on Grass is not optimal, but will at least get them started on producing Slurry - a valuable type of Fertilizer. Additionally, Grass feeding will raise Cow productivity to at least 35% (or more, if you also provide them with Silage and/or Straw Bedding). Both the increased productivity and Slurry production will continue as long as there is any food in the Cow trough, whether it's Grass or otherwise. Note that the game will track the amount of Grass you've unloaded into the trough separately from other types of feed.

Both Sheep and Cows will gradually consume the Grass in their troughs. The more animals are in the pasture, the faster they will consume their feed. Grass is consumed at a rate of 23 liters per Sheep, per day, and 150 liters per Cow, per day, out of their respective troughs. Note that Sheep will consume Grass even if there is no more room for Wool to be produced. Also note that Cows will stop consuming Grass if they are provided with TMR, and will only resume consuming Grass if the TMR ever runs out.

Producing Silage[]

Grass is one of three different materials that can be used to produce Silage. Although it is the least efficient of the three, this is still the most lucrative use for Grass, and can bring you a lot of money very quickly.

In order to turn Grass into Silage, a Loading Wagon with Grass in it must be brought to one of the fermentation bunkers (either at the Biogas Plant or at the Cow Pasture) that currently accepts materials, and unloaded into it. Once a sufficient amount of material is accumulated in a single bunker, it must be compressed to 100% (by driving any vehicle over it repeatedly), and then covered with a plastic sheet. Several hours later, the plastic sheet will be automatically removed, and a large pile of Silage revealed underneath.

Silage can then be used to feed Cows, or sold directly at the Biogas Plant for a very high income (about $1600 per ton).

Note that you can only dump Grass into a fermentation bunker that does not currently contain any Silage, is not currently covered with plastic, and is not currently full of other materials. There is no restriction on filling the same bunker with both Grass and Chaff at the same time - you may do so if you wish.

Grass Mowing Missions[]

The player can take missions that require him/her to mow a certain patch of Grass somewhere on the map. There are three such missions for each of the maps in the base game, with each mission pointing to a different patch of grass. To complete the mission, the player must mow at least a certain percentage of the patch (somewhere between 90-95%, exact numbers are not currently available). If the player completes the mission quickly, they receive a bonus that can almost double the total reward for the mission.

Note that upon accepting a Mowing Mission, the targeted patch of Grass will instantly grow to its fully-harvestable state, even if it had just been mowed.

After completing the mission, feel free to collect the resulting loose Grass, or even turn it into Hay, if you so desire. Each of the mission locations has a Grass Heap right next to it, in case you want to sell the collected Grass immediately for a small extra profit.

Westbridge Hills[]

The three missions and corresponding locations on the Westbridge Hills map are as follows:

  1. "Overgrown Estate": A square patch of grass on the western edge of the town.
  2. "Strike!": A square patch of grass within the baseball field, on the road between the town and the warehouse. Driving into the baseball field may be tricky, as it only has two narrow entrances that are about as wide as a mower. If using the wider mower, make sure it is folded before attempting to enter through the opening.
  3. "Mowing Star": A parallelogram-shaped patch of grass within the drive-in, between the Train Station and the Milk Factory. Note that there are several patches of grass within the drive-in area that do not need to be cut at all to complete the mission (and do not contribute towards completion). The parallelogram runs roughly from the western entrance down to the south-eastern end of the drive-in, with the small projection booth being right in its center.

Tedding Grass into Hay[]

Main article: Hay (Farming Simulator 15)
Tedding FS15

A Tedder being pulled over mowed Grass, turning it into Dry Grass.

Another optional step between Mowing and Collecting is to dry your Grass, using a Tedder, with the intention of turning it into Hay.

The Tedder device is pulled over already-mowed Grass in order to dry it instantly. In visual terms, the mowed grass will turn yellow as the Tedder passes over it, becoming Dry Grass.

Dry Grass is not Hay quite yet. If it were to be picked up by a Loading Wagon, it will instantly "revert" to regular grass, and be no different from it. Instead, the Dry Grass must be processed by a Baler while it's still on the ground, becoming either square or round Hay Bales.

Hay is only slightly more valuable than Grass when sold directly, but Hay has other, very lucrative uses. It can be used to create Total Mixed Ration, and can be transformed directly into Silage. It can also substitute for Grass, in certain applications, but in that case all the extra work put into creating the Hay is wasted.

Hay vs. Grass[]

Although many players assume that Grass turns into Hay as soon as it is dried with a Tedder, this is not the case as far as the game is concerned. Tedding Grass simply produces Dried Grass - which can be turned into Hay, but isn't yet Hay. Should that Dried Grass be picked up in loose form, by a Loading Wagon, it will have turned back into regular Grass and does not differ from it in any way, shape or form.

Hay is only considered such when picked up in Bale form, by any of the available Balers. In this form, it not only fetches a slightly higher price, but can also be used for producing instant Silage or TMR, as explained in the article on Hay.

Hay can also be transformed back into Grass, by shredding a Hay bale. This can be done with a Mixer Wagon. To do so, ensure that the Mixer Wagon is empty first (or already contains nothing but Hay), and drop a bale into it using a Front Loader or similar device. The Mixer Wagon can then be driven up to one of the troughs at the Cow Pasture, and unloaded in the same way that Grass is normally unloaded there - and for the same exact results as Grass. You may load several bales of Hay into a single Mixer Wagon until it is full.

A single bale of Hay that is shredded in this manner is equal to exactly 4,000 liters of Grass - the same amount of Grass that was originally used to create the bale.

Chaff from Grass[]

Grass is one of the crops that can be transformed into Chaff. This can be done both to uncut Grass and to mowed Grass, as long as you have the right equipment. Chaff is then used to produce Silage. Depending on whether or not you mow the Grass first, this either saves you work or makes you more money than turning Grass directly into Silage.

Chaff from Un-mowed Grass[]

Uncut Grass can be mowed for Chaff using a Krone Big X 1100, outfitted with the Krone X Disc 6200 header.

In this configuration the Big X can drive over an uncut patch of Grass and instantly turn it into Chaff. This method of turning Grass into Chaff is not very efficient, as the conversion ratio is not very high. However, it saves you the work of mowing the Grass separately and collecting it from the field.

Chaff from Mowed Grass[]

Alternatively, a Krone Big X 1100 equipped with a Krone EasyFlow 300 header can suck in mowed Grass and instantly transform it into Chaff. It simply needs to drive over the mowed Grass, just like a Loading Wagon.

This method of Chaff production is significantly more effective than collecting un-mowed Grass, as explained above. It generates much more Silage-able material than mowing and collecting the Grass. It is not quite as effective as creating Chaff from Corn, but is nonetheless a very good way to accumulate Chaff.

Advertisement