Working with grapes in Farming Simulator 25 requires certain skills. From planting to harvesting, there are many procedures to go through, including cultivation, spraying and processing.

So let's look at the basic all the nuances when working with this crop.

Preparation for planting grapes

When we start working with vineyards, the first thing we need to do is to prepare the land. In March, we will start cultivation, using a cultivator. However, it is important to realise that the vineyard area is quite large and one cultivator cannot always cover the whole area at one time. Therefore, we will need to do it several times.

Be sure to cultivate the field before planting the grapes, as this will give you a boost in yield later on!

How to plant grapes in FS25

Firstly, you need to prepare a suitable plot, set up rows of vines and take care of the soil. It is important to follow the maintenance techniques including fertilisation, watering and weed removal to ensure a high yield. Planting grapes takes place in several stages, which are easy to master thanks to the game's user-friendly interface.

• Buy a field and go over it with a cultivator.

• Go to the construction menu, ‘Cultivation’ section, select the grape rows, and set them at regular intervals for the machinery to work.
  
  

Now you're ready to create a thriving vineyard and profit from its harvest! Below, we'll cover some important details for caring for your vineyard that will keep your crop from being lost.

Treatment with a sprayer

Next, in April, we'll move on to the next step - treating your vineyard with a sprayer. You can use any convenient sprayer, such as the Hardy Mercur. It's not the biggest sprayer, it only holds 4000 litres of liquid. Although the tank capacity is not too big, it is enough to treat large areas. The spraying process is fast because the sprayer treats two lines of grapes at once.

Spraying is important for preventing diseases and ensuring normal vineyard growth.

However, it is worth noting that to maximise yield we will need to ensure that all plots are treated. To do this, it may be necessary to repeat the procedure again.

Grape Harvest

September is the time to harvest grapes. For this you will need a special harvester (you can find it at the store, in the section “Harvesting grapes and olives”). Usually such harvesters are very slow, so you need to be patient or hire AI workers.

You will also need a special trailer in which to unload the harvested grapes. Make sure you have the right trailer. If you don't, buy one at the store by going to the grape equipment section.

Grape processing: raisins or juice?

After the harvest, we move on to processing the grapes. We can either process them into juice or raisins.

However, you should realise that processing grapes into juice is not always profitable.

Processing grapes into juice

A small production facility costing €36,000 produces less than 300 litres of grape juice per month. Whereas in a large production for 240,000 euros we get more than 5,000 litres of juice. However, it is worth noting that processing grapes into juice has several problems:

• High processing costs.

• Low price of grape juice on the market.

• On small and large production, processing into juice gives a rather low income. In a small production, the income would be only 15,302 euros, which makes grape juice processing unprofitable.

So, it's up to you to decide whether you want to do it or maybe it's better to process it into sultanas? Below we will briefly tell you about this way of processing your grape harvest.

Processing grapes into raisins

Processing grapes into raisins is more profitable. With large-scale production, we get 5.25 liters of raisins per month, which yields an income of about 28.8 euros. The difference between the income from raisins and juice is obvious: processing grapes into sultanas is much more profitable than into juice.

In addition, processing grapes into raisins significantly reduces the production time. This makes raisins a more profitable product than juice.

Production payback

Now let's take a look at the payback on production. A small production of grape processing into juice pays for itself in 20+ months, which is quite a long time. For a large juice processing facility, the payback will be 15-17 months. Whereas sultana production has a much faster payback period.

In the case of raisins, we get a higher profit in a shorter period of time.

This confirms that processing grapes into raisins is a much more profitable solution from a financial point of view. Although, if you set up a large production facility with good automation, you can produce both of these products, as market prices can change over time.

So, we have found out that processing grapes into raisins is more profitable than processing them into juice. raisins produce more profit with less time and resources. If you plan to work with vineyards in FS25, you should focus on processing raisins rather than grape juice. Have a good harvest!