Conservation Agriculture v1.0.0.5

Conservation Agriculture v1.0.0.5

Changelog:
v1.0.0.5:
– Fixed an issue where seeder field creation would work the wrong way round

v1.0.0.4:
– Fixed an error which would occur when precision farming was not in the mod folder
– Renamed “set/getLimitToField” to “set/getLimitSeederToField” to reduce likelyhood of mod conflicts

v1.0.0.3:
– Fixed an issue where field creation would not work on meadows

v1.0.0.2:
– Fixed compatibility issues with “Cultivator Field Creator” mod

Tired of tilling the ground for hours? Worried by the work/benefit ratio of oilseed radish? This mod is for you:
– Roller crimping of cover crops is now possible and will provide a mulching and fertilization bonus
– Mulching cover crops will provide the same effect as rolling them
– Direct seeding into cover crops with Precision Farming grants more nitrogen now
– Weeds will no longer appear when seeding into growing, mulched or roller crimped cover crops (until after the next harvest)

The effects described above will be applied in the following cases:
– Grass, Meadow and Oilseed Radish: In any “ready for harvest” states
– Everything else: After being half grown until just before “ready for harvest”
– Root crops: Like above, but also in the “remove foliage” state
– Most modded crops will behave accordingly, for example alfalfa and clover behave like grass

Additionally, direct seeders get an option to allow field creation so you can get rid of your plow for good.

If you only want a part of these features, you can affect the behavior through the in-game settings.

In general, this mod tries to make the three principles of Conservation Agriculture (CA) more viable:

1. Minimum mechanical soil disturbance (i.e. no tillage)
2. Permanent soil organic cover (with crop residues and/or cover crops)
3. Species diversification (through proper crop rotation)
(Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

The theory is that respecting these three principles will improve the overall soil quality which prevents soil erosion, nutrient runoff and other issues while at the same time improving the ecosystem in and above the soil.

Farming Simulator 2022 already provides the following things for these principles:
– Direct seeders and direct planters
– Oilseed radish as pure cover crop
– One fertilizer stage (base game) or 25kg/ha nitrogen (Precision Farming DLC) when direct seeding into or cultivating growing crops

This is already a good start, but it’s not possible to get both the mulching and fertilizing bonus from oilseed radish, and the fertilizing bonus doesn’t offset the fuel, repair and seed costs for planting cover crops, at least with the Precision Farming DLC active.
This mod therefore introduces mulching or roller crimping of cover crops with a large enough fertilization bonus.
Note that with precision farming, nitrogen will be set to the lowest requirement of any base game crop, which is sunflowers (soybeans completely ignore nitrogen). While this means you still have to apply chemical fertilizer for most crops, you will never have to deal with planting into an overfertilized field afterwards. You need to have valid soil samples for the effect to be applied.

This allows field work loops like the following:
Harvest crop -> Apply lime -> direct seed cover crop -> roll or mulch when ready (this also fertilizes) -> direct seed/plant different crop -> handle weeds and remaining nitrogen -> rinse and repeat
It is recommended to turn periodic plowing off; field stones can be left on since no tillage equipment is being used.
This mod is compatible with the Precision Farming DLC and the Crop Rotation mod (available on github).
In case of bugs, please create an issue at my GitHub repository.
Special thanks to Matthias, FS Gentleman and Cookie Cat for help and ideas provided to make this mod possible.