Realistic Soil & Fertilizer

Enhance your farming experience with the Realistic Soil & Fertilizer Mod. This mod introduces a deeper level of farming management without unnecessary complexity. Each field possesses its own soil health metrics, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic matter, and pH, all of which fluctuate based on crop growth, applications, and weather conditions. Proper soil management leads to optimal yields, while neglect results in decreased productivity.

Soil Nutrients

Track five key values for each field:

• Nitrogen (N) — Depletes significantly with crops like corn and wheat.
• Phosphorus (P) — Depletes slowly, crucial for root crops.
• Potassium (K) — Lost in large amounts during high-yield harvests.
• Organic Matter (OM) — Enhances long-term fertility; increased with manure and compost.
• pH — Influences nutrient absorption; adjusted with lime and gypsum.

Crops extract varying amounts of each nutrient, and fallow fields naturally recover over time.

Fertilizer Types

The mod supports all major fertilizer types from the base game and common mods, including:

Synthetic

• Liquid Fertilizer — Balanced N/P/K, quick uptake.
• Solid Fertilizer — Higher phosphorus, standard cost.
• Digestate — Biogas byproduct, rich in nitrogen and potassium.

Organic

• Manure — Slow-release, builds organic matter.
• Slurry — Liquid organic, high in potassium.
• Compost — Excellent organic matter boost.
• Biosolids — A good all-around organic option.
• Chicken Manure — Concentrated nutrients, builds organic matter.
• Pelletized Manure — Processed for easier application.

pH Management

• Lime — Significantly raises pH.
• Liquid Lime — Gentler than dry lime.
• Gypsum — Stabilizes pH, improves soil structure.

Each type features realistic nutrient profiles and appropriate application rates in metric or imperial units.

Sprayer Rate Control

Manage fertilizer application rates precisely:

• Adjust on the fly with Rate Up/Rate Down keybindings.
• Auto-Rate mode sets application rates based on field depletion.
• Rate settings persist per vehicle, ensuring consistency.

HUD

Monitor nutrient levels with a real-time soil panel:

• 6 position presets and a customizable draggable position.
• 4 color themes and 3 font sizes.
• 5 transparency levels and a compact mode.
• Toggle the HUD on/off with a keybinding.

Access a detailed Soil Report via keybinding for in-depth analysis.

Settings

All settings are accessible in-game under Soil & Fertilizer. In multiplayer, gameplay settings are admin-controlled, while HUD/display settings are per-player.

Toggleable Systems

• Fertility system.
• Nutrient cycles.
• Fertilizer costs.
• Seasonal effects.
• Rain effects.
• Plowing bonus.
• Auto-Rate Control.
• Notifications for low nutrients.

Difficulty Levels

• Simple — Reduced depletion, lower costs.
• Realistic — Balanced, standard rates (default).
• Hardcore — Rapid depletion, higher costs.

Switch between metric and imperial units per player.

Precision Farming Compatibility

When the Precision Farming DLC is active, the mod enters read-only mode, observing without interference.

Multiplayer

Fully supported with server-controlled gameplay settings and per-player HUD preferences. Field soil data syncs to all clients, with automatic state sync for new players.

Console Commands

Access commands via the developer console:

• soilfertility — List all commands.
• SoilEnable / SoilDisable — Toggle the mod.
• SoilSetDifficulty 1/2/3 — Set difficulty.
• SoilFieldInfo <fieldId> — Show soil data for a specific field.
• SoilShowSettings — Display current settings.
• SoilResetSettings — Reset to defaults.
• SoilSaveData — Save soil data to disk.
• SoilDebug — Toggle debug logging.

Compatibility

Compatible with all maps, vehicles, sprayers, and crop rotation mods. No known conflicts with other mods, and existing saves load seamlessly.

Installation

Extract the zip into your mods folder and configure in-game under Soil & Fertilizer. No additional steps required.

Version 1.1.5.0
This hotfix resolves fertility desync issues in multiplayer by ensuring calculations only occur on the server.