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This article is about the building in Age of Empires II. For the building in other games of the series, see Farm.

A renewable source of food. Provides a limited amount of food before it goes fallow and must be rebuilt.
Age of Empires II description

The Farm is an economic building in Age of Empires II. It provides a base amount of 175 food. With all farming upgrades researched, a generic Farm provides 550 food in the Imperial Age.

Tactics and placement[]

Farming anim aoe2de

Farms may only be gathered from by one Villager at a time. Farms are very weak and do not hinder movements of friendly or enemy troops. If a Farm is not currently being tended, another player's Villager can capture it by simply starting to gather from it themselves. Farms can be automatically reseeded if they are queued in the Mill.

Farmmilltc

Ideally, eight Farms should be built around Town Centers and Mills like this

Farms should always be placed right next to Town Centers or Mills/Folwarks, in order to keep the walking distances of the Villagers as short as possible. The Poles should prioritize building Farms around a Folwark, due to instant collection ability. The Khmer may build Farms around their House to combine their bonus of farmers not needing a drop site and Villagers garrisoning in Houses. The Georgians can improve their farming rate by 10% by placing Farms near a Fortified Church.

Farms that are built before upgrades (e.g. Horse Collar) are researched do not gain the food bonus. If the research is completed while a Farm is being built, the food bonus applies to that Farm. Villagers building a Farm drop off any resource they are holding at the Farm once it is built (not only food, but also wood, gold, and stone). The Khmer can use this feature to good effect, because their farmers do not need drop-off sites.

Farms have an inherent work rate of 0.4 food per second. This means they will produce 0.4 food per second upon being seeded and will add it up in their "storage", from which Villagers can gather food. This becomes essential if the farm is worked non-stop after being seeded, as typically Villagers' work rate exceeds Farms' work rate after Hand Cart is researched (Aztecs and to a lesser degree Khmer hit this farm-rate cap upon researching Wheelbarrow). This ultimately results into similar food production (0.4 food per second per farmer) for all civilizations (except for Slavs) in a Post-Imperial scenario, even though, for example, Mayans have their farmers' work rate reduced to 81% of a generic civilization. Slavs' farms have their work rate multiplied by x1.15 in addition to their Villagers' work rate multiplied by ×1.28 which allows them to have ~15% higher farming rates in most circumstances.

Comparison to the Fish Trap[]

Farmers gather relatively faster from Farms than Fishing Ships gather from Fish Traps, however up until the late Imperial Age they are less effective cost-wise (also considering that Fishing Ships themselves cost wood). The actual gathering speed between them may vary due to traffic between gatherers and actual Farm/Fish Trap placement.

Building Overall food provided Food generated per wood
Farm 175 2.92
Farm + Horse Collar 250 4.17
Farm + Heavy Plow 375 6.25
Farm + Crop Rotation 550 9.17
Fish Trap 715 7.15

Farm (re-)seed time[]

Basic farm re-seed time is 15 seconds (×1.0 game speed). Treadmill Crane and Spanish civilization bonus speed up the re-seeding process.

Build rate bonus[note 1] Time
None 15
Treadmill Crane 12.5
Spanish civilization bonus 11.5

In comparison, Fish Traps have a construction/'re-seed' time of 40 seconds. It is decreased to 32 seconds with Gillnets and is also affected by the Japanese civilization bonus (both stack multiplicatively together, up to ~26.7 sec construction time for Japanese in the Imperial Age).

Upgrades[]

Food amount HorseCollarDE Horse Collar (+75, +169 for the Sicilians)
HeavyPlowDE Heavy Plow (+125, +281 for the Sicilians)
CropRotationDE Crop Rotation (+175, +394 for the Sicilians)
Construction speed TreadmillCraneDE Treadmill Crane (+20%)

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of Kings[]

AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors[]

  • CivIcon-Mayans Mayans: The food on Farms lasts 20% longer.

AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten[]

  • CivIcon-Mayans Mayans: The food on Farms lasts 15% longer.
  • CivIcon-Slavs Slavs: Farmers intended to work 15% faster.

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

  • CivIcon-Malians Malians: Initially, Farms are 15% cheaper. With patch 4.8, the wood bonus no longer applies to Farms.
  • CivIcon-Slavs Slavs: Farmers correctly work 15–18% faster.

AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the Rajas[]

  • Farms built on the 'Mangrove Shallows' terrain automatically become Rice Farms, which have identical stats.

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

AoE2Icon-LordsWest Lords of the West[]

Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the Dukes[]

AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India[]

AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals The Mountain Royals[]

  • CivIcon-Slavs Slavs: Farmers work 15% faster.

History[]

The technology of farming was carried forward into the Middle Ages and improved. Northern European soils were often rich glacial deposits hidden under dense forests. Over the course of the Middle Ages, much of this land was cleared and converted into farms. Key technology improvements in farming were the improved horse harness, the heavy plow, and crop rotation. The new horse harness did not choke the animal and increased pulling power. The heavy plow could cut into the dense soils. Farms in Europe were largely communal affairs where each family received the produce of several rows in the field. The production of some rows went directly to the local lord as his rent.

Trivia[]

  • Farms are the only buildings visible to opponents when their foundations are placed (at 1 hit point). This makes them prone to enemy attacks, and any single attack at this point destroys them, which is a loss of 60 wood for the player.
  • The Mayans with a Chinese ally extract most food out of a farm (with the exception of the Sicilians), that is 550 * 1.1 * 1.15 food = 696 food after all Mill upgrades are researched, which makes it quite comparable to non-Malay Fish Traps.
  • The Sicilians with a Chinese ally have the farms with the largest amount of food, with a total of 1,130 with all farm upgrades researched.
  • The Teutons with a Chinese ally have the most cost effective Farms (with the exception of the Sicilians), producing 16.8 food/wood after all Mill upgrades are researched.
  • Byzantine Farms have the highest hit points among all Farms, because Farms are not affected by Masonry/Architecture, but are affected by their civilization bonus.
  • Farms (and Fish Traps) are the only buildings which can be repaired by Monks (and Missionaries), but only Monks of the same player owning the Farm or Fish Trap (not allies'). In the case of Farms, it still costs the same amount of wood to repair the same amount of damage, but one Monk can repair the Farm several times faster than one Villager, and from their healing range. Monks do not start repairing the player's Farms automatically, unlike healing nearby allied units.
  • Prior to update 50292, Villagers would only walk in a 2x2 square, which meant that the farmers would not walk in any of the tiles adjacent to the top-right or bottom-right edges. Therefore, placing Farms to the right side of the Town Center or Mill first used to be slightly more efficient, as it reduced walking time. Now, the square is centered in the middle of the farm.

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  1. Build rate modifiers have an inverse effect on build time (e. g.: ×1.2 build rate modifier (Treadmill Crane) multiplies the construction time by 1/1.2 = 0.833…).
Buildings in Age of Empires II
Civilian buildings
EconomicTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center · Dock aoe2de Dock · Fish trap aoe2DE Fish Trap · Mill aoe2de Mill · FarmDE Farm · Market aoe2DE Market · Lumber camp aoe2de Lumber Camp · Mining camp aoe2de Mining Camp · Feitoria aoe2DE Feitoria · Folwark Folwark · Ao2de caravanserai icon Caravanserai · AoE2 MuleCart Mule Cart
ResearchBlacksmith aoe2de Blacksmith · University AoE2 DE University
ReligiousAoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church · MonasteryAoe2DE Monastery
MiscellaneousHouse aoe2DE House · Wonder aoe2DE Wonder
Military buildings
ProductionBarracks aoe2DE Barracks · Archery range aoe2DE Archery Range · Stable aoe2DE Stable · Siege workshop aoe2DE Siege Workshop · Dock aoe2de Dock
Fortified productionCastle aoe2DE Castle · Harbor aoe2de Harbor · Krepost icon updated Krepost · Aoe2-icon-donjon Donjon
TowerTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center · AoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church · Outpost aoe2de Outpost · Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Watch Tower · Guard Tower icon AoE2DE Guard Tower · Keep icon AoE2DE Keep · Bombard tower aoe2DE Bombard Tower
WallPalisade wall aoe2de Palisade Wall · Palisade gate aoe2DE Palisade Gate · Stone wall aoe2de Stone Wall · Gate aoe2de Gate · Fortified wall aoe2de Fortified Wall · Gate aoe2de Fortified Gate
Scenario Editor buildings
AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of KingsBridge · MonasteryAoe2DE Cathedral · Wonder aoe2DE Dome of the Rock · Pyramid aoe2DE Great Pyramid · MonasteryAoe2DE Mosque · Pavilion big icon AoE2DE Pavilion · Pyramid aoe2DE Pyramid · Accursed tower aoe2DE The Accursed Tower · Accursed tower aoe2DE The Tower of Flies · Market aoe2DE Trade Workshop · Yurt thatch big aoe2DE Yurt
AoE2-DLCicon-1 The ConquerorsWonder aoe2DE Monument · SeaGateDE Sea Gate · Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Sea Tower · Sea Wall icon AoE2DE Sea Wall
AoE2-DLCicon-2 The ForgottenAmphitheatre aoe2DE Amphitheatre · Aqueduct aoe2DE Aqueduct · Wonder aoe2DE Arch of Constantine · Fortified wall aoe2de City Wall · Amphitheatre aoe2DE Colosseum · Keep icon AoE2DE Fire Tower · Palisade wall aoe2de Fortified Palisade Wall · Castle aoe2DE Fortress · Castle aoe2DE Poenari Castle · Wonder aoe2DE Quimper Cathedral · MonasteryAoe2DE Temple of Heaven · Wooden Bridge
AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African KingdomsBarricade aoe2DE Barricade · Fence aoe2DE Fence · Accursed tower aoe2DE Fortified Tower · 2de granary new icon Granary · Hut small aoe2DE Hut · Wondericon Palace (removed) · Aoe2de storage icon new Storage · Tent small aoe2DE Tent
AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the RajasTent army small aoe2DE Army Tent · Wonder aoe2DE Gol Gumbaz · Wonder aoe2DE Sanchi Stupa
AoE2-DLCicon-5 The Last KhansWonder aoe2DE Aachen Cathedral · Chain aoe2DE Chain · Gate aoe2de City Gate · Wonder aoe2DE Dormition Cathedral · Wonder aoe2DE Rock Church · Wonder aoe2DE Sankore Madrasah · MonasteryAoe2DE Shrine · Wonder aoe2DE Tower of London
Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the DukesAoe2de pagan shrine icon Pagan Shrine
AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of IndiaWonder aoe2DE Minaret of Jam
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