The Bank

The Farmer's Union is where you go to buy animaly-things, get part time jobs, and farming equipment. The Union opens earlier then normal shops, at 8am, so you have extra time to go back to your farm and work (auu.. how nice of them...). There are 4 departments to the Union shop. To buy something pick it up by pressing the A Button, learning the price, then selecting Yes or No.

Starting in the lower left corner you'll find the Bank. You can deposit G in amounts of 10000. To deposit G press the A Button while standing in front of the down-arrow graphic. To get money out of the bank stand next to the side-arrow and do the same thing. One of the problems with HM2 was that once you reached 999999 G you were stuck and couldn't get any more. Now you can put some of that into the Bank.

In the upper left corner you'll find tools you can use on your farm. There never really is a whole lot of stuff here so you will find the counter's empty most of the time. You can also buy Grass Seed here and in the second year Wheat and Rice will also be for sale.

Farm Essentials

NamePriceComment
Scarecrow Scarecrow3200 GYou should buy this as quickly as you can. The Scarecrow stops wild animals from eating your crops so your plants can grow up. You can place it anywhere in your field.
Sprinkler Sprinkler50000 G...
Grass Seed Grass Seed600 GIn order to buy animals you have to have enough grass growing in the pasture. You don't have to water grass in order for it to grow.
Rice Seed Rice Seed600 GAvailable in the second year. You have to plant Rice in water, so take your Shovel and dig big holes in your field.
Wheat Seed Wheat Seed600 GAvailable in the second year. Wheat doesn't need to be watered in order to grow.
Animal Stuff

In the upper right corner you'll find the animal products. You can buy animal medicine, grooming products, fodder, buy animals, and sell animals. Only the Shampoo and Clippers will appear if you're playing the girl version. You can only buy animals if you have grown enough grass in the pasture area of the animal you wish to purchase.

Animal Products

NamePriceComment
Cow Medicine Cow Medicine1000 GInstant cure for 1 cow
Chicken Medicine Chicken Medicine800 GInstant cure for 1 chicken
Sheep Medicine Sheep Medicine1500 GInstant cure for 1 sheep
Horse Medicine Horse Medicine2000 GInstant cure for 1 horse
Fodder Fodder500 GUsed in case you don't have any grass. There is enough fodder to fill your food bins 32 times
Shampoo Shampoo800 GPurchasable by Girl farmers only. Use it to take care of the sheep
Clippers Clippers2000 GPurchasable by Girl farmers only. You'll need these in order to harvest wool from the sheep

Animals

NameBuyComment
Cow Cow5000 GSmall cow, need at least 6 squares of grass
Chicken Chicken1000 GChickens will lay eggs the day after you buy them, need at least 3 squares of grass
Sheep Sheep3000 GSmall sheep, need at least 6 squares of grass
Horse Horse4000 GSmall horse, need at least 6 squares of grass
Part Time Jobs

The part-time jobs the Union gives out are another way of making money while you farm. The more jobs you do, the more money you make! Talk to the lady behind the counter and she'll ask if you would like to listen to the job descriptions. Tell her Yes and she'll describe a job. You can accept or decline the job and ask for a different one.

After accepting a job, you have 30 days in order to complete it. The jobs aren't dependant on the season; you might be asked to gather 30 Tomatos in the middle of Winter. If you get some that you know you can't do just decline the job and ask for another. When you have completed the job call the Farmer's Union from your house. Instead of selecting "Shipment", select "P/T Job". You'll be asked to either say you're Done with the job or you want to Cancel the job. If you select Done then the Union will tally up the money that you've earned and pay you at 6pm. The amount of money you earn depends on they type of job, how many days you had left to complete it, and how many jobs you've completed so far. (Get ready for some math.....)

job money = origional payment + (days left × total jobs completed)

For example you have the job to ship 15 Mushrooms within 30 days. The job's base-pay is 450 G, but this job is the 7th one you've signed up for. Lets say it took you 12 days to find 15 Mushrooms.

job money = 450 G + ( (30-12) × 7)
job money = 450 G + ( 18 × 7)
job money = 450 G + 126 G
job money = 576 G

Now if you had completed the job the same day that you received it, you would of earned 660 G! Try to complete your jobs as quickly as you can in order to earn the most money possible. It might even be a good idea to harvest produce first then go to the Farmer's Union and accept a job to ship your new harvest. The jobs will increase difficulty the more you do, so one day you may be asked to ship 90 of something. You may even receive the job to ship the King of Lake for 60000 G!

Cow Judging

Besides doing part-time jobs you can also get your cows judged by the Union. Activate the cow graphic and then select one of your cows. A higher love-level results in a better judging. You can't judge pregnant cows, medium cows, or small cows. Once a cow has been judged it can't be re-judged.

Horse Race

The last thing you can do at the Farmer's Union is enter your horses in the horse races. There is a Derby race for your male horses and a Filly race for your females. Once you enter a horse into the race you can't get it back, so make sure that you're ready to give up two of your horses. You can see if your horses are winning by purchasing the Cherry Cup Report (available at Lyla's on 15th of Spring) and the [Fall] Report (available on the 15th of Fall). You don't win anything for beating the other horses but it helps in the final farm ranking.