Simulate fields, fertility and yield before you farm
Farming is the most-asked-about system in Manor Lords, and it is hard to plan in your head: every harvest drains a field’s soil fertility, a fallow year lets it recover, and the right crop rotation keeps a field productive year after year. This crop rotation planner lets you lay out a multi-year rotation per field and see fertility recover or deplete across the cycle, along with rough yield and food estimates — before you commit fields in-game.
How crop rotation works in Manor Lords
Each field is farmed one crop at a time. Harvesting lowers fertility; resting the field (Fallow) raises it back up. The classic answer is a three-field rotation — Wheat one year, Barley the next, Fallow the third — so every field rests once per cycle and never runs itself into the ground. Planting the same crop two years running on a field drains fertility faster, which the planner flags with a repeat-crop warning.
Wheat, Barley, Rye and Flax
Wheat and Rye feed the grain → flour → bread chain that keeps your people fed; Wheat yields more but is fertility-hungry, while Rye tolerates poorer soil once you unlock Rye Cultivation. Barley feeds malt and ale for your tavern. Flax feeds linen and clothing for trade rather than food. The planner colour-codes each crop and lets you compare rotations side by side, with the output split into grain, ale-barley and flax.
Fertility, fields, families and oxen
Per field you can set the size in morgen, the number of farming families, the number of oxen, and the starting soil fertility. Bigger fields need more labour to plough, sow and harvest inside the season; if the crew is too thin for the field size, the planner warns you and trims the projected yield. Around 0.6 morgen per family is the community-tested sweet spot for a single farmhouse.
How to use the crop rotation planner
- Start from the pre-loaded three-field Wheat / Barley / Fallow rotation.
- Adjust each field’s size, families, oxen and starting fertility in the sidebar.
- Click any cell to change the crop for that field and year; colours update instantly.
- Watch the fertility chart, per-field table and output totals recalculate live.
- Open Rye Cultivation to unlock Rye, or the Advanced panel to tune the estimates.
- Hit “Copy share link” to share your whole plan as a URL.
A note on the numbers
Crop names come straight from the Manor Lords game files, but the game does not publish the underlying farming numbers — base yields, how much each crop depletes fertility, or how fast a fallow year restores it. Every numeric value in this tool is therefore a community estimate or our own estimate, and all of them are editable in the Advanced panel so you can match the current patch. The biggest unknown is the fallow restoration rate; treat the simulation as a directional planning aid, not exact game maths.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Manor Lords crop rotation planner?
Yes — this is a free, browser-based Manor Lords crop rotation planner. You assign a crop or Fallow to each field for each year of the rotation, set field size, families and oxen, and instantly see how soil fertility recovers or depletes and roughly how much grain, ale-barley and flax each field produces. Nothing to download, no account.
What is the best crop rotation in Manor Lords?
The reliable starting point is a three-field rotation — for example Wheat, then Barley, then a Fallow year — so each field rests once every three years and fertility recovers. Wheat and Rye feed bread, Barley feeds ale, and Flax is for linen and trade. Use the planner to test rotations against your starting fertility before you build, since a single fallow year per cycle is usually enough to keep a field sustainable.
How does fertility work in Manor Lords farming?
Each harvest lowers a field's soil fertility, and a fallow (rested) year lets it recover. Lower fertility means a smaller harvest. Planting the same crop two years running on the same field drains fertility faster, so rotating crops and leaving a fallow year keeps a field productive. Rye tolerates poorer soil than wheat.
How many fields do I need in Manor Lords?
It depends on field size, soil fertility and how many families and oxen work each field. As a rough guide, around 0.6 morgen per family is the community-tested sweet spot. Use the 'families fed' estimate in the planner to size your fields against your population, then adjust.
Should I plant wheat, barley or rye?
Wheat is the high-yield food workhorse but is fertility-hungry. Barley feeds the malt-and-ale chain for your tavern. Rye yields less but tolerates poorer soil, so it is useful on low-fertility fields once you unlock Rye Cultivation. Flax feeds linen and trade rather than food. The planner lets you compare them side by side.
Are the crop and fertility numbers accurate?
Crop names are extracted from the Manor Lords game files (v0.8.048), but the numeric farming constants — base yields, fertility depletion, and the fallow restoration rate — are NOT published by the game. Every number in this tool is a community estimate or our own estimate, labelled as such, and every value is editable in the Advanced panel so you can tune it to the current patch. Treat the output as directional, not exact. This is a fan-made planner, not affiliated with Slavic Magic or Hooded Horse.