Farms - only a detriment?

[khelvan]

Serious question here - is there any real reason to build farm upgrades?

It seems to me that expanding too quickly only leads to squalor and revolt. Once the city is huge the amount of farm income seems to be far overshadowed by the problems the additional population the farm upgrades allow. There is no way to destroy a farm upgrade once it is built.

The amount of money spent keeping down revolts just seems to be more than the income you would get from the farms. So the only reason to build them would be to increase population quickly, but since you can't get rid of them even in situations where you want to grow a city fast it still seems like it would not be worth it to build the farm, as in the end it will cause more problems than it provides benefits.

Having to import food doesn't seem to reduce income at all...

Am I just missing something here? If not, I will never buy the farm again (pun intended).

-Khel

[Red Harvest]

I don't know. I haven't tried it. But I've wondered if it made any difference as well. One would think that better farms would lead to a better fed population that would be healthier, happier, and more productive. However, I'm not seeing much evidence of this.

[Praylak]

Having to import food doesn't seem to reduce income at all...
-Khel

If anything you should get income from it as it is trade, thus taxable.

Say no to farms, build a port and market. ::):

[Thoros of Myr]

In the eastern countries not only do you have ports and markets but you also have caravans/silk road to get income with. This will need further investigation...

[andrewt]

In many cities, you won't be able to reach the later upgrades without farms. That's the only reason I build them and then, only enough so I can reach that magical 24,000 number.

[Oaty]

Simple solution have an exterminator. Sure the town will grow quick but the simple solution is prepare for a revolt then extermiante them. Most of the income is still there but the population is'nt. Then retrain all those troops that got depleted and that city will be so small that it will take them 100 years to revolt again

[Kraellin]

farms produce income. how good the income depends on the conditions in the province. but, perhaps even more important is in the town details list. take a look at your food production and what that affects. i always build farms and always max out their production capacities with upgrades.

K.