The Farming Game
Encyclopedia
The Farming Game is a board game
simulating the economics of a small farm
. Published in 1979
, it was designed by George Rohrbacher, a rancher in Washington State. The Farming Game painfully reflects the real life difficulties of running a farm. Also, the names and places in the game are the names of families farming for generations in Yakima Valley
and other parts of Central Washington
. When Rohrbacher invented the game, it was a desperate time for his failing farm and small family, this is reflected in the difficulty of the game, and the multitude of points taken into consideration in farming that are often left up to chance. It is considered a board game which has educational value.http://www.farmgame.com/printouts/instructions.pdf
The game's objective is to raise money by harvesting crop
s and selling livestock
, including hay
, fruit
, grain
, and cattle
. This is done by moving around the board using one die
, similar to Monopoly
. Each trip around the board represents a year of farming, and players can increase their chances of earning more money by planting more crops or raising more livestock, which can be purchased by exercising the option given from an Option to Buy (O.T.B.) card a player has drawn during the course of the game.
Elements of the game are intended to reflect aspects of real-life farming. For example, players sometimes encounter "Farmer's Fate" cards that are either good or bad, similar to the "Chance" cards found in Monopoly
. One such card allows you to go to winter and collect your annual $5000 bonus. Another card informs you that you may not collect on any of your harvests for the rest of the year. These cards are intended to reflect the element of chance or luck that is involved in farming, which is the aim of the game.
Players take turns rolling a die, traveling around the board, harvesting their crops when they can. Crops are purchased through O.T.B. (Option to Buy) cards usually referencing "Neighbor Sells Out: 10 Acres Grain", the crops are grouped into Hay, Grain (Wheat and Corn), Fruit (Apples and Cherries), and Livestock (Cattle). Whereas hay is the cheapest to purchase and most often harvested, just as in real life, the chance for large profit is much smaller than with livestock or fruit. What balances this game, and provides the most difficulty for real life farmers, are operating expenses. In The Farming Game, whenever a player harvests a crop, he draws a card entitled "Operating Expense", examples of which are "Pay $500 for Irrigation" or "Seed Bill Due: Pay $1,000". Also, certain spaces on the board instruct the player to draw a "Farmer's Fate" card. "Farmer's Fate" cards are usually unfortunate for the player, including references to the drought
in the 1970s in which all the player's livestock are slaughtered.
Based upon the probabilities of landing on each square and the average selling price of each commodity, Hay is slightly less profitable than Grain, while Cattle averages about 1.5 times as much profit as Grain. Fruit is even more lucrative, earning about 2.5 times as much profit as Grain.
Thus, a player's first choice should always be to plant as much Fruit as possible. In fact, the advantage is so great that the winner will usually be the player lucky enough to draw the most "O.T.B. Fruit" cards. This can be risky, however, as fruit is the most expensive item to purchase and it is the toughest harvest season to land on.
A player's second choice should then be to raise Cattle, however, the game limits the number of Cattle you can raise on the farm to 20. In order to raise more, you must lease additional land, but in doing so you must pay a large fee. This fee is, in fact, higher than the total profit you are likely to earn on the Cattle by the end of the game! In other words, not only will you likely lose money on the investment, but you will also be losing the opportunity to invest your money in more profitable commodities. Thus, you should never lease additional land to raise Cattle.
A player's third choice should then be to choose to focus upon either Grain or Hay. If two players can agree to swap commodities so that one grows only Grain while the other grows only Hay, then they will both have a slight advantage over other players who grow both crops because they will pay less in harvesting fees. Note, however, that the Grain player will still have a slight advantage over the Hay player, which may make negotiating such a deal difficult. Another disadvantage to this strategy is that it decreases both player's chances of harvesting. If a player grows both, he removes a lot of the variability involved in his expected profit.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
simulating the economics of a small farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
. Published in 1979
1979 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1979. For video and console games, see 1979 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1979:...
, it was designed by George Rohrbacher, a rancher in Washington State. The Farming Game painfully reflects the real life difficulties of running a farm. Also, the names and places in the game are the names of families farming for generations in Yakima Valley
Yakima Valley
Yakima Valley may refer to:*Yakima River Valley in southeastern Washington*Yakima Valley AVA...
and other parts of Central Washington
Central Washington
Central Washington is a region of the United States defined as the western half of Eastern Washington, or those counties lying east of the Cascade Mountains but west of the 119th meridian west....
. When Rohrbacher invented the game, it was a desperate time for his failing farm and small family, this is reflected in the difficulty of the game, and the multitude of points taken into consideration in farming that are often left up to chance. It is considered a board game which has educational value.http://www.farmgame.com/printouts/instructions.pdf
The game's objective is to raise money by harvesting crop
Crop
Crop may refer to:* Crop, a plant grown and harvested for agricultural use* Crop , part of the alimentary tract of some animals* Crop , a modified whip used in horseback riding or disciplining humans...
s and selling livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
, including hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
, and cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
. This is done by moving around the board using one die
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
, similar to Monopoly
Monopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
. Each trip around the board represents a year of farming, and players can increase their chances of earning more money by planting more crops or raising more livestock, which can be purchased by exercising the option given from an Option to Buy (O.T.B.) card a player has drawn during the course of the game.
Elements of the game are intended to reflect aspects of real-life farming. For example, players sometimes encounter "Farmer's Fate" cards that are either good or bad, similar to the "Chance" cards found in Monopoly
Monopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
. One such card allows you to go to winter and collect your annual $5000 bonus. Another card informs you that you may not collect on any of your harvests for the rest of the year. These cards are intended to reflect the element of chance or luck that is involved in farming, which is the aim of the game.
Game Play
The board itself is divided into squares representing forty-nine of the fifty-two weeks in a year, with different sections grouped together under the usual harvest for that season. Whereas there are multiple sections for harvesting hay (your first, second, third, and even fourth cutting), Livestock are sold only once a year. Similar to real life, poor timing (or unlucky die rolls) can cause the player to miss, or skip over, a harvest.Players take turns rolling a die, traveling around the board, harvesting their crops when they can. Crops are purchased through O.T.B. (Option to Buy) cards usually referencing "Neighbor Sells Out: 10 Acres Grain", the crops are grouped into Hay, Grain (Wheat and Corn), Fruit (Apples and Cherries), and Livestock (Cattle). Whereas hay is the cheapest to purchase and most often harvested, just as in real life, the chance for large profit is much smaller than with livestock or fruit. What balances this game, and provides the most difficulty for real life farmers, are operating expenses. In The Farming Game, whenever a player harvests a crop, he draws a card entitled "Operating Expense", examples of which are "Pay $500 for Irrigation" or "Seed Bill Due: Pay $1,000". Also, certain spaces on the board instruct the player to draw a "Farmer's Fate" card. "Farmer's Fate" cards are usually unfortunate for the player, including references to the drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
in the 1970s in which all the player's livestock are slaughtered.
Strategy
The Farming Game is a heavily chance dependent game, and thus the winner is usually determined by luck. However, a player can increase his or her chances of winning by knowing which crops are more likely to be profitable and use this information to make advantageous trades with other players.Based upon the probabilities of landing on each square and the average selling price of each commodity, Hay is slightly less profitable than Grain, while Cattle averages about 1.5 times as much profit as Grain. Fruit is even more lucrative, earning about 2.5 times as much profit as Grain.
Thus, a player's first choice should always be to plant as much Fruit as possible. In fact, the advantage is so great that the winner will usually be the player lucky enough to draw the most "O.T.B. Fruit" cards. This can be risky, however, as fruit is the most expensive item to purchase and it is the toughest harvest season to land on.
A player's second choice should then be to raise Cattle, however, the game limits the number of Cattle you can raise on the farm to 20. In order to raise more, you must lease additional land, but in doing so you must pay a large fee. This fee is, in fact, higher than the total profit you are likely to earn on the Cattle by the end of the game! In other words, not only will you likely lose money on the investment, but you will also be losing the opportunity to invest your money in more profitable commodities. Thus, you should never lease additional land to raise Cattle.
A player's third choice should then be to choose to focus upon either Grain or Hay. If two players can agree to swap commodities so that one grows only Grain while the other grows only Hay, then they will both have a slight advantage over other players who grow both crops because they will pay less in harvesting fees. Note, however, that the Grain player will still have a slight advantage over the Hay player, which may make negotiating such a deal difficult. Another disadvantage to this strategy is that it decreases both player's chances of harvesting. If a player grows both, he removes a lot of the variability involved in his expected profit.