Farming Simulator 25 Beginner Guide: Controls, Fields, Harvesting, and Selling

Farming Simulator 25 is approachable, but the first hour can still feel like being handed keys to five machines and told not to scratch the paint. New players and returning farmers should begin with the guided basics before expanding into contracts, animals, production chains, and multiplayer.

Getting Started in Farming Simulator 25

A new save begins by choosing one of three base maps: Riverbend Springs, Hutan Pantai, or Zielonka. After the map loads, the early tutorial introduces the core loop of farm work: drive equipment, prepare a field, plant seeds, harvest crops, unload them, and sell the result. The same basics apply whether you are brand new or returning from an older Farming Simulator game.

Talk to Walter for the Guided Tour

Grandpa Walter appears at every starting farm, no matter which base map you choose. Speaking with him starts the Guided Tour, where he explains the first steps of running a farm and points you toward each task.

You can skip the Guided Tour, but new players should avoid doing that on a first save. Skipping gives you full freedom immediately, which sounds nice until you are staring at equipment you have not attached correctly yet.

Learn Vehicle Controls

Your starting farm includes basic equipment such as a tractor and cultivator. The first practical lesson is learning how to enter, move, and connect tools. Walk to the tractor and press E by default to enter it, then drive toward the field Walter marks.

The default basic driving controls are:

• Accelerate: W
• Decelerate: S
• Steer left: A
• Steer right: D

Not every vehicle behaves exactly the same, especially when transmissions differ. Watch the control hints in the top-left corner of the screen whenever you enter a new machine. Those prompts are also the quickest way to confirm whether the selected tool is ready, folded, lowered, or attached correctly.

Many vehicles also require manual engine ignition. Farming Simulator 25 includes a setting that automatically starts the engine when you enter a vehicle and turns it off when you leave, which is useful if you prefer fewer small chores between the larger chores.

Cultivate the Field

Before you can sow crops, the soil needs to be cultivated. Drive the tractor and cultivator to the field near Walter, then lower the cultivator with V by default. Stay inside the field perimeter while making passes across the soil, then keep going until the progress indicator in the upper-right corner reaches 100%.

Later, NPC helpers can handle work such as cultivating for you. During this point in the Guided Tour, that helper option is not available yet.

Tip: Multiplayer servers can make bigger jobs easier, since several players can divide fieldwork instead of leaving one person to do every pass alone.

Seed the Field

After cultivation, return to the barn with the tractor. Walter then asks you to detach the cultivator with Q by default and attach the seeder stored inside.

Reverse the tractor toward the seeder until the attachment prompt appears. Once attached, drive beside the large seed bag and fill the seeder by pressing R by default. Wait for the fill process to finish before returning to the field.

If the seeder contains multiple seed types, press Y by default to switch between them. When you are lined up on the field, lower the seeder and activate it with B by default, then cover the field until the seeding progress reaches 100%.

At this stage, Walter unlocks helpers. Press H by default to hire one when the option is available. Afterward, press TAB by default to switch to the next vehicle and continue the tutorial.

Harvest Crops

The next vehicle is a harvester with a header already attached for the Guided Tour. In regular play, harvesters usually need the correct header connected before they can cut a crop.

Drive the harvester to the marked field. If crop destruction is enabled in normal play, driving over ready crops can ruin them. The Guided Tour disables that feature, so this tutorial step is more forgiving.

Detach the header from its towing point, move the harvester to the indicated area, and reconnect the header. Unfold the grain tank with X by default, then activate and lower the header. Harvest the crop by driving through the field until the progress bar reaches 100%.

Unload the Harvester

When the field is harvested, park the harvester where a trailer can reach it and extend the pipe with O by default. Walter then directs you to collect a trailer from the garage. You can walk there or use TAB to switch vehicles.

Drive the tractor and trailer beside the harvester, positioning the trailer under the pipe. The crop should unload automatically into the trailer. From there, you can either sell the crop or store it for later.

Sell the Crop

Selling goods in Farming Simulator 25 works much like earlier games. Drive the filled trailer to a sell point, ideally one with a good market price. Checking prices before selling is a habit worth building early.

At the sell point, move the trailer over the tip area and unload with I by default. The crop is sold automatically once unloaded.

Return to the farm and speak with Walter to finish the Guided Tour. After that, look for Ben if you want more in-game advice on extra tasks such as fertilizing and weeding. Those jobs are not part of this first walkthrough, but they become important once you start improving yields beyond the starter crop cycle. Once the tutorial is complete, your farm is fully in your hands.