Farming Simulator 22: The Easiest Ways To Make Money Quickly (2024)

If you’re new to Farming Simulator 22, you may find starting out to be an overwhelming experience. Everything from picking your first crops, your equipment, and how to layout your farm can seem confusing. More importantly, you may find that expenses can deplete your start-up funds in no time.

Your initial $100,000 will feel like millions - until you look at the price ranges of tractors and harvesters. Before you spend everything in the bank, however, you’ll want to look at the factors that can start pulling in money in the shortest amount of time.

Updated July 10, 2023, by Rebecca Timberlake: Trying to save your borrowed funds while turning a decent profit in Farming Simulator 22 is easier said than done, but if you find yourself exhausting the obvious money-making schemes (or unable to execute them depending on your farm), there are a few more ways that can help stretch your dollar through the season.

12 Buy Fields That Already Have Crops Growing On Them

You might be able to acquire a farm with crops already growing on the land. If you can do this, you'll start with a shorter timetable on crops, which in turn allows you to gain a complete profit at the very start of your farming adventure.

The main thing to focus on if you take this approach is ensuring that the land will be friendly with your intended crops - not just whatever is growing when you buy it.

You'll also have more time to spend figuring out the animals and equipment you need or want, along with the funds to buy outright instead of leasing (if that's what you choose to do).

11 Equipment Management

Don't be afraid to lease your equipment, either indefinitely or just while starting out. Unless you absolutely know you'll use a machine year-round, or with multiple crops, you’re likely wasting precious money buying brand-new equipment for your farm.

If you have purchased equipment and find you don't need it anymore, you can always sell it. Although selling your used tractors and machinery won't get you back what you spent, it will free up space on your farm for something you do need while getting you at least a fraction of your cash back.

10 Farmhands

When you hire employees for your farm, they arrive preset to buy any equipment they need to complete a task – regardless of whether you already have it on the farm, or if you'd rather lease versus buy. Not only will they make purchases, they do so without consulting you first, meaning you'll hemorrhage money before you realize where it went.

To avoid employees signing off on major purchases, change their settings to limit their AI. This is an important step even if you aren't just starting out or low on funds because they continue to work and incur expenses even without you in-game.

9 Focus On Sheep And Wool

While it's a no-brainer that a farm needs animals as much as it needs crops, not all animals are created equal. Since you can start up your own manufacturing in Farming Simulator 22 and effectively cut out the middle man, having animals around that you can use for your fabric and textile business is a must.

Collecting wool from the sheep is just as lucrative as cotton in the clothing world, especially if you get it up and running before winter hits. There are a few ways to keep the sheep on your farm, but if you have it in the budget to build them a barn, they'll breed - producing more sources of wool in the long run for less upfront fees.

8 Chickens

Chickens are cheap to get - setting you back 50 dollars each - and are low-maintenance animals to have on your farm. You’ll have to invest a bit more in them because they have low health and won’t produce eggs right away, but once you have their stats up they’ll bring in a solid starting income.

You can sell eggs at the farmers’ market, much like real life, or you can set up a supply chain with local fast-food restaurants. Either option provides you with a constant supply of customers, so getting a few chickens at the start of your game will turn a profit fairly quickly.

7 Contracts

Obviously, you’ll want to make sure all of your daily tasks are out of the way for your own farm first, but if you find you have some spare daylight, pick up some side gigs. As with reality, a good side hustle will keep you from worrying too much about finances, and there’s always someone who needs an extra set of hands.

As you build your farm you’ll have less and less time for contract work, but in the very beginning, it will provide you with a cushion while you’re spending your savings on crops and equipment.

6 Cotton

Probably the most important crop you can grow on your farm, cotton should be in your top ten list of priorities when setting out. Cotton is extremely valuable as it becomes clothing, fabric, and other types of textiles.

In Farming Simulator 22 you can control your own supply chain, effectively cutting out any middlemen and maximizing your personal profit. This is helpful with all areas of your farm, but the best use is with your cotton crops, as you can process it yourself to sell, and there will always be a demand for clothing.

5 Bees

Having beehives will be beneficial in a couple of ways. First, you can use them for their honey, selling it at the local farmers’ market or other venues like restaurants. You can get started with smaller hives at around 1,000 dollars, but the honey will turn a profit quickly, and you’ll soon be able to use your supply chain to work with cereal companies.

The second reason bees are helpful is they will help with pollination. This means your farm will see a rise in crop production with slightly less effort on your part (but don’t rely solely on the bees, they’re not miracle workers!)

4 The Right Crops

Most of the available crops in Farming Simulator 22 are food-based, with the exception of cotton and grass. You’ll want to get started with growing crops as soon as possible, but not all crops are created equal. Some take longer to grow, some have a larger profit margin, and all have seasons where they aren’t able to grow or be harvested.

Overall, there are 16 crops to choose from, but three food crops are especially profitable - potatoes, canola, and soybeans. Potatoes require the least effort, but if you plan to grow primarily grains, canola is the best of the three.

3 Livestock

When starting your farm, you should consider this: What Would Old MacDonald Do? He’d get cows and pigs, e-i-e-i-o. There are plenty of other animals available, but these two will be your best starters. With pigs, you can use their manure to increase crop growth, or you can sell them off for a considerable chunk that varies based on the breed of pig.

There are beef cows and dairy cows, giving you two avenues for profit, as well as selling them off and using their manure like the pigs. All animals will breed once you have two of a kind that can mate, so the expense is really a one-time thing for each species.

2 Forestry

Farming Simulator 22 allows you to go past the farm and explore the forest. This offers a secondary business of cutting and logging trees that can then be sold in your supply chain for profit.

There are over 20 types of trees available, all with their own values and demands. You can plant trees, as well, if you run out of them naturally. This will require you to have special equipment, which can be costly, but you can lease what you need in the beginning. Once you’re on your feet, you can choose to buy equipment and continue, or end your forestry adventures.

1 Economy

It’s a cliche but it holds up in Farming Simulator 22: you have to spend money to make money. All of the equipment you need for the various aspects of farming can be bought outright or leased. In the beginning, it’s tempting to lease all equipment to save on overhead, but you’ll want to reconsider.

If you know you’re going to be farming grains often and consistently, you’re better off buying the harvesters and seeders needed. However, if you’re only using a crop short-term, there’s really no need to waste the money when you can just lease what you need for the month or two you need it. Knowing what to invest in and when is crucial when shopping for equipment.