Harvest Hoedown: Strategy Considered

The HH has been a traditional event yet there is no guarantee of it occurring this November.
But it just might!
Please help me with a strategy.

 

I am with the opinion that it's highly unlikely that the HH will not occur.
Too many game functions have been introduced that could be affected by not having the HH.
In my opinion, the main one is the instant harvest of high level refined crops.
These, when collected in the right timing, produce very large amounts of EP and barn value.
The barn value must be consumed somewhere.

 

I am leaning towards burning the barn down leaving no crop, tree or animal unsacrificed and leaving the game.
No Premium player. I think Unity sucks. Afterwards I might check in to harvest all the trees... once in a while.
Time for Valhalla

 

What is the real turnoff with Unity. I have not changed.

 

Great strategy for TOP5000. However, this requires high level and tens of thousands of SG, SSG and Party Tickets and.....

What if a farm doesn't have enough of these?

 

Then the farm sits this out. Plain and simple. Every year I look at the prizes and drool. Twice I thought sewinglady's farm might be able to crack the lowest of the prize tiers. I was denied both times and have learned my lesson. I do not participate in Harvest Hoedown. Well, that's not entirely true. I do sell items at the market to earn some CCs...so you could do that, too. Anything of high value will sell if at least somewhat reasonably priced, and especially if your market has a couple farmers looking to crack the ceiling and get in on the goodies.

Edited to add: For farmer_broke re Unity. Unity is real purdy. Looks good. Functions, um, poorly for the moment. I am sure it will be improved. They tried to fix the market so it worked better, but as of the last time I tried it, it was essentially non-functional for me (could just be the way I want to price things). Also, many things don't show up as they should, including crops that are ready to harvest. If you do decide to try it, make sure you have shut off all the animations while you're still on the Flash side. That makes the Unity side run a little better, but not much.

 

TOP5000 is planned in order to allow 'not so' high level farmers to participate.
To reach the TOP1000 range, the barn value quantities required have become forbidding for medium farms.
I can imagine four basic strategies:
1. To systematically play with the market in order to collect CC's and stock your barn with the required goods.
This is a long term strategy where dealing in the market becomes a habit. Details and strategies of such an approach are already in the forum.
2. Investing in breeding.
Not my piece of cake, but I can see in my market specific players that are continuously offering mid to high level breeding animals.
It looks as a good source of income from which a player can fund buying of products in preparation of a hoedown.
To be honest, I believe that this can only be carried out by players that are happy to fund the breeding and have good knowledge of the breeding 'tricks'.
For me this would also be a long term strategy.
3. Premium farms
A premium account with 'good' trees on the island can be quite efficient over time.
Collecting XXL trees once a week with overall and/or tree harvest bonuses active can produce a significant amount of high EV trees.
I'm not a premium player so I am not aware of details, but in all the hoedowns I participated I relied heavily on Baha trees, almost exclusively bought from the market.
4. High level refined plants.
SAHRAB, you know the tricks.
We have both refined the Amaranth.
For me the trick in instant harvest of high EV plants is not how but when.

Most probably there are also other tricks in the farm but I think the above are used by most, each item in a different extent for every individual player.

 

I do not have a ton of SG, SSG but I do buy Party Tickets from time to time. I have quite a few givers on the Park, Shipwreck Bay, and the new Castaway Coast that produce these items. When I do hit the 200% or 100% on the wheel then these items are used in abundance for full effect. I use my successful breeding of Level 8, 9 and 10 animals to bring in revenue which I later buy Tree Fruit and Baha Tree Fruit at a set level. Alas the old strategy was to buy at 35 to 50 percent of BV. With inflation I am buying at X times that amount and tracking it with an Excel database.
Want to talk inflation??? In 2016 I accomplished a 91st place finish with 562 Million donated. Last year that amount would have gotten you an 808th place finish. To do a great finish this year you needed a strategy and started accumulating... Last Year (after the Harvest).
If I do keep farming it will be with all trees and I will check in once a day and may be buying on the weekends... No more events and getting the latest trees and pens.

Lets hope Beeps gets the lead out and fixes all the pot holes and sink holes that Unity makes this game slow, boring and difficult to play.