Crops randomly disappearing?

[Nhigato]

Does anyone know if there's anything that causes crops to disappear randomly? It's nothing like a storm destroying the crop because there's just nothing left behind at all. I don't believe any crows are getting to it either cause I have scarecrows everywhere.. This has happened to both of my playthroughs so far. My crop farm is completely fenced off, pathed and such and I'm 100% sure I had something planted there because I always buy the amount of seeds I need to fill what I have tilled. I've been looking for answers for a while but I haven't been able to find a concrete answer other than maybe it's a bug although I see posts saying it's been fixed at the same time.
One instance of me finding a crop is just gone with nothing left behind.

The current layout of my crop farm.

I appreciate any help anyone can give me. This just confuses me so much and it almost ruins the farming part of the game for me especially when I can't find out the reason and prevent it.

 

[Hill Myna]

Hello Nhigato!

How often is it happening and when do you notice it?

It sounds to me like lightning is your issue. How many Lightning Rods do you have on your farm?

I have around 30 on my farm and things will still occasionally be hit by lightning.

I don't believe any crows are getting to it either cause I have scarecrows everywhere.

Yes, you have enough Scarecrows.

Also, just checking, are you using any mods?

Hope this helps!

 

[Nhigato]

Hello Nhigato!

How often is it happening and when do you notice it?

It sounds to me like lightning is your issue. How many Lightning Rods do you have on your farm?

I have around 30 on my farm and things will still occasionally be hit by lightning.


Yes, you have enough Scarecrows.

Also, just checking, are you using any mods?

Hope this helps!

I'm not using any mods at all. It happens every so often, maybe once or twice a week in game. On top of that it's happened when there wasn't any rain or storm the day before. Even if it was lightning there'd always be an indication that lightning struck the plant because the plant would be in a wilted state. I have about 50 of the lightning rods out and about too. These plants have been just straight up disappearing and I know for sure I didn't just accidentally hit it.

 

[Hill Myna]

I'm not using any mods at all. It happens every so often, maybe once or twice a week in game. On top of that it's happened when there wasn't any rain or storm the day before. Even if it was lightning there'd always be an indication that lightning struck the plant because the plant would be in a wilted state. I have about 50 of the lightning rods out and about too. These plants have been just straight up disappearing and I know for sure I didn't just accidentally hit it.

Wow, that must be annoying.

I’m out of ideas; sounds like a bug. Wish I could be more useful!

This thread highlights a similar issue.

Hopefully someone else can help you!

 

[Chito]

Every now and then I too encountered one or several crops disappearing out of nowhere. I haven't been able to figure out what was truly the cause. I then started to find weeds growing near the areas where the disappearing crops were, so I started to daily check for weeds around my crops and getting rid of them right away and the disappearing crops suddenly stopped. I'm not 100% certain if that's what stopped it, but I haven't had anymore crops disappearing like before. Supposedly weeds near fruit trees stunt their growth, so perhaps the weeds near our crops are making them disappear?

 

[Nhigato]

Wow, that must be annoying.

I’m out of ideas; sounds like a bug. Wish I could be more useful!

This thread highlights a similar issue.

Hopefully someone else can help you!

I still really appreciate the help! <3

Every now and then I too encountered one or several crops disappearing out of nowhere. I haven't been able to figure out what was truly the cause. I then started to find weeds growing near the areas where the disappearing crops were, so I started to daily check for weeds around my crops and getting rid of them right away and the disappearing crops suddenly stopped. I'm not 100% certain if that's what stopped it, but I haven't had anymore crops disappearing like before. Supposedly weeds near fruit trees stunt their growth, so perhaps the weeds near our crops are making them disappear?

That could be possible, I'll try messing around some more on my farm and checking for those stinky weeds if that's the case. I thought there'd be a little notification of weeds occurring and disrupting the farm if it ever happened since it has happened to me before but maybe it only tells you the first time around? I guess I'll see once I go through a season without crops disappearing out of nowhere or not.

 

[Chito]

I still really appreciate the help! <3



That could be possible, I'll try messing around some more on my farm and checking for those stinky weeds if that's the case. I thought there'd be a little notification of weeds occurring and disrupting the farm if it ever happened since it has happened to me before but maybe it only tells you the first time around? I guess I'll see once I go through a season without crops disappearing out of nowhere or not.

If the weeds aren't the issue, then my only guess would be either a bug as you mentioned earlier or lightning as Hill Myna mentioned above. Either way it's pretty strange that's happening. Usually when a crop dies, it withers away and turns brown and you get rid of it yourself, but these just seem to vanish.

 

[Quirinea]

If the weeds aren't the issue, then my only guess would be either a bug as you mentioned earlier or lightning as Hill Myna mentioned above. Either way it's pretty strange that's happening. Usually when a crop dies, it withers away and turns brown and you get rid of it yourself, but these just seem to vanish.

And if it were weeds there should be a notice in the morning. "Weeds have done damage to your crops" or the like.

 

[CryogenCrystals]

Yep, this is indeed a strange one. I wonder if you might somehow have a bugged save? Is this on a platform where there's save file access/editing ability? What platform are people playing on that the issue occurs? I'm just thinking that maybe someone could take a look at your save file if there's access, to see if there's anything funky going on that could be easily fixed (have seen a save file edit fix some stuff that glitched out). If it is on console, that would be even weirder, no save file access.

Definitely a bit more details about platform and version would be helpful for a Help & Bug reports forum post maybe. Also to eliminate some possibilities, if not on console, it would be good to know if mods were ever used with this game (and then maybe later removed), because some stuff can crops up from mods that doesn't get fixed on mod removal. Or, if save file editing has ever been done and maybe something went a little whacky (sometimes an easy fix?). Or, if mods were never used, if you remember what you might have been doing in-game around the time the issue emerged (so there might be some idea of where the bug happened, or what triggered it, that might have glitched out)... but I know that remembering stuff like that might not be feasible.

There are some awesome save file editors that might be able to look and see if they can spot anything amiss in your save file, if there's access to them that is... but right now it is really sounding like a bug... especially if more reports crop up, maybe it is a new bug that has emerged.

I agree, it sounds annoying as heck!

 

[hexnessie]

Does anyone know if there's anything that causes crops to disappear randomly? It's nothing like a storm destroying the crop because there's just

I have the same problem, esp. on Ginger Island. There is nothing left, just an empty space where the crop should be - no rotten/dried plant, no weeds, nothing at all. It could be crows, but crows aren't supposed to appear on Ginger Island. I got some scarecrows anyway, thinking that maybe parrots are the crop-destroying menace on the Island instead of crows, but it didn't help.

I mean, it's possible I could have forgotten to plant something in one spot once, twice, maybe three times. Even though I go through all plots just to check after planting expensive / long term seeds like starfruit.

But consistently getting an empty space in otherwise perfectly planted crops on main farm / island farm just doesn't seem so random. I refuse to believe it's my fault! ;)

 

[Nhigato]

Is this on a platform where there's save file access/editing ability? What platform are people playing on that the issue occurs?

I play on PC.

Definitely a bit more details about platform and version would be helpful for a Help & Bug reports forum post maybe. Also to eliminate some possibilities, if not on console, it would be good to know if mods were ever used with this game (and then maybe later removed), because some stuff can crops up from mods that doesn't get fixed on mod removal. Or, if save file editing has ever been done and maybe something went a little whacky (sometimes an easy fix?). Or, if mods were never used, if you remember what you might have been doing in-game around the time the issue emerged (so there might be some idea of where the bug happened, or what triggered it, that might have glitched out)... but I know that remembering stuff like that might not be feasible.

I've never used any sort of mod or save file editor while playing the game. I just play the game normally and it just happens :/ It still happens every now and then, on my current playthrough I'm on summer year 2 and there's still crops just straight up disappearing in my farm overnight. It has to be a bug at this point otherwise there would have been some sort of record or statement out there about what causes it because anytime I go to do some research to find anything about the issue it seems to have been a problem for a few years and it doesn't seem to be an intended feature in the game...

 

[CryogenCrystals]

Sound like it. The Help & Bug Reports forum is the right place to file a bug reports, along with as much information per that forum's rules, so they know the other factors are ruled out. Knowing that other things are factored or eliminated when writing there (as mentioned an maybe narrowed down here) can be helpful in that kind of bug report filing.

Hopefully someone will file it here in the General Discussion forum (if they havent already), or ask this post to be moved there where it might belong, so it is seen by the dev(s). Even linking to this one for the backstory and questions asked might add some helpful context to a bug report (usually that kind of thing does) if it hasn't already been reported there. I have no idea if they look in this General Discussion forum for bug reports.

 

[imnvs]

Just an idea... have you interacted with your scarecrows to see if they're scaring away crows? They'll tell you.

 

[Nhigato]

Just an idea... have you interacted with your scarecrows to see if they're scaring away crows? They'll tell you.

Yes I have and they're all scaring away an amount of crows every time I check them.

 

[Spiderella]

I googled this, and found zero answers. I'm having the exact same problem. No lightning storm, no crows, no dead plant left behind - crops are just randomly vanishing into thin air.

 

[haywud]

I'm also seeing this sort of thing happen. The plants I'm seeing disappear are on Ginger Island, which from what I understand there are no crows there so unless the game is glitching and/or a mod is causing problems then it isn't crows. If plants hit by lightning are supposed to die and not simply vanish, then it also isn't lightning because the only dead plants I've seen have been from season changes. Now in my case I could see it being the results of mods because I currently use mods, or save editing because I edited my save to have a different farm layout, then again if people that just play the vanilla game are having the problem then sounds like it isn't just mod related.

Here's an image showing some of my most recent missing crops. If you look at the small line of hops I have here, you will see that there are a couple of them that are missing. There's also a small row of green beans just north of there that have a couple of missing spots. Luckily for me they aren't crops that I really need or use anymore, but I can imagine that it's pretty frustrating for those that are having this happen with crops that they really make use of.

 

[Iandrasil]

Also experiencing this problem, with big farms and a ton of crops I'm sometimes noticing whole swathes of 4-5 crops vanishing completely, happens without rain almost every day I can spot 1-4 crops missing, using deluxe scarecrows everything is well within range, started happening in year 2 no crops were vanishing in year 1, I think it's a new bug introduced recently that for some reason starts at year 2 or after some point of progression, I have no clue how to fix it, everyone online seems to blame lightning but I have now out of frustration cheated in 254 lightning rods and crops are still disappearing, fences don't do anything to prevent it either, I have absolutely no clue on how to fix this but it 100% seems to start happening after a certain point either # of crops from sheer expansion on the farm or after a certain point in the game.

the frequency I am not kidding is literally every day I progress I notice 4-5 crops vanish now and it seems to increase the more time progresses, start of year 2 only 1-2 crops went missing each day now at day 16 of year 2 I am noticing whole swathes of 5-7 crops per day vanishing, it's not crows, not lightning, I really want a fix for this bug cause googling it people have been experiencing this both modded and unmodded since 2016

Edit: worth noting that just as with the OP the soil remains tilled and fertilizer remains in place, ofc until you notice too late one of your crops vanished and the tilled soil naturally resets to normal

 

[Giant Octopodes]

Also experiencing this problem, with big farms and a ton of crops I'm sometimes noticing whole swathes of 4-5 crops vanishing completely, happens without rain almost every day I can spot 1-4 crops missing, using deluxe scarecrows everything is well within range, started happening in year 2 no crops were vanishing in year 1, I think it's a new bug introduced recently that for some reason starts at year 2 or after some point of progression, I have no clue how to fix it, everyone online seems to blame lightning but I have now out of frustration cheated in 254 lightning rods and crops are still disappearing, fences don't do anything to prevent it either, I have absolutely no clue on how to fix this but it 100% seems to start happening after a certain point either # of crops from sheer expansion on the farm or after a certain point in the game.

the frequency I am not kidding is literally every day I progress I notice 4-5 crops vanish now and it seems to increase the more time progresses, start of year 2 only 1-2 crops went missing each day now at day 16 of year 2 I am noticing whole swathes of 5-7 crops per day vanishing, it's not crows, not lightning, I really want a fix for this bug cause googling it people have been experiencing this both modded and unmodded since 2016

Edit: worth noting that just as with the OP the soil remains tilled and fertilizer remains in place, ofc until you notice too late one of your crops vanished and the tilled soil naturally resets to normal

Definitely make a post in the help and bug report forum, and include as attachments save files from consecutive days - a day, and then the next day, with specific notes as to the location of where the crops are which are disappearing. If you can provide multiple such examples, even better.

As a note I'm not experiencing this at all, I've grown thousands of crops, nearing in on the tens of thousands mark, and I'm at the end of year 2. No crops are mysteriously going missing for me. So if it is a bug, it's not a universal one. However that doesn't mean it's not a bug, and in order to solve it, specific info like this is needed.

 

[Cuusardo]

I recently had this happen with one of my crops. There's a scarecrow. I didn't see a plant that had been struck by lightning. Suddenly one day there's a spot of untilled soil there and I'm all "Huh?"

 

[ALCRD]

I noticed 2 of my blueberry bushes dissapeared from existence for some reason.
I am pretty sure they were still within range of Scarecrow as i done some research on that matter beforehand.