Posts Tagged ‘Farm’
Farm Town, Living the American Dream – “Virtually”
October 29, 2011 | 
Author Farm Town
Living the “Virtual” American Dream
I have found a new obsession, virtual world farming. Oh, I know, I know, I am not the first person to discover this wonderful outlet, but that is okay. This new past time has taken me beyond the barriers of video games where I was nothing more than a blip on a screen – here I am an Avatar!
The ability to make your avatar closely resemble yourself is limited but that is minute compared to the enjoyment you will get from creating your own farm from four, little, barren plots of land.
I believe the appeal of this game, for me at least, is being able to achieve the now illusive, “American Dream”. You know, you start with little and through strategy and hard work; you build your bank up and development the land. It can, of course, be achieved more rapidly if you indulge in the sponsor supplied offers for $ , but that takes the fun out of earning it, for me anyway.
There is something quite rewarding in choosing your crop, sowing it and watching it grow to fruition. You can recruit farm hands to harvest for you, earning you even more $ for the yield or you can get your own hands on the sickle and “reap what you sowed.”
Making a successful go of it from so little is rare enough but let’s face it, there are very few of us who can you choose our neighbors too. Well, in Farm Town you can. You can even switch those who live immediately around you – the concept is fun and exciting.
The act of helping neighbors when they call upon you or when you “visit” their farms earns you money and experience points. In turn, these same neighbors will call on your farm from time to time. Most of these “visits” are computer initiated but you can select to do so yourself.
I confess I believe another attraction to this game is not only can you prosper, but also you do not have to deal with everyday, setback situations such as poor weather, rent, mortgages, cars, kids, etc. It is total Utopia.
This is not a difficult game. On the main screen, follow the tool bar buttons (which are mostly symbols) and you can hardly go wrong. The tool bars will assist you with farming your land and managing your assets, crops, etc. Across the top, you will find:
Send Gifts = You send “gifts” to you Facebook friends by selecting the intended gift then choosing the recipients. The gifts are trees that produce fruit, pine trees and animals. The higher level you achieve, the greater the variety to choose from.
Play = Takes you to the main screen
My Neighbors = Detailed list of your neighbors and their farm status. Here, you can also elect to go work for your neighbors on their farms. This task awards you money in your bank; the amounts depend on the crop you harvest.
Invite = Access to your mail contacts to invite into the game
Reviews = User comments
Forum = User discussions
Help/Rules = Answers questions regarding play
Account = Your personal account settings
Earn $ = Sponsor offers to obtain more $ quickly
Below them are;
C (circled) = Coins (the amount of $ you have available to you)
Envelope= Messages (sent to you from fellow farmers)
Progress Bar = Current level and your progression to the next one
Farm Name = Your choice, just type it in
Toggle bar = Save Button (Save changes)
Music, Speaker (Sound for the farm animals
Tool(Preferences)
Plug (Allows you to go off line)
? (Help key)
Across the bottom, you will see:
Friends/Chat box = Indicates your neighbors & their status
Navigational Tools = Move, pan, walk
Hoe = Used for prepping your plots
Sickle = Used for harvesting
Tool Box = Camera, watering can & bulldozer
Buddies = Hire farm help direct from this list instead of going to the marketplace
Trophies = Achievements obtained through being neighborly
Store = Where you purchase all your farm needs
Gifts = Received
Storage = Harvested crops being held for market
Map = Navigation assistance to market, pub, etc.
The main thing to remember is to pay attention to when you plant and what you plant. For example, grapes mature in four hours and if not harvested in the proper amount of time, they will ruin and be a wasted crop. The allotted harvest time is approximately equal to the time the crop took to mature. Currently, fruit on the trees do not ruin.
The more you achieve the higher your level/status goes. Planting quicker yielding crops gives you more opportunity to increase your experience points, thus raising your levels more quickly. Each level affords you different purchasing privileges, including flowers, animals, seeds, structures, fences, ponds, dirt paths and other miscellaneous items.
One negative note, I would say that the amount of email notifications associated with working someone’s farm, or vice versa. It is annoying and should be adjustable per user if not just eliminated.
All of that being said, if you are in the mood for a game with some gratification and does not end in rounds, Farm Town is it – try it.
Written by Chautumn
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Farm Equipment
Making a farm reach its productivity level requires some help from different farm equipment. Gone are the days when farmers have to do things manually and hired extra hands in order to till and sow seeds in the soil. Modern technology provided farmers with tools and machineries to make their agricultural livelihood more productive through farm equipment. The faster the seeds are sown and grown the more farm products can be harvested. The more farm products are delivered, the more income a farm will generate.
However tilling the agricultural land may have been easier by farm equipment but not without the costs of acquiring one just to speed up production and maximize the land. You will not be surprised to meet a famer who is enthusiastic not only in a single farm equipment but will also acquire the more expensive tractor. This will not be a revelation at all because tractors can cover broader areas and can plough, tow and mount smaller farm equipment.
Farmers who could not afford to buy farm equipment resort to availing of loans that could enable them to buy the more modern farm equipment. Otherwise, their produce will remain low and slow and the market will be monopolized by those who have greater capacity to supply farm products. However, an interest has to be paid based on the amount financed. This then will add to the farmer’s burden because they still need to buy other farm essentials such as seeds, fertilizers, pest controllers and other materials. The larger farms with larger farm equipment have already filled up the quota needed and the farmer must find another outlet where they could sell their produce. Otherwise, the bank loan will not be met and the interest will bloat the small farmer’s obligations further.
Some farmers learned from this; hence, they tried their luck on second-hand farm equipment. Although the cost may be a lot lower, the amount of maintenance is higher. Whatever increase in produce they realized only went to the cost it took to maintain second-hand farm equipment. Perhaps, these are the reasons why most of the small farmers shifted in their line of work. They cannot afford to earn much because of the amount involved in making their farm more productive. Besides, the basic farm equipment needed is for planting, soil cultivation, fertilizers and harvesting. Increasing their production but with stiffer competition and additional cost to burden their production is hardly profitable on the part of the small farmers.
Farming was once a profitable business in our country and was at one point in time reliant in the sweat and hard work involved in tilling the soil. However, farming industry became a one sided competition wherein only those who had enough resources to invest in expensive farm equipment, emerged as main suppliers of farm produce because of their capacity. The sad part is, the success of the moneyed and the few caused the continuous decline of small farms.
Unemployment became a major problem since small farm industries could no longer afford to compete with the big players. The big players on the other hand have no use for too much manual labor because advancement in technology provided them an alternative to manpower. Perhaps the rest of the world sees this, perhaps not; but the advent of technology had more negative impact. One major environmental problem is that agricultural land has been overused and is now considered as unyielding and depleted.
Written by ja_schmidt