Emperor: Crop Yield Calculation

## **General numbers**

1. Fertity of cropland as defined by the Water table(Hotkey[T]). This can range between 10% and 65%, displayed in various shades of blue. Mouse-over provides Cropland description; Ideal(darkest):65% fertile, Rich(darkish):62%-54% fertile, Good(medium)51%-40% fertile, Poor(med-li)37%-26%, Very Poor(light)21%-15% & No Water(beige)10% fertile.
2. Irrigation, if available and used, adds 35% to fertility of cropland. Raising maximum potentially fertility to 100%.
3. Iron age bonus is 1.15 if in the Iron or Steel Age. Raising potential fertility to between 11.5%(unirrigated: No Water Table) to 115%(irrigated: Ideal cropland).
4. Crop type modifier for Climate Region. Usually reduces the potential by multiplying the percentage giving in the above Climate Region Rating Table with expected fertility of the crop tile.
5. Percent complete requires that a Farmer or Tender first services the field. Then the field must be periodically revisited to maintain the rate of completion; or suffer a ~50% penalty. Completion% is unlikely to reach 100% as spawning delay, travel time and limited number of initial tending walkers reduces the potential. Just a further reduction in potential yields that can be statistically analyzed in the following Example.

## **General tending numbers**

Farmhouse 40 Wheat Field Example:
Initial spawning and re-spawning of 2 Farmers(loss 4 workdays each on average not considering the extra 2 Farmers re-spawned which will start maintaining higher field completion rate). Assuming the are assigned an unbroken row of 10 fields(12 workdays each cycle(2) lost due to traveling each & another 40 workdays each tending their field assignments). On average that is ~66 workdays before they finished the last field and head back to the Farmhouse. Or 3.3 workdays difference between % completed figure for each field. 4 months for the growing season = 128days of growing days for wheat = .78 % advancement per day. Graphics updating is done on a 2 day cycle(1.56%/cycle[referenced in the game as a 'week' with 16 weeks making up a month{32days}]). Assuming the Haresting is done in the same order as tending. First 2 Wheat fields Harvested may be near 100%, but the last fields intial tended to will be 52%~62%(potential harvesting delays) when harvested. Overall mean completion% for ideal conditions will be about 76%+. Even in the game, 'ideal' is never the norm, so ~70% is a more realistic figure for what is equivalent to a 2 crop farm.
With fewer fields the mean goes up thus yield per field will increase, but total yield may be a little less. This is the balance that needs to be weighed within the players mind.

Is it worth the cost of extra fields for that 1 load of product/year outcome?
Might it be better to shift the cost to an extra production facility which has a better potential of substantive annual yield gains?
## **General harvesting numbers**

Generally, Harvesting is conducted for a 1 month period. The number of harvesters and the delays plays quite a bit in maximum fields its worthwhile to place. If the harvesters can't get to all the fields then you wasted money. Again, let us use the Wheat field for an example.

Farmhouse will spawn 5 harvesting farmers that will service 4 fields each. Easy enough that 20 fields should be harvested without problems. 2 workdays lost on spawning, 8 workdays lost on traveling(minimum), and 4 workdays lost on harvesting time. That's 14 workdays so they should be able to re-spawn and get to most of their assigned fields in the second cycle. Hopefully, the harvesters doubled. Travel distance will be longer lets say double. 22+14 workdays would exceed the 32 day month so lets drop the 4th field and call the 3rd field chancy. 40 fields is OK, 50+fields is chancy and 60+fields would be wasted field placement. This is why a fully populated single crop farmhouse is soo inefficient and wasteful.
## **The calculation**

Most every computer has a calculator program. Use it for the following.

(Fertility%+irrigation%)\*IronAgeBonus\*RegionalMod%\*Completion%\*number of fields = loads of product

1. Estimate your Water Table fertility(Hotkey[T]) using the 'tending numbers' explanation. Its best to use a lower number if unsure. Use the decimal equivalent .65 for 65%.
2. Add 35%(.35) to the Water Table Fertility if all the fields will be irrigated.
3. If the mission is Iron or Steel Age, multiply the result by 1.15.
4. Using the expandable Table at the top of the page, find the Crop and cross referenced to the Climate Region of the mission. If your unsure there are ways to figure it out(see the note below). There is given a percentage for you to use in the next step.
5. Multiply by the Regional modifier percentage(.##).
6. In the following sections you will find "completion%". Use the lowest number given that applies to your farm and shed setup. Multiply by that %(.##).
7. Multiply by the number of fields of the crop type in the farm or shed.
8. The result is the number of loads of the product. (1 load = 100units) in case you didn't know and want to convert to units.

NOTE:
What animals are there?
Alligator, Tiger & Pig= Humid
Salamander, Panda & Pheasant= Temperate
Vulture, Bear & Antelope= Arid
You can also use the Empire Map; Your City on DarkGreen= Humid, LightGreen= Temperate & Arid is Beige; this method isn't reliable as designers sometimes ignore this or place them on bordering types. There is also a graphical representation at the top right with your city selected, but its difficult to distinguish Humid and Temperate.
## **Farmhouse**

A Farmhouse can support up to 69 fields. Divided equally between the available Food Type fields and considering Climate Rating and Season order differences field placement can compensate for any expected imbalance. Shifting a few fields to an expected lower annual yielder is common practice.

*2 types: 34~35 fields*
Better then the inefficiency of single crop farms. Harvesting Farmers have a good chance to gather all fields. Easy to split the crops to either side of the connecting roadway. 60%-70% mean completion% is normal.

*3 types: 23 fields*
Tending Farmers will return to the building quicker, but travel time to some crop areas may be increased. The travel time can be compensated by utilizing late season crop types in the farther locale, when more tending Farmers will likely be available. 65%~75% mean completion% is normal for front side crops, expect ~10% less for farther back side crop.

*4 types: 17~18 fields*
Tending Farmers will return to the building quicker, but travel time to some crop areas may be increased. The travel time can be compensated by utilizing late season crop types in the farther locale, when more tending Farmers will likely be available. Lower crop type annual yields may require additional facilities. 70%~80% mean completion% is normal for front side crops, expect ~10% less for farther back side crops.

*5 types: 13~14 fields*
Yield per field is high(65[back crops]~75~85% mean completion%) but lower crop type annual yields may require additional facilities. The Food Quality of Tasty and Delicious(requires Spices) only requires 4 Types. Good perhaps in Multi-Mill situations; where the Food Types can be split between Mills to cover shortfalls of Game meat or Fish. Wheat can used for Ancestral maintenance Homages or gifting to a Neighbor City; to reduce the idol deliverymen guarding the Wheat.
See Emperor: Commodities#Commodity Order for details about the Wheat issue.

## **Farm & Shed quick facts**

Emperor: Ministry Tabs/ Agriculture/ Hemp Farm: (8x8=57)(8x7=49)

OK=32+Fields, Chancy=40+Fields & Wasted=48+Fields

*Suggested*: Front 7 rows minus 4 corners(45fields).

If irrigation is used, 1 additional back row field could be removed so the front row is irrigated.
Completion% mean 70%~80%; higher due to tending only 8 fields, doubling tending workers quicker then Farmhouse.

Emperor: Ministry Tabs/ Agriculture/ Lacquer Refinery: (8x8=57)(6x6=29)

OK=21+Fields, Chancy=24+Fields & Wasted=27+Fields

Long growing season & 2 month harvest season extends potential somewhat.

*Suggested*: Front 6 rows(6columns) minus 2 back corners(27fields), when 3 columns of Overlapping Fields used setup effectively becomes 23Fields so only one back row field need be removed(24fields).

If irrigation is used, a back corner should be used for an irrigation ditch so the front row is irrigated. 6 rows are essential so the walkers can navigate around the Refinery unhampered by longer travel times.
 Completion% mean 50%~60%, because Shed Tending Tenders spend 8days at each Field.

Emperor: Ministry Tabs/ Agriculture/ Silkworm Shed & Emperor: Ministry Tabs/ Agriculture/ Tea Curing Shed: (8x8=57)(5x5=18)

Special Situation where tenders only have 2 months(18 fields) and harvesters have one month(2 spawn cycles=18fields). A few more fields may net an extra load but it isn't worth it IMO. Build an extra Silkworm Shed if quantity is needed. Overlapping does OK, but tends to increase travel time, so is unadvised.
There are 4&6 row designs that may work better for irrigation or your situation.
 Completion% mean ~40%(Tea is ~50% due to the extra grow/harvest cycle), because Shed Tending Tenders spend 8days at each Field and short grow/harvest/grow/harvest cycle.

With luck, up to 27 Fields(not recommended) might work for you due to multi-harvesting. Tending walkers may get to 27 fields during the growing months but last harvesting cycle won't get to some fields. You have to 'gamble' on walker behaviors as influenced by your building and field placement methodologies.

Note: Some have shown that as much as doubling the fields recommended here for Silkworm and Tea sheds can net enough product to seemingly make it worthwhile with the bonus of no additional employees. In the full context they are correct due to the multi-harvest significance. I point out that employment shouldn't be the focus and more product could be produced per field with the correct building:field ratio. Its up the player to make the final decisions as to what methodology is significant to them.