Soybeans – The Most Profitable Crop for Starting Farms in FS22

For players wondering how to efficiently make money in the early game of Farming Simulator 22 (FS22), soybeans are my top recommendation and the single most profitable crop to grow. With quick maturation times, abundant harvests, and valuable base pricing, an entire farm operation can be bootstrapped by leveraging soybeans. In this extensive crop profitability guide for FS22, I‘ll cover why soybeans bring big earnings, strategies to optimize your yields and profits even further, and alternative money-making crops to consider.

Why Soybeans Are So Lucrative in FS22

Here‘s a quick overview of what makes soybeans (and their relative canola) fantastic cash generators in FS22:

High Demand Crop – Soybeans serve many industrial purposes from biofuels to animal feed to vegetable oil. Keeping silos stocked can earn over $1000 per 1000 liters sold.

Quick Maturation – Reaching their growth stage for harvest in just 5 FS22 in-game days, soybean profits start rolling in fast.

Abundant Yields – With ideal fertility, soybeans reliably produce over 9000 liters per hectare (14 bushels/acre)

Profitability Breakdown

Fertilizing, crop rotation, and bee houses can further boost soybean yields and profits per acre

Strategies for Maximizing Soybean Earnings

Soybeans already bring excellent earnings straight out of the box. But implementing best practices for crop management takes profitability to even higher levels:

Fertility Optimization

• Lime acidified soil for increased growth rates
• Cultivate multiple times prior to planting
• Use crop rotation to improve the soil quality year after year
• Employ bee houses to improve pollination and yields

Planting & Harvest Timing

• Plant soybeans early in Spring for ideal long season growth time
• Ensure tractors have powerful engines to speed up planting & harvesting
• Harvest between mid Summer and Fall depending on first frost dates

Complementary Money-Making Crops

While soybeans can fully sustain farms early on, branching into other crops diversifies income streams:

Cotton – Slow growing and equipment intensive but extremely valuable with proper processing

Grapes – Vineyards take seasons to establish but winemaking brings big rewards

Olives – Orchards work much like grapes; olive oil production is very profitable

Turning Raw Crops Into Profitable Products

Beyond selling base crops, many food processing methods add substantially more value:

• Turn olives into olive oil for 2-3x base price
• Ferment grapes into wine for major profits
• Mill wheat into flour to fetch higher prices
• Weave cotton into fabric rather than selling raw

Soybeans themselves can also be transported to dedicated sell points and processed into soybean cake, soybean oil, and more.

Final Farm Tips for Farming Riches

With the right crops, optimization methods, and secondary processing, I‘ve built multi-million dollar farming empires in FS22 quickly and consistently across every map. Hopefully these profits tips help establish your own agricultural dominance! Let me know if you have any other crop profit questions in the comments below!