Managing The Food Supply

Jamie's Food Tips: The Banished have to eat!

by Jamie Ramsey of the Banished Nation Guild

1. One of the contributors to your Banished settlers health and happiness is a balanced diet. It is best to have a mixture of many food types. So don't just plant endless fields of taters!

2. Crops grow at different rates. Beans are the fastest growing!

3. Frosts during the Autumn and Winter will damage/destroy unharvested crops so make sure that you have enough farmers to clear those fields before Jack Frost takes his share of your crops!

4. Some crops are more effected by frost than others. It appears that squash are hardier!

5. Farms are the most efficient food producers, but hunters, gathers, fishermen provide food year round instead of just at harvest time.

6. Except to add variety to your Banished diet chickens are worthless. Sheep and Cattle not only provide food, but leather and wool!

7. The leather and wool from your pastures can be used for Warm Coats, which make excellent trade goods. Beef and Mutton can also be traded for 3 times the food ie 1 Mutton = 3 Wheat at the trade port!

8. Always have a food surplus. The more the better.

List of Acquired Seeds and Livestock

Although you start off with a couple of seeds to plant fields, you'll need to buy the rest of the seeds from a Trader. In all there are eight types of trees, eight types of crops and three types of livestock.

Seeds for Orchards
Apple, Cherry, Chestnut, Peach, Pear, Pecan, Plum, Walnut

Seeds for Fields 
Beans, Cabbage, Corn, Pepper, Potato, Pumpkin, Squash, Wheat

Livestock for Pastures
Cattle, Chickens, Sheep

All of the seeds cost 2500.

Efficient Farming Layouts

by Jamie Ramsey of the Banished Nation Guild:

The Pasture/Orchard Rectangle

This efficient Banished farming layout has:

2 - 20 x 20 Pastures (2 workers for each pasture, 4 total)

2 - 10 x 14 Orchards (2 workers for each orchard, 4 total)

4 - Houses (room for 8 workers)

The Field Square

This layout has:

6 - 8 x 14 fields (2 workers for each field, 12 total) 

6 - Houses (12 workers total)

Each field is 8 by 14 and each house in the center faces a single 2 person field. This allows for maximum efficiency!

Farming - The Ideal Crop Size

Ideal Field Sizes

Each farmer can handle a field grid up to 56 in area.

In the table below, I've calculated out the area of each field. The x and y axis represent the length of each side of the field. The number in the box represents the area provided. The colors represent the number of workers needed to maintain the field.   Given that each worker can maintain a field area up to 56 , some field sizes are more efficient than others. For instance, a field size of 6 x 10 (60) would require two workers. However since two workers are capable of maintaining an area up to 112, it would be an inefficient choice. You'd be much better off using an 8 x 14 (112).  For each of the four colors (green, blue, purple, pink) the boxes with the darker shades are less efficient and should be avoided. The boxes with lighter shades are the more efficent field sizes for the amount of workers.

Field Grid Efficiency
	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
4	16	20	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	52	56	60
5		25	30	35	40	45	50	55	60	65	70	75
6			36	42	48	54	60	66	72	78	84	90
7				49	56	63	70	77	84	91	98	105
8					64	72	80	88	96	104	112	120
9						81	90	99	108	117	126	135
10							100	110	120	130	140	150
11								121	132	143	154	165
12									144	156	168	180
13										169	182	195
14											196	210
15												225
1 Worker =  Green						Darker Colors = Less Efficient
2 Workers = Blue						Lighter Colors = More Efficient
3 Workers = Purple						Red = Ideal Sizes
4 Workers = Pink
Ideal Sizes
1 Worker: 7 x 8 / 4 x 14
2 Workers: 8 x 14
3 Workers: 12 x 14
4 Workers: 15 x 15

Ideal Orchard Sizes
Each farmer can handle an orchard grid up to 72 in area.

Orchard Grid Efficiency
	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
4	16	20	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	52	56	60
5		25	30	35	40	45	50	55	60	65	70	75
6			36	42	48	54	60	66	72	78	84	90
7				49	56	63	70	77	84	91	98	105
8					64	72	80	88	96	104	112	120
9						81	90	99	108	117	126	135
10							100	110	120	130	140	150
11								121	132	143	154	165
12									144	156	168	180
13										169	182	195
14											196	210
15												225
1 Worker = Green						Darker Colors = Less Efficient
2 Workers = Blue						Lighter Colors = More Efficient
3 Workers = Purple						Red = Ideal Sizes
Ideal Sizes
1 Worker: 8 x 9 / 6 x 12
2 Workers: 12 x 12
3 Workers: 15 x 15