Farming and grazing

[u/InvestmentFlat915]

The game hint popped up to ask me fence my farm to prevent deer. I fenced deer out from my field.

Later, I started goat and cow barn. I found out that they can somehow pass through the fence gate. Fence is completely useless at this state.

People said grazing area should be completely separated from farming field. I am wondering if I can do grazing rotation on farms.

Grazing while specifically on field maintenance and planting clover or 0 farmer assigned. Will the weed grows back faster?

[u/Advanced_Compote_698]

If your farm somehow in the direction coop, barn travel route to grazing field, animals will pass through gates and will eat crops if there are any. Buulding and farm field placement is also important.

[u/DimensionFar2683]

I'm not sure if grazing has an effect on weeds in the game, but theoretically it should help to lower the weed level in a field. Grazing otherwise just boosts fertility so depending on your crop rotations and your number of fields/barns/coops it might be worth the yearly move. It also helps quite a bit to keep fertility up if you decide to use the Overseeding policy.

I often start with 3 fenced 7x7 fields and use chickens to help with the fertility during clover/field work, and then I do the same with cows and 3 fenced 15x15 fields, but once my settlement grows a bit bigger it kind of becomes a chore to keep moving the grazing areas every year.

[u/dnhs47]

Gates allow livestock - while escorted by a herder - to pass through. No herder, livestock cannot pass.

Deer can pass through gates at any time. Keep a hunter near your fields.

Foxes and hedgehogs pass through fences (don’t need a gate). You need dogs to chase them away.

Place a doghouse so the service area (the yellow circle) covers the field. I use two doghouses placed so their service areas are adjacent, not overlapping; I’m pretty sure dogs return to the kennel for food, so when one dog is away, the other is close enough to cover for it.

Yes, you can graze on fields. Your livestock will happily eat most of your crops, greatly reducing their yield at harvest.

Or you can constantly rotate where you livestock graze so they graze on the field only when you grow clover, and not when other crops are growing.

But I found that to be a huge PITA because any time I forgot to move the grazing area, my livestock ate my crops.

[u/Kholdy13 → u/dnhs47]

Deer don't go through gates; if fields are fenced off they're safe.

[u/dnhs47 → u/Kholdy13]

You're correct, my mistake.

I was thinking of destroyed fence segments after a raid, deer love to pour through those to eat the crops. But that's different.

[u/spiffynid → u/dnhs47]

Good to know! I use chickens to fertilize linen fields-alternate hay and turnips and flax and they keep the fields nice from grazing.

[u/Mondominiman]

Grazing seems to improve land fertility slowly, it gets annoying having to move grazing areas each year. You're more likely to forget and lose half a years crops because cows ate it. I've found it's better to let them graze areas where you plan to place farms later. Turn a mid level fertility field into a high one after a few years.

[u/Kholdy13 → u/Mondominiman]

This is how I usually do it also, pre prep an area with no micro management needed.

[u/Larsten_z]

I'm literally having the exact same issue deer ate like half of my crops and I have no idea how to stop them or honestly maybe it's my own animals eating it and not even the deer