Rear cute baby animals and deal with devastating tornadoes in Farming Simulator 25

Developer Giants Software has taken the opportunity at Gamescom 2024 to reveal a slew of new details for its next highly-anticipated title, Farming Simulator 25. In addition to new animals, players will now need to manage offspring from the animals they rear, as well as extreme weather events.

I did not have tornadoes on my bingo card for new features in Farming Simulator 25, but here we are. Rice farming was already a pretty exciting prospect because it brings a complex new set of tools, machinery, and techniques for you to master in the game. Having to cope with the added complications of baby animals and the colossal damage that huge storms and tornadoes can wreak is probably going to feel like going back to square one, and I usually only enjoy that when it’s out of choice.

Batten down the hatches

Farming Simulator 25 brings two new animals for you to manage: buffaloes and goats. As someone who has a decent amount of experience with the latter, let me tell you that goats will absolutely take a mile if you give them an inch of lenience, and you’ll instantly regret having done so.

To counteract the goats, you’ll also now have to keep track of your livestock as they reproduce and give you cute baby animals like lambs, calves, and piglets. You’ll need to care for them and help them grow into productive livestock, allowing you to build up a field of cows with only a few years of rearing.

Of course, what feels like the biggest addition to Farming Simulator 25 from these announcements is extreme weather. We’ve had dynamic weather in past entries, but this is the first time the weather can do some real damage to crops, buildings, livestock, and everything else on your farm. Among the potential weather events you’ll encounter are tornadoes, hail, and incredibly storm storms with what I like to refer to as “sideways rain.”

As clouds darken the sky and rain or hail begin to fall, you’ve got to pack up what you’re doing and head for cover. The weather won’t last long but should give you enough time to rewatch the game’s phenomenal cinematic trailer. Tornadoes can rip up crops where they tear across the land and cause damage to your structures. This adds an entirely new element to the series, but one that farmers need to deal with more and more frequently in the real world due to climate change.

I love these new features in Farming Simulator 25, and I’m excited to see how they impact a playthrough when you think everything is going well with the current harvest or production line you have set up. Having baby animals to deal with should also provide a more accurate economic model, one that I hope accurately reflects how difficult it can be to turn a profit when rearing livestock from birth.