Before you start
5 things to know
- Plant in the right month. The wrong month can curse a plant. Chapter 5
- Fertilize once per growth stage. A second dose hurts and a third can kill. Chapter 8
- Get the 2 farming magazines before your first crop gets sick. Chapter 9
- Garlic, onion, leek, rosemary and marigold protect the plants beside them. Chapter 9
- Fence the plot. Zombies trample crops they walk through. Chapter 10
Chapter 1
Farming in Build 42
In old versions, a farm was a timer. Plant, wait, eat. In Build 42, a farm is a calendar. Plant in the wrong month and the crop is cursed.
The skill was renamed from Farming to Agriculture. It now has around 55 crops, real planting seasons, plant health, weeds, curses and 4 diseases. It is harder. It is also the best long-term food in the game.
Seasons
Every crop has good months and bad months. Wrong month means slow growth, a curse, or death.
Plant health
A hidden score that rises with care and falls with drought, cold, bad months and weeds.
New crops
Corn, peas, garlic, barley, flax, hemp, hops, rye, sugar beet, sunflowers, tobacco, hot peppers and herbs.
The farming loop
- DigTrowel or shovel makes a furrow.
- SowSeeds in the right month.
- WaterNever let it run dry.
- WatchWeeds, bugs, mildew.
- HarvestThe only step that gives XP.
- Save seedsNext year's crop.
Why it matters
Cans run out. Animals need feeding. A farm is the only food source that grows itself from a handful of seeds.
Chapter 2
Build your farmer
What each Agriculture level gives you, and who starts with it.
What the skill does, per level
- Lower chance a crop gets cursed in a Poor Month, 5% per level.
- Higher chance of bonus yield in a best month or with fertilizer, 5% per level.
- +1 starting health for every plant.
- Disease drops faster when treated.
- A chance of extra crops at harvest: 10% per level. At level 5 it is a 50% chance of 5 extra.
- More information when you inspect a plant: the growth stage at level 2, diseases at 3, a water bar at 4, and time to the next stage at 6.
Farmer (job)
Starts with Agriculture and knows how to craft disease cures. The natural pick.
Gardener (trait, 2 points)
+1 Agriculture and the cure recipes. Cheap and good on any character.
Park Ranger (job)
No farming levels, but great at foraging the seeds and herbs a farm needs.
Fast Learner (trait)
130% XP. Handy, because farming XP is slow.
Watch out: point costs change
The game makers still tune traits and jobs. Always read the numbers on your own character screen.
Agriculture is a normal skill with 5 books at 3, 5, 8, 12 and 16 times XP. Life and Living has a farming show for the first 3 levels.
Chapter 3
Tools and seeds
Farming needs 3 things: something to dig with, something to plant, and something to water with.
Digging tool
Gardening trowel, shovel, spade, garden hoe or garden fork. Digging with bare hands can injure your hand.
Seeds
Seed packets from sheds, farms, supermarkets and garden shops. Loose seeds from harvested crops and from foraging.
Watering can
The standard. A backpack sprayer is a big upgrade for large farms. Any water container works in a pinch.
Spray can
Needed to craft disease cures.
Watch out: plant bag seeds, not dried junk
Some seed-like items are food, not seeds. Read the item name. If it does not say seeds, it will not grow.
Secret: foraging gives seeds
Crops found with the Crops focus on farmland can come with seeds. See the Foraging guide.
Chapter 4
Plant a plot, step by step
From bare ground to a green row.
Dig a furrow
Right-click a patch of dirt or grass with a digging tool in your inventory. Choose Dig Furrow. One furrow holds one plant. On default settings you can only dig furrows at ground level. The sandbox option is called Farms not on Ground Level.
Sow the seeds
Right-click the furrow. Choose the seed. Check the month first. Chapter 5 explains why.
Water it
Right-click the plant with a watering can. Fill the can from any water source first.
Inspect it often
Right-click the plant and choose Info. It tells you how watered the plant is. Higher skill adds the growth stage, diseases and a water bar. Look every day.
Harvest
When the plant reaches its harvest stage, right-click and harvest. You get the crop and Agriculture XP. Wait for the Blooming stage to get seeds too.
Secret: the seed packet knows the season
Read a seed packet and its planting months appear in your Discovered Recipes and Media page. Check there before you sow.
Chapter 5
The calendar: months matter
This is the big change. Every crop has best months and bad months. The wrong month can curse a plant.
Best month
Higher starting health. A chance of bonus yield.
Normal month
Grows fine.
Bad month
Out of season, the plant is always cursed. In a Poor Month it is a 55% chance at level 0. Cursed plants grow badly and get sick more.
The full table is around 55 crops long and lives on the official wiki. A few examples players lean on:
| Crop | Good to know |
|---|---|
| Cabbage | Fast, filling, the classic stew crop. |
| Potato | Hardy and calorie-heavy. |
| Carrot and onion | Best month is February. Carrot also likes June. March is a Poor Month for onion. |
| Corn | New. Big yields in summer. Also trap bait. |
| Garlic, onion, leek, rosemary, marigold | Aphids leave them alone. From stage 3 they keep aphids off the plants next to them. Nothing stops mildew. |
| Hemp and flax | Not food. They become rope, twine and cloth. |
Watch out: winter kills most crops
Cold months are bad months for nearly everything. Plant in spring and summer. Harvest and jar in autumn. Rest in winter.
Secret: some crops shrug off bad months if they are big enough
A few crops, like carrot and kale, have a "hardy" growth stage. Once past it, a bad month no longer curses it. Winter cold still can. Plant early enough and the crop outgrows the danger.
Chapter 6
Water
Too little water costs health. Let the soil run dry and the plant dies. Extra water is just wasted.
- Inspect the plant. The Info window says how watered it is, from Parched to Well watered. At level 4 you also get a water bar.
- Water when it is low. Stop when it is full.
- Rain waters outdoor plants for free.
- Plants in a greenhouse or under a roof get no rain. You water them.
Secret: the rain collector is a farm tool
A Carpentry 3 rain collector next to the plot means you never walk to the river. See the Carpentry guide.
Secret: drought fights aphids
Letting a plant dry out on purpose lowers aphids by a little every few hours. It is a rough cure when you have no spray.
Chapter 7
Plant health and the moon
Every plant has a hidden health score. It decides how much you harvest, and whether it survives.
Starting health
A new plant starts around 50 health. Sown in its best month, it starts around 57 to 63. A cursed plant starts around 37 to 43. Each Agriculture level adds 1.
Old guides say the moon phase changes this. In the current game files the moon code is switched off. The moon does not matter now.
What changes health after that
Raises it
- Right water level
- Best month, at sowing
- Fertilizer or compost, once per stage
- No weeds
Lowers it
- Drought
- Bad months and cold
- Weeds
- Too much fertilizer
Secret: wait for the month, not the moon
A best month plot starts about 10 health ahead of a normal month. That is free yield. Wait for the best month if you can.
Sowing day odds
Built from the numbers in this guide. Approximate.
Chapter 8
Fertilizer and compost
Fertilizer is a boost with a bite. Use it once per growth stage. Never spam it.
| Dose of chemical fertilizer, in one growth stage | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1st | Cuts growth time, +10 health if the plant is still growing, and a chance of bonus yield |
| 2nd | −25 health |
| 3rd or more | Curses the plant and keeps damaging it. Can kill it. |
Compost
Build a composter at Carpentry 3. Feed it rotten food. It makes compost. Compost gives one fertilizer-style boost per growth stage, and it can never hurt the plant. Animal manure works too.
Watch out: "more fertilizer, bigger plant" is false
A second dose in the same growth stage hurts. A third can kill. One per stage.
Secret: the rotten food loop
Nothing in the kitchen is wasted. Rotten food goes in the composter. Compost goes on the crops. Crops go in the pot. Leftovers rot. Repeat.
Chapter 9
Diseases and cures
4 diseases. Each rolls when a plant enters a new growth stage. Catch them early or lose the plant.
The base chance is small, about 1 in 200 per stage for a well-watered plant. A thirsty plant gets sick more. Weeds or a curse double it. Bonus yield halves it. Untreated disease rises every few hours. Mildew at 60 or more kills the plant at its next stage. Aphids and slugs shrink the harvest. Flies make the soil dry faster.
| Disease | Cure |
|---|---|
| Mildew | Spray can plus milk |
| Pest flies | Spray can plus tobacco |
| Aphids | Spray can plus rubbing alcohol. Or let the plant dry out. |
| Slugs | Slug repellent. Loot only. Cannot be crafted. |
Watch out: you must know the recipes
Farmer and Gardener know the cures. Everyone else needs 2 magazines: Kentucky Farmer June 1993 (mildew) and May 1993 (flies and aphids). Agriculture 6 also teaches them. Get them before your first crop, not after it gets sick.
Secret: plant a bodyguard
Garlic, onion, leek, rosemary and marigold never get aphids. From growth stage 3 they keep aphids off the plants beside them. Some also stop flies or slugs. Nothing stops mildew. Put one every few furrows.
Secret: grow your own cures
Tobacco is a crop now. Grow a row and you never run out of fly spray.
Chapter 10
Weeds, zombies and fences
Things that eat your farm besides you.
- Weeds appear on their own. They lower health and double disease chance. Right-click and remove them.
- Zombies trample crops when they walk through. Fence the plot, or put it somewhere they cannot reach.
- Slugs and pests come with the seasons. Rosemary helps keep them off.
Secret: the rooftop farm
On default settings you cannot farm on a roof. Furrows only go on ground level. A server with Farms not on Ground Level turned on lets you pour dirt on a flat roof and farm there. The game warns this can slow it down.
Secret: a greenhouse room
On default settings, crops inside a building slowly die. The sandbox option is called Kill Crops Grown Inside. Real greenhouses on the map are safe. You must water by hand there.
Chapter 11
Harvest and seeds for next year
Harvest is the payoff, and the only step that gives XP.
- Harvest at the harvest stage. Wait too long and the plant rots.
- Harvest at the Blooming stage to get seeds, or extra crops to take seeds from. Keep some every time.
- Yield rises with plant health, best month, fertilizer and your skill.
- XP is about half the plant's health, plus 25 if you cared for it well, minus 15 if you did not.
Secret: sunflower heads become seeds
Dry a sunflower head on a plant drying rack and it gives 10 seeds. Drying racks come from Carpentry.
Watch out: only your own plants give XP
Harvesting a friend's crop gives food but no Agriculture XP. Plant your own.
Chapter 12
Training plan: 0 to 10
Only harvesting gives XP. So the plan is: many small, healthy plots, harvested often.
Levels 0 to 3: TV, books, cabbages
Read Agriculture I. Watch the farming show. Plant a fast crop in its best month. Water it right. Harvest. Every harvest is XP, and healthy plants give more.
Levels 3 to 6: rows of fast crops
Read II and III. Plant 10 or more furrows of quick crops. Fertilize once. Weed daily. Harvest in waves. Bonus yield rolls more often now.
Levels 6 to 10: the full farm
Read IV and V. Grow the slow, valuable crops. Grow tobacco for cures and hemp for rope. Keep guard plants in every row.
Secret: health is XP
XP is tied to plant health at harvest. A perfectly tended plant is worth many times a neglected one. Care is the grind.
Level by level: Agriculture
The best single thing to do at each level. Read the matching book first when one exists.
| Level | Do this for most of your XP | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 1 | Watch the farming show. Read Agriculture I. Harvest a cabbage row | Only harvesting gives XP |
| 1 to 2 | 10 furrows of a fast crop in its best month | Plant health at harvest sets XP |
| 2 to 3 | Sow in the best month, one fertilizer dose | Higher health, more XP per plant |
| 3 to 4 | Read Agriculture II. Weed daily, water right | Care is the grind |
| 4 to 5 | 20 furrows in waves, staggered by a few days | Harvests every day |
| 5 to 6 | Read Agriculture III. Grow tobacco and guard plants | Fewer sick plants, more harvests |
| 6 to 7 | Slow valuable crops now: corn, potatoes | Bigger plants, bigger yields |
| 7 to 8 | Read Agriculture IV. Fenced farm at full scale | Zombies stop eating your XP |
| 8 to 9 | Save seeds, replant same day | No downtime between harvests |
| 9 to 10 | Read Agriculture V. Two full seasons | Winter is a forced rest |
Planting day checklist
Before you dig
At the plot
For later
Your ticks are saved in this browser, on this device only.
Chapter 13
Tips, tricks and fixes
20 tips from the field
Setting up
- Take Gardener. 2 points for the cure recipes.
- Read the seed packet. It tells you the months.
- Dig with a tool, never your hands.
- Put the plot next to a rain collector.
- Fence it. Zombies trample crops.
Growing
- Plant in the best month.
- Wait for the month, not the moon.
- Fertilize once per growth stage. Never twice.
- Inspect every plant every day.
- Pull weeds the moment they appear.
- Water to the line, not past it.
- Plant garlic or rosemary as bodyguards.
- Grow tobacco for fly spray.
Harvest and beyond
- Harvest on time.
- Keep seeds from every crop.
- Compost every rotten thing.
- Jar the surplus. See the Cooking guide.
- Dry sunflower heads for seeds.
- Rest the farm in winter.
- Only your own harvests give XP.
Fix-it table
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing grows. | Wrong month, or the item is not a seed. | Check the packet's months. Plant real seeds. |
| The plant is cursed. | Planted in a bad month. | Harvest what you can. Replant in a good month. |
| The plant is wilting. | Thirsty. | Inspect it. Water it. |
| White spots or bugs. | Mildew, flies, aphids or slugs. | Craft the cure and spray. Slugs need loot repellent. |
| I cannot craft the cure. | Recipe not known. | Farmer, Gardener, the 2 Kentucky Farmer magazines, or Agriculture 6. |
| The plant died after fertilizer. | Too many doses. | One dose per growth stage. |
| Zombies flattened my crops. | No fence. | Fence the plot. |
| I get no XP. | Not your plant, or not harvested yet. | Plant and harvest your own. |
| Everything died in winter. | Cold is a bad month for most crops. | Plan for spring. Jar autumn crops. |
| Low yield. | Low plant health. | Best month, water, weeding, one fertilizer per stage. |
Chapter 14
Farmer's test
7 questions. Get them all right and you can feed a village.
Chapter 15
Words and sources
Farmer's word list
- Agriculture
- The Build 42 name for the Farming skill.
- Furrow
- A dug strip of dirt that holds one plant.
- Sow
- Planting seeds.
- Best month, bad month
- The months a crop loves or hates.
- Curse
- A penalty from planting in a bad month.
- Plant health
- The hidden score that decides yield and survival.
- Bonus yield
- Extra harvest from a lucky roll.
- Compost
- Rotten food turned into fertilizer.
- Mildew, aphids, pest flies, slugs
- The 4 plant diseases.
- Guard plant
- A crop that keeps pests off its neighbors.
- Harvest stage
- The growth stage when the crop is ready.
How sure are we?
Every fact here was checked in September 2026. We checked the game files for version 42.21.0. Order of trust: the official wiki, then well-sourced fan guides, then player reports.
- Skill effects per level, XP rules and the rename. Confirmed on the official wiki.
- Moon phase health ranges, fertilizer dose effects, disease chances and cures. From fan guides citing the official wiki's 42.18 page. Numbers are approximate.
- The crop list. Around 55 crops. This guide gives examples only. The full table is on the official wiki.
- Carrot and onion months. A fan guide said March. The game files say February is their best month.
- Job and trait values. May change.
- Checked against the game files (42.21.0). Starting health, curse and bonus chances, fertilizer, compost, diseases, cures, guard plants, digging tools, XP and yield. The moon code is switched off, so the moon does not change starting health.
Sources
- PZwiki (the official wiki): Agriculture
- Build42guide.wiki farming page (diseases, cures, guard plants, new crops), citing PZwiki's 42.18 Agriculture page
- PZfans farming guide (moon phase health, fertilizer doses, harvest XP formula)
- Guides-factory agriculture guide, cross-checked against the wiki (seasons, tools, seed packets)
- Bamboo Gaming farming database for 42.20.4 (crop count, rooftop farming)
- XGamingServer farming guide (Farmer and Gardener cure recipes)