The in-game symbol for both Liquid and Solid Fertilizer.
Solid Fertilizer is one of several types of Fertilizers in Farming Simulator 15.
Solid Fertilizer can be spread on a field in order to increase its Crop yield. It is just as effective at this as any other Fertilizer. It is spread by Fertilizer Spreaders such as the Amazone ZA-M 1501.
Solid Fertilizer is always available at the large blue tank back at the farmhouse (and possibly at other locations, depending on the map being played on). It costs money to purchase, by the liter.
Solid Fertilizer is a simple choice at the start of the game as its required equipment is very cheap, and it requires no other infrastructure. However, the Solid Fertilizer itself is expensive.
Description[]
The Solid Fertilizer is an artificial mixture of chemical compounds containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphate, concentrated into soft chunks resembling livestock manure.
Solid Fertilizer is spread on a field using a simple device: a tank containing the material, which drops it onto a pair of rotor blades. Upon hitting the rotors, each chunk of Solid Fertilizer is flung out in a random direction. The device is pulled or pushed slowly across the field so that the chunks will spread out evenly across it.
Usage[]
Solid Fertilizers is one of a variety of chemicals that can be used to increase crop yields.
To do so, you must first purchase the required equipment: a Solid Fertilizer Spreader. The base game offers two options: The cheaper but smaller Amazone ZA-M 1501, or the larger and expensive AMAZONE ZG-B 8200. Both devices work the same way.
Once a Spreader is purchased and attached to a tractor, it must be filled with Solid Fertilizer at the blue tank at the farm. Simply drive the equipped tractor to the tank and initiate the refill.
The full spreader is then towed to the field. This can be done either before or after the field has been cultivated and/or sown. Activating the spreader, whether or not you are already on the field, will begin draining Fertilizer from the tank, so act quickly.
Effectiveness and Economy[]
All four available types of fertilizer are equally effective at increasing crop yields. The only difference between them are their availability, cost, and spreading time.
Solid Fertilizer is not a cheap option, but requires virtually no infrastructure and little equipment, and is also more cost-efficient than Liquid Fertilizer, at least in the current version of the game (due to bugs).
Every liter of Solid Fertilizer loaded into a spreader costs around $0.3. A full Amazone ZA-M 1501 tank therefore costs around $900 (3000 liters). This amount should be enough to fertilize a medium-sized field. Note: if a Hired Worker runs out of Solid Fertilizer while working, he will automatically purchase more Fertilizer without stopping his work, but each liter will cost significantly more. To solve this problem, take the spreader to be refilled as soon as it runs out of Fertilizer.
Solid Fertilizer Spreaders have the largest work area of any other Fertilizer equipment. Therefore, they can cover an entire field very rapidly. This gives Solid Fertilizer an edge in terms of time efficiency.
Finally, since Solid Fertilizer is always available at the farm, you do not need to set up an entire infrastructure chain for its production, as you would with Slurry or Manure. For the price of an Amazone ZA-M 1501 and a full tank, you can start fertilizing fields immediately. It should not take long to pay for itself. Once cows have been purchased and a proper feeding system is set up, consider switching to the free Slurry, or later, Manure.