[Crops 101] How To Sow & Harvest Onions

Welcome to your next “Crops 101” lesson of the Farming Simulator Academy! This time, we show you how to plant, harvest, and process onions.

What Is Special About Onions?

• Harvesting onions takes several specialized machines: First, you dig them out and form lines with a windrower. Then you collect them with another harvester.
• If you want to sell your onions for more profit, you can pack them with the placeable Holaras AS 25.

What You Need For Onions

Onions require some specialized equipment, especially for planting and harvesting. Make sure you have access to all the necessary machines before you start.

• Tractor: Used to operate most of the following tools.
• Tractor with narrow tires: Used with the fertilizer spreader and weeder to avoid destroying the onions.
• Cultivator: Prepares the soil before planting.
• Planter: Plants onions and needs to be filled with seeds.
• Roller: Use it after sowing for a small yield bonus.
• Fertilizer spreader: Improves your yield.
• Weeder: Removes young weeds before they reduce your yield.
• Onion harvester: Cuts off the foliage and digs the onions out of the ground.
• Onion windrower: Cleans the harvested onions and puts them into lines.
• Another Onion harvester: Specialized harvester that collects the onions from the ground.
• Trailer: Transports your harvested onions.

Let’s Get To Work!

If seasonal growth is enabled, you can plant onions in March and April. They are ready for harvest in August and September.

Step 1: Applying lime

Your field only needs lime occasionally. Check the field information box to see if lime is required. If it is, fill a compatible fertilizer spreader with lime, activate it, and cover the entire field.

Step 2: Cultivating the field

Check the field information before you start. If the field needs plowing, use a plow instead. Otherwise, attach your cultivator, lower it into the ground, and work the entire field.

What are the differences between plowing and cultivating?

Step 3: Planting onions

Fill your special planter with seeds and select onions as the crop. Drive to one side of the prepared field, lower and activate the planter, and plant the onions row by row until the entire area is covered.

Find out more about seeding and planting crops.

Step 4: Fertilizing

For maximum fertilization, apply fertilizer a second time after the onions have reached another growth stage. There has to be a growth stage between both applications.

Read the Academy guide to fertilizing your fields.

Step 5: Removing weeds

Remove weeds as soon as they appear to prevent a yield penalty. Young weeds can be removed mechanically with a weeder. If they grow larger, you will need a hoe or a sprayer with herbicide instead.

See which tools work against the different stages of weeds.

Step 6: Harvesting onions

Once the onions are ready, attach the onion harvester to the front of your tractor and the windrower to the rear. Lower and activate both machines, then work your way across the field. The front machine cuts the foliage and digs out the onions, while the windrower cleans them and places them into neat rows.

Step 7: Picking up the onions

Switch to your other onion harvester and follow the rows across the field to collect the onions. Keep an eye on the fill level while harvesting and unload the onions into your trailer when necessary.

Step 8: Selling onions

You can sell your harvested onions directly. Check the prices screen for a suitable selling point, drive there with your trailer, and unload in the designated area. For more profit, you can also pack the onions with the placeable Holaras AS 25.

Processing Onions: Products

Instead of selling onions directly, you can turn them into more valuable products. The Holaras AS 25 produces packed onions, while the vegetable processing plant lets you create several food products: onion salt, onion soup and fried onions.

Well Done!

Congratulations! You now know the basics of growing and harvesting onions in Farming Simulator. When you're ready, continue with the next Farming Simulator Academy lesson!