Dellaram Vreeland
Farming Simulator, a video game popular with farmers and fakers alike, has taken over my house. But will it translate to better understanding of agriculture?
As my family was seated around the dinner table the other night, my husband looked up from his plate to proudly proclaim: “I sold my canola today. Have just planted some new crops.”
My son chimed in. “And my hens laid so many eggs. I sold them all.”
We live in suburban Ballarat. The golden vista out our window is not a field of canola but the 18-metre yellow arches of the local McDonald’s. And the restrictive covenant of our housing estate demands that no poultry be kept within its Colorbond-fenced yards.
Yet my husband and son have still been able to harness their inner farmer via the video game Farming Simulator. Operating tractors and combine harvesters, raising animals and milling wheat, they have gained a virtual insight into what farmers endure all day, every day. They’ve even begun to talk like farmers. The other day we drove past a hay baler and the car erupted with uniform glee. “That’s our baler!” I never knew such agricultural joy existed within my family.
I don’t mind it. It provides a glimpse into the toil of eking a living from the land. We have become so removed from it, hunting and gathering from the supermarket, that the least we can do is encourage our kids to understand what’s involved in ploughing, planting, harvesting and selling produce – even if it is via a video game. It’s no replacement for getting out there in real life, but the frustrations experienced during play hopefully teach them a thing or two about forbearance and the hardships of working on a farm. I’ve borne witness to the shouts of despair during multiple attempts to shovel lime into its godforsaken spreader. Cursing machinery, a key part of farming, has already been mastered.
Virtual farming is as old as computer games. In the 1990s SimFarm was all the rage, and at its peak in 2010 the online simulator FarmVille had more than 80 million active monthly users.
What I find particularly fascinating is the number of farmers themselves playing the game. Farming Simulator’s creator, Giants Software, estimates that as many as a quarter of its players are connected to farming in some way, and about 8-10% are full-time, professional farmers. For some it’s about being able to use equipment not otherwise available to them, for others it’s about honing their budgeting and operational skills, and for others it’s just about relaxation.
One friend told me their relative, who’s a farmer, has their daughter play the game so she can gain some insights into the world of farming at a young age. Another friend who lives on a farm in Smeaton, about 30km north of Ballarat, told me that during harvest season the backpackers working on her property would spend hours unwinding on the game.
On the Farming Simulator thread on Reddit, one user said he worked as a tractor driver and the game had taught him more about tractors and how different fruits and grains were harvested. “All in all, it’s nice to drive a tractor in real life, and then go home to my virtual farm.” Another said the game “makes real farming look like changing a lightbulb”. “But that’s why I play it, because it’s nice to relax and play with equipment you’ll never afford [in real life].”
Others said the game got them interested in working in agriculture in the first place. That’s a potential boon for Australian farming, with many farmers reportedly considering leaving the industry. A survey published this month found dairy farmers are grappling with growing pressures including unstable costs, labour shortages and climate issues, with the number of registered dairy farms falling from 6,308 in 2014 to 4,420 in 2022. The Victorian Skills Authority also estimates close to 5,000 farmers will retire between 2023 and 2026, the Weekly Times reports, with one agricultural recruiter saying farming is still stigmatised as “hard, dirty, labouring job with no future”.
It’s true there is little glamour to be had in farming. Wedged between rising input costs and a supermarket duopoly, it’s hard for all but the largest of operations to remain in the black. They do the work knowing when the fruits of their labour are placed on a dining table thousands of kilometres away, the journey likely won’t be acknowledged. In fact, more than 7.6m tonnes of it will be thrown in the bin, 70% of which is perfectly edible.
At least those playing Farming Simulator, whether feigner or farmer, are able to enhance their understanding of the pressures of farm life. And while increasing our knowledge is beneficial, what’s better for the agricultural industry is encouraging the next generation to enter the field and become farmers themselves, hopefully contributing to a more sustainable and fair workforce.
Because the healthy functioning of any society begins with the farmer, not with the video game.
