13: Farm Storage Buildings

Chapter 13: Farm Storage Buildings

The game features a variety of building types, each serving specific functions in the game, as well as buildings that serve only a decorative function, and collectively contribute to making each farm the unique presence that it is.  Understanding the function of the buildings will help you in deciding which to use, and how to best use them.

-- Farm Storage Buildings --

One of the most appreciated expansions that has been added to the game so far is the Storage System -- and you will be very thankful for that the more you play the game!

Back when the game first started -- and for the longest time -- the only storage you could obtain was from buildings, and the number of items that you could store was extremely limited.  Players would build several barns and sheds in order to obtain decent storage numbers, but those were measured by the dozens not hundreds.

It was not until the Root Cellar was added to the game that massive storage was possible, and today with a Root Cellar in addition to the standard buildings, once you have expanded their storage, you literally can store hundreds of items, which makes all of the holiday items and special event items easier to deal with.

The following buildings are connected to the Storage System:

(1) The Barn-type Buildings

There are actually several types of barn in the game, and each has a different storage capacity.  The barns that you purchase using Farm Bucks come with slightly more storage than those purchased with coin -- though they can all be expanded, the difference is in how they are expanded.

Rather than use the standard building materials, when you expand your Barn - just like when you expand the Chicken Coop or the Dairy Farm -- you do so through a special event in the game called a Barn Raising, in which you post an event notice to your feed, and must encourage your neighbors to assist you.

That happens when they click on the feed notice to help you.  Once enough have helped, your Barn Raising is a success.  If you fail to obtain all of the help you need, the Barn Raising fails, and you have to start over.

There are different barns that you can obtain in the game, and they have different storage amounts based upon the level that they are upgraded to.  There are presently three levels in total that can be reached, though this may change in the future -- or not...

The following lists present the barns and sheds you can place on your farm, with the levels noted and, where appropriate, the cost of the barn on the Marketplace (MP = Market Price).  Note that not all of the barns can be purchased at the present time.

Adobe Barn         L1=22 items    L2=27 items    L3=34 items
Black Barn         L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=32 items    MP=27 Bucks
Blue Barn          L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=32 items    MP=27 Bucks
Cowprint Barn      L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=32 items    MP=32 Bucks
Groovy Barn        L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=32 items    MP=27 Bucks
Japanese Barn      L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=30 items
Modern Barn        L1=22 items    L2=27 items    L3-34 items
Pink Barn          L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=32 items    MP=27 Bucks
Red Barn           L1=6 items     L2=11 items    L3=18 items    MP=40,000 Coins 
Shamrock Barn      L1=22 items    L2=27 items    L3=34 items
Swiss Barn         L1=22 items    L2=27 items    L3=34 items
Tuscan Barn        L1=22 items    L2=27 items    L3=34 items
Weathered Barn     L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=32 items    MP=27 Bucks
White Barn         L1=20 items    L2=25 items    L3=32 items    MP=27 Bucks

(2) The Sheds

Sheds are a smaller form of storage but are not exclusively for item storage -- the

Adobe Shed            L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items
Cowprint Shed         L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items    MP=28 Bucks
Deluxe Tool Shed      L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items
Green Tool Shed       L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items
Modern Tool Shed      L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items
Pink Tool Shed        L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items    MP=22 Bucks
Shamrock Shed         L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items
Swiss Tool Shed       L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items 
Tool Shed             L1=2 items     L2=7 items     L3=14 items    MP=14,000 Coins 
Tuscan Tool Shed      L1=15 items    L2=20 items    L3=27 items

The Multi-Purpose Storage Cellar

(3) The Storage Cellar

Added to the game in August of 2010, the Storage Cellar is purchased from the Market for 1 Coin, and added an amazing and large capacity of item storage to the game -- but at a cost.

The Storage Cellar is a unique storage building in that in order to actually have storage, you have to "dig" the cellar, which means applying shovels you get in the game either buy purchasing them, receiving them as gifts, or obtaining them from the Special Delivery Packages or feeds.

The Cellar stores items in the same way that the other storage buildings do, but unlike the other buildings, which require a Barn Raising to increase the number of items they can store, the Storage Cellar's capacity is increased by collecting and applying shovels -- which not only expand the number of items that you can store equal to the number of shovels used to dig the cellar, but also translate into points that can be used to purchase special items for the game, making it a dual-purpose object in the game!

When your cellar is fully expanded it will hold up to 500 items -- a massive amount considering that in the past storing even 100 items required a massive amount of work.  Expanding your storage via the cellar allows you to remove some of the other storage buildings from your farm, freeing up space for other buildings, which makes its tiny footprint doubly useful.

In addition to storage, the following special items can be obtained by spending the points you are awarded for each shovel applied to the cellar:

20 Shovels = Mole Item (a mole hole in which a Mole will appear in when clicked)
40 Shovels = Crystal Rock (a decorative object)
60 Shovels = Miner Sheep (s special sheep to add to your sheep collection)
120 Shovels = Cave Gnome (a unique gnome to add to your gnome collection)
200 Shovels = Antique Tractor (a vintage tractor)

Note that like the other farm machinery the Antique Tractor can have its capacity of crop plots expanded through the use of parts and the Garage.

(4) The Garage

A storage building that is specifically created for storing the many vehicles that you can collect as you play the game, the Garage is a dual-purpose building in that in addition to storing up to 20 vehicles*, it also serves as the mechanism for expanding the number of crop plots (squares) that your farm machinery can process.

In order to expand the capabilities of the farm machinery, the player must have a Garage, must be at least a Level 26 farmer, and must have a supply of Vehicle Parts with which to complete the upgrades.

The garage is a kit-building in the game -- the kit is purchased from the Market, and then must be completed using the standard building resources.  Once the Garage is built, up to 20 vehicles can be stored in it, which allows you another avenue to de-clutter your farm, as the vehicles stored in the Garage can be accessed using the tool menu from the main interface or through clicking on the Garage itself.

Upgrading Your Vehicles Starts in the Garage

-- Vehicle Upgrade Levels --

Each farm vehicle (as opposed to decorative vehicle) has five levels of upgrade, which increase the effectiveness of the machine for doing its intended task.  These are:

Level 1: 2x2 Plots (the base level of each machine)
Level 2: 3x2 Plots (Requires 2 Vehicle Parts to upgrade to this level)
Level 3: 3x3 Plots (Requires 5 Vehicle Parts to upgrade to this level)
Level 4: 4x3 Plots (Requires 10 Vehicle Parts to upgrade to this level)
Level 5: 4x4 Plots (Requires 15 Vehicle Parts to upgrade to this level)

* Note that airplanes cannot be stored in the Garage.