Prep for 2016 Hoedown Top 1000: The Beginning

The Annual Hoedown Top 1000 competition has been traditionally a barn burner. The TOP 1000 competition requires some advance preparation. Farms have been destroyed. Having sent two farms and both successful in placing, I am looking for some ideas to consider other.

I offer my assistance and am open to considering fresh ideas as I know I should begin developing a strategy.

 

Hello Farmer_ Broke,
I really think you want more company for the 2016 Top 1000.

One must start accumulating dispensable stock now as cheaply as one can get it. This will help alleviate total destruction at the top 1000's final hour(s). It is senseless to stock up on higher valued items with the intent to donate, these should be sold through the market for purchasing power.

 

Well, after the horrible mittens event carnations are really cheap so I've stocked up on a few thousand of those when they were really cheap (going for about 20cc at one point). Tree fruit is still high at the moment so I'm waiting for that to get cheap.

 

@wolfeyesone

You must be already dressed and ready for the event! Well you just have to wait for about 300 more days and waiting is a part of this preparation too.

And company? I'm sure you noticed all those like farm crests in the TOP 1000 and they were together at the party and it was no accident. They wee prepared and they were organized. Mentioning this is not to suggest the EN Forum participants make an obvious display.

@TCRooster

Ohhhhhh so you looked at carnations! Good move. Carnations tend to drop in price shortly after events where drops are required or sensed as a problem. The same is true with roses. Tree fruit drops slightly also but tends to always lag behind the fall of carnations and roses. It does not last long though. And this cycle goes on all year.

What makes you think tree fruit is going to fall in price?

 

Because a "wise man" once told me to watch my market and it does tend to fluctuate with regards to maple and almonds, usually when someone decides to crash and then in I swoop .
Just picked up some roses too at silly prices, so I may see you next top 1000 broke, depending on how well stocked I get!
And I've been happily selling grapefruit to fund my spending habit (at 8000cc each, it seems silly not to!).

 

You can do it if you decide to commit to it. I have no doubt already. You used the words "selling" and "fund." I found I would not be able to produce/grow everything which may be asked for so I too was always selling to "fund" the spending habit. It really became a habit. In only takes a very few minutes to run through the market because you already know what you want, where to find it, even why and most times when to stop. I had to keep in mind that if I ever was unable to "fund" that spending habit then preparation for that event is slowed down and even must be halted.

Tree fruit has fallen in price after the Hoedown TOP 1000 in the past. Last year the mud_pie_man farm waited three months and not enough tree fruit was appearing at a low enough rate. It was buying across the board using a rate. The choice was either to give up on the goal or make changes in order to continue.

Tree fruit fell in price this year and the broke farm was/is acquiring to resell. Some are already buying and tree fruit prices are now bordering what they were a month before the Hoedown. The market the mud_pie_man farm is on has surpassed the rate of the prehoedown period. Additionally, as the rate rose last year it rose very very quickly.

What if breeding animals are called for, what will you do? Thanks for helping me to think how I can create a sensible strategy.

-----edit-----

I just found some very good prices on BAHA tree fruit. I could not believe it. I need to list to continue funding the craziness.

 

I've only been able to make a handful of value purchases. It seems everything on my server is still inflated quite a bit. I'm still two levels away before I can open carnations, so I'm missing out on those. For the purposes of right now I'm trying to buy tree fruit and crops at less than or equal to 40% of their barn value. Not much is showing up. For now I'll just keep doing events and building up my barn while keeping an eye on (tracking with vast spreadsheets) the market.

To answer your breeding question. I tend to breed what is needed for breeding events and only during the BBD. When I've completed the event I try to do a bit more breeding so that I'll have some stock built up for later if needed. I'll sell when they are around 3x their normal price during events. Otherwise, I just store them.

My question for you @farmer_broke :

What is your daily routine while on the farm? Animals, Products, Crops, Trees, etc.

 

@Decree
Immediately caught my attention: farm level 80, BAHA level 129, farming since August 2015. This tells me the barn is pretty empty because you have done FSQs in order to level up fairly quickly and there went the profits from the farm. You have all the land necessary, good! I have no problem with that as this was your choice. The Harvest Hoedowns have been barn burners. A decision must be made as to where one is going to give away their barn stock and when. I mean nothing is wrong but I do know that giving one's stock away means one cannot sell it which means one must have another source to fund the spending habit.

So you have a buy rate of 40% and having a little difficulty in finding buys, No problem as there is time. I suppose habit has forced me to identify significant changes at first glance.

Spreadsheets maintained with market data! Nice, wish I had the patience to bother as regularly as I would like, but nearly worthless in this event preparation if one cannot maintain funding of the spending habit. And you may have to raise your buy rate to acquire and fund the increase in anticipated spending amount. (Just a thought that remains in one's mind as long as buy rates are used.)

Carnations: high level crop, often used overnight for drops, periodic low prices especially after event endings, high exchange value, is one of two crops eligible for a final competitive donation at this time, and if there ever is a call for a general flower donation then this crop is one I would definitely consider due to the acquisition rate. No need to worry if you cannot see it. The mud_pie_man farm finished 14th and cannot see carnations and only saw maple sap two weeks prior to competition. It makes no difference what you donate as long as it meets your buy rate and is eligible for donation,

In order to donate in the final competition one must get to the final competition by completing the first part of the event.

I asked about breeding animals for a reason. I understand your breeding habits and selling habits of breeding animals and I have no problem. Let's say for discussion that the event calls for 400,000 in breeding animals. Sure, maybe you can come up with 400,000 in breeding animals in your barn. Sure you can give few of these or a few of those and meet it. Some have done it and that practice is not efficient at all.

One must choose or not choose to prepare in the breeding animal area, up to you. But if you choose to do so, then you would want to have ready the animal which has the lowest current market price to exchange value ratio. There is only one animal. Know which breeding animal it is? (I have a level 31 farm that is gathering them and doing so ever so slowly.)

Thank you for helping me.

To answer: My farm is primarily animals. Baha and the rain forest have all animals and tree in the outlying areas. Nearly all common mainland animals have 128 pens. Baha max needed is 82 of each and have two with only 41. Crops are grown periodically but not regularly. Trees can cover the entire farm at anytime bu very rarely is it done. The visit pattern seems to be: market (view), harvest, market (buy), change fields if necessary, market (last minute buy and list), check mill on the way out, out. And the market visits are real quick unless a lot of listing.

When is the last time you took a full inventory of your barn? If you did, are you able to find ir?

 

Thank You for offering your assistance, Broke

I hope to be on that top 1000 list next year. Anyway I am working on it.

I don’t think I can come up with anything you don’t already know, but I am willing to share what I do and then you can assist me getting better

I try to remember to buy the 100 free crops every day.

I have made some spreadsheets to guide me buying at the right price. EV ratio on the 10 best tree fruits on my mkt is 0.39-0.45. Most of them are baha trees. But I do find offers below that ratio once in a while and I swoop. I am not sure I will find enough offers at this ratio - tree fruits are not back to “normal” yet on my mkt and I don’t know if they ever will be…then this will be “normal” and I may have to raise my max buying price to get enough for the black hole, I guess.

Crops are way too expensive, but I do find good offers on roses and carnations like you and TC mentioned.

Animals are expensive too and not really worth for the black hole if one can avoid it because the EV ratio is high. If I had to then cats are the best choice on my mkt if I only look at the EV ratio.

Animals and feed are giving me the headaches… Maybe it is better to look at the costs in ccs? But that is not so easy for me. All kind of questions pup up in my head like did I mill the feed myself or did I buy it? Did I grow the crops to mill the feed or did I buy it? And some animals like Anaconda need rabbits and chickens for milling….Ohhhh no I am lost in the wilderness I think I can only handle to look at it when assuming I bought the feed - but I did not always do that!

Looking at the products Parrot feathers and Honey are the best choices. Price has not gone down to where I want to buy yet at my mkt, so I just watch for now.

Breeding animals are expensive and I only play a few now and then like the Chimpanzees and Sushi Pandas. However I buy Speckled Goats, Albino Bats (is this the one you think about?), Brownies, Brown pigs and Haflingers when they are below their EV.

And I don’t pay any attention to the Artisan products…

I circle the mkt whenever I have the time looking for good offers at low prices. I have some selected crops, animals and products I play regularly to keep a steady income so I can go shopping. These selected ones are my favorite and I play them pretty good. If I make mistakes on other stuff I go to them and it kinda feels like coming home. I also sell the newest tree fruits if I find myself the lucky owner of such. Right now I’m not and I produce and play the Fire Hydrants which make quite an income for me.

I bet I can play much more efficient looking at what to grow and produce for selling and then buy other items to increase my total amount of EV. But I also need to build up my stock in general for future calls and thus making profit. Some things I buy and play on a hunch because I pretend to know my mkt other stuff I buy based on my spreadsheets for the purpose of the HH.

Refinements might be of use here too, to make everything more efficient, and I do them whenever I remember to, but I do them very messy

My strategy for today is to grow corn!

 

@meba091

Hello Meba,

Yes, the Albino Bat is what I was looking for. Sometimes one will find the Speckled Goats, Brownies, Brown Pigs and Halflingers below their exchange value. You have time. The most efficient breeding animal to submit is the one with lowest market to exchange value. We would never want to donate breeding animals into the final competition. So really you are playing the "what if" game at this point: What if the event calls for a mass donation of breeding animals? I assure you, the more you know about the game, the more you will play the "what if" game with yourself.

I see you have made a commitment to yourself, Good! Of course you can change it. If your commitment lasts then you will begin to experience feelings of loneliness. Few if anyone will care to discuss your preparation and the "what if" games you will play with yourself.

Until you raise your buy rate, if ever, you will find some who know and are selling to those preparing. You will find listings as close as .01 cc below your buy limit.

Question: Why do you mention animals at all? Are you collecting them for some reason?

You and your Fire Hydrants: I'm scared now but I surely will watch them and buy and eventually list because of you.

 

Oh don't be scared Broke! lol
You are a wise man. I know you can do it At my mkt they sell best during the weekends and events. Price is going down now and I lower my price with it, but I still make a profit always listing in lots of 50 or 100. I make 12 myself every day and pick up the rest at low prices. I get well payed for my clicks.

I don't wanna be lonely! Sounds really sad.... I sure hope you are not running nowhere... Then I will talk to you and a very good neighbor and friend of mine That makes at least 2 - no loneliness for me I hope

Animals? Yes I always collect animals, can't seem to get enough of them. There is always a need for them during calls, quests, breeding and for making products (some). Oh, and the trophy - did I forget something? I buy them up at good prices, hold them and sell when the price goes up - when they are called for.
At this moment (well, until this downtime) I am selling donkeys at 5998.98 in lots of 100, waiting for the fish to go up (none listed) and Reindeers at 15998.98 in lots of 25 - and they are not even needed to complete this upcoming event! I make a lot of ccs doing that and profit is good! If one is not ready for a call for animals then one has to buy - often there is not enough time to produce the needed amount - and I am willing to sell

 

This sounds far to complicated for my walnut sized brain

 

I regularly snap up albino bats at nice, cheap prices, plus I never actually use any of the ones from the cloud row, so they are just collecting up nicely.
I seem to be making a killing on rabbits at the moment; never seen them so expensive!

 

@farmer_broke
You would be correct in properly identifying that I have a very small barn. Especially when comparing my stockpile of crops and animals to my parents barns. I’ve been slavishly working towards completing every event as well. Some of which have had very large costs. In addition to events, I have done a fair bit of FSQ’s in order to obtain the stars needed to unlock many of the valuable runes. Fortunately, I am done needing stars as additional runes at this point are only minor upgrades. Unfortunately, I am still working toward completing the last trophy for my living legend. This is a huge priority to me, and I doubt I will stop playing in the events as they contribute greatly to why I enjoy this game. Which leads us to funding for the Harvest Hoedown.

Currently the majority of my spending coin comes from sales in selected crops, rare tree fruits, products, crafted goods, and animals. I almost always invest coin back into building barn stock such as animals. I use to make a lot of animals but needed a change. I have very specific prices that I sell at and if the market is below those numbers I sit on them.

My biggest issue is that I know 40% is a rather high rate. This doesn’t concern me too much right now as we still have nearly a years worth of market fluctuations which will provide plenty of time for buying and adjusting the rate.

My answer was also Albino Bat as meba091 pointed out. Because they are practically free (Tree of Wisdom Rune/Cloud Row) and for most farmers they have very little appeal due to the fact that breeding needs to be unlocked and there aren’t many quest uses.

As for your last question, my spreadsheets make doing an inventory very easy. Current farm values are 31,497,070.40 in Barn Value and 249,250,946.50 in Market Value. This includes all animals including breeds, all crops and tree fruits, as well as products. It does not include “other” and trade products.

Another question, how do you get 82 animals on your farm. The most I seem to remember was 80 or 81.

I'm also not really sure what you meant by, "are you able to find ir?" Typo maybe?

 

@Decree

The HH can be divided into two separate parts: the preliminary and the competition. The preliminary portion is somewhat specific but players do not know exactly what the requirements will be until the faqs are released. Those preparing for the second part, the competition, should be fairly certain they are able to complete the first part. So you prepare for the first part by playing "what if" and satisfying it by having the barn stock available. There may or may not be an event crop to grow but one must be prepared to grow it. Drops may be called for and one must know how to obtain them all before time runs out. I asked about breeding animals because an amount of breeding animals has been called for in the past. One has been free to give whatever breeding animasl they choose when the breeding animals were called for. Again, the player does not know until the faqs are released. Every player only has so much stock and some more than others. If ones barn stock is not adequate in the right places then one will have difficulty completing step one and most likely will be uncompetitive in step two if one choose to enter the competition. Requirements for step one have been based on barn values and the total donation in step two has been based upon barn value with some items excluded.

You gave us your barn value at about 31.5 million. Don't hold me to this just yet: I would expect you would need to meet the requirements for whatever you guess is required for the first part AND THEN increase your barn value by nine times and have the stock in the right places in order to place in the TOP 1000. AND when you finished donating to the competition then your farm would be destroyed. Let me know if 31.5 million is not your barn value. All you can do is do forward from here.

I get 41 pens in the rain forest and 41 pens on the main BAHA land to make a total of 82. Clear your area and begin by putting one pen in the far right corner and that should be all you can put there. Then continue with the next column .... then the next and you will get 41. In the outlying areas I put the highest ep trees but always have out any very high market value trees.

I asked about a farm inventory and whether you could find it because I was trying to get a sense of your organization. If one has done an inventory then it can be put side until time for a final donation. At that time one will have in effect drawn a line. It will only help you later.

Question: Say the faqs indicated a request for 800,000 in animals. What would be best to give at this time?

 

Barnstock is definitely at that 31.5 million mark. I'm guessing that it's going to take around 300 million or more to break into the top 1000. My goals currently are to reach a barn value of 50+ million by the end of February. 100 million by the end of April. 175 million by the end of July. 250 million by end of August. 350+ by October. I believe that this is obtainable because as my barn grows, so does my ability to purchase low and sell high. Playing market trends will allow me to double and even triple my growth.

Cats tend to be the most reliable value for trade-in. That's assuming you could purchase them at value.

Do you ever mill Powerfeed in your main mill, or do you stick to profitable animal pen feeds?

 

I bought some Carnations! First down-payment for the HH 2017!

 

Illy and the 2017 HH should be an event to remember!

Illy is already making contributions to 2017 HH. Much can happen in the game until then. At the moment carnations for Illy is a donation item. Fine. Well that donation item can turn into a sound investment item in the course of over 700 days.

Decree, the cat is the right answer and what I'll mention will apply to cat holdings and you will find the reason I asked.

For Illy, in over 700 days, developers can turn the carnation into a new animal feed component which may cause a price change. That price change could indeed be so drastic that the carnation is no longer a good donation item. Illy may have 200 or Illy may have 200,000 or a million. In order to be efficient and not waste resources Illy will need to adjust the farm inventory and place the holdings into the right place. This act will help prevent the farm from destructing. The more one hold of an item that hs changed from a potential item to donate into an investment item, the longer it will take to make the shift into another area.

Decree may hold cats to submit in the event of a broad animal call. The change by game, developers, within 300 days) may be that the cat becomes a breeding animal and therefore the price for the cat will change. The change may be so drastic that the cat is no longer the animal to submit. A shift in inventory should be made into another animal judged to be at least the same. What was a potential donation item would have turned into an investment item. Decree will not donate foolishly so Decree should take the cat and sell them and put the proceeds into another animal and make wise use of the profits. And this shift in holing must be done at the same time the farm is being prepared in other areas.

Actual case: The mud_pie_man farm (which finished 14th) protected itself by investing in dogs. What do you know but the dog turned into a breeding animal. The dog would have been foolish to submit for an animal call given the profits available. Something had to be done with the dog holdings. A shift in holdings was made. The dogs were sold for a nice profit and the resources were put slowly into the next best animal which were cats. Time passes, the faqs are released and NO animals at all were required. ALL of the cats were dumped quickly and the resources placed into other areas which were good for donation.

Thank you for reminding me of what can happen during preparation. I don't know if the farm I am thinking of sending can handle all that shifting if it becomes necessary. The above can happen to any farm preparing.

And who knows what else Illy will do in over 700 days

 

lol-- great thread. I do, however, think my "strategy" is going to be to just work generally on building up my stocks, but not necessarily for the harvest festival event. If things continue as they have, with donations needed increasing and rewards shrinking, I will likely decide its just not worth my effort.

Cheers to all who want to try!!

 

I just love your strategy. I'm so sorry I am laughing so hard. I'm laughing because you are headed right toward the trap. hahaha That trap might not get you next year .... but if you keep building your barn stocks .... you just might find yourself doing the Illy.

If you build your barn stock even slightly by buying from the market, there are players like Meba just waiting for you with items priced especially for you. Why? Because you will fund their spending habits while preparing.

Woody and those prizes ..... hahaha . Those who are preparing regardless of how serious or not serious are really not focused at all on the prizes. They have no idea what they will be.

(had to stop and ROFL thinking about Woody)

Woody, again, I'm sorry. I find you now trying to make some sense out of something that makes no sense.

Okay okay Woody so you won't go. Well. all I can say is list something out of line and TCRooster and Deree are just waiting on you! And Meba too!

Someone mentioned rabbit prices. Rabbit prices have increased due to quest demands, breeding, and rabbits are a component of Anaconda feed. The rain forest was added and one can produce animals there. The size of the entire area has doubled and therefore one uses twice the animal feed in the same time period as before. The BAhA mill cannot keep up and therefor BAHA animal feed prices should have risen on all markets.

Animal feed itself has an exchange value (barn value) and therefor is set up to be called for. Feed has never been called for in any event thus far. This does not mean that it will not be. Animal feed is another "what if" item and the decision is yours whether or not you wish to hold sufficient animal feed and prepare in this area and this is your strategy and choice. If animal feed is an area of strategic holdings then the feed choice is bat feed and for the same reason as other items: it has the lowest market to exchange value.

Thank you so very much Woody. You have really inspired me.