Cities: Skylines – How to Get Farms in Your Agricultural Districts

I am just loving Cities: Skylines, but I’m ashamed to admit that maybe I don’t read the tutorial pop-ups as well as I should. Which is why I was so confused when I wasn’t seeing any farms in my districts set to the farming industry. 

Farm industry has long been my favorite to see in city builders, and sometimes I want to boot up SimCity 3000 Unlimited or SimCity 4 just to work up some sprawling, farm-centric cities again. Fortunately, it is possible to get farms in Cities: Skylines, and it is much easier than it seems at first glance. 

Your first step to building up a bustling farm industry is to locate any fertile land.

If you’re starting a new city, you won’t be able to see the Natural Resources tab in the overlay menu. There are two ways around this:

1. Start a new game with the game’s built-in ‘Unlock All – Progression milestones unlocked’ mod, using the same map you want to actually play on. This way you can take a look at where the map’s resources are, then start your real save with their locations in mind. Or just play with the mod on, your choice.
2. Download the Persistent Resource View mod. This mod did not work for me, but it might for you.

If you’re playing using an already-established city, just head to the Natural Resources tab on the overlay menu. It’s in the second column on the second to last row.

You want to set your farming district to areas with fertile land to see actual farms popping up in the district, otherwise you’ll just see a bunch of agricultural-based factories.

After finding your local fertile land, make the farming district a size of your liking (usually the same size as the fertile land in the area will do) and be sure to set it to agriculture.

And now you wait! In time the district will fill with farms packed with animals as well as agricultural factories. 

It’s easy to overlook the small details that the tutorials in Cities: Skylines give you, but it’s well-worth it to pay attention. This is a small example of just that, as the game is packed with tiny aspects that can make huge impacts on how your city functions and looks. Don’t be like me: Pay attention to the tutorials!