Pallegney…

August is coming to an end – I’ve harvested my fields and also those of other farmers. It’s been a busy month. However – there’s always a lot going on in the background and I’ll try to cover that here.

One of the first things that I realised while harvesting the wheat in that first field was that we have two underpowered tractors. 115HP and 155HP will not cut it when we have to plough and it was already clear that a fully loaded trailer would be a struggle. So, my first action was to buy a more powerful tractor.

One of the places we should look for equipment is the second-hand store. And in that wonderful emporium I found a Massey Ferguson 9S! That’s a powerhouse of a tractor and at a bargain price…

…But I was thinking – Right for my farm? No, I don’t think it was – two many horses and probably big maintenance bills.

I decided to get the Claas Axion 830 new – It will fit better on my farm and being new, will cost less to maintain in the short term. I realise that you haven’t met me yet in this game, so here I am with the Axion complete with my French Beret…

… This shot does give a sense of scale – even a medium tractor is huge! And I should reassure you that this doesn’t affect the status of the existing John Deere and Claas tractors – they both still have work to do.

I mentioned harvesting for other farmers. This work took me to fields further up the sides of the Durbion valley giving some great views…

…and we were also able to cause a small traffic jam…

…While preparing to harvest a field to the north of the town. The Durbion is a tributary of the Moselle river and I wondered if there might be vineyards in the area but it seems the most suitable ‘terrior’ lies further to the north-east. As a result the land around Pallegney in real life is given over to agriculture.

Having ruled out one specialised form of farming I had to make some decisions. The key one was – do I get myself a herd of Cows? It seems that the map makers wanted the player to do that as they have included a cheese and butter producing shop as part of the farm. I decided that I will be setting up a herd – To that end, I went and looked up what types of cattle are kept in the Lorraine region. Limousin are commonly raised for beef production but as we will be going the dairy route it seems that Holstein will be the right breed for us. The cattle shed on the farm can house up to 102 cows so I’ll probably start with 20. However, that will have to wait until next summer at the earliest as I will need to build up a stock of feed beforehand. With that in mind I collected my straw bales…

…And stored them in the big barn (which thankfully auto-stacks them for you).

In order to maintain a herd, the rest of the farm has to be profitable. I decided as one of my last acts in August to purchase field 32 which sits directly behind the farm….

…This currently has a sorghum crop which I will harvest in September and add to the silo for sale in the winter months when the price is good. I will also have to harvest my grass in September to make hay so I have had to purchase a Tedder and a Windrower. I’ve rearranged the tools on the farm and all the grass and baling items are now stored together…

I plan to prepare fields 31 and 19 for sowing as well – hopefully for winter Barley. But that’s a lot of work as both fields need to be ploughed and limed first. It seems that September is going to be a very busy month and some of the work may spill over into October.

On a bright note, the Chickens have begun producing Eggs. Collecting them for sale may prove difficult as our Chickens are not afraid of a staring contest…

…and I’m not sure I fancy my chances in a fight 🤣

Time to go and prepare for September 😎👍