As of the update today, players who have bought all of their ranch expansion regions can start a new quest by talking to Farmer MacDonald, who has decided he wants to help you explore the world of plant splicing. The reward? Your very own Plant Splicing Station!
Once you have the station, harvesting crops on your ranch will start counting towards Crop Research Goals. Each crop has a certain number of harvests (of that crop) that you must do before you can try to level it up. Once you reach the Research Goal you can begin to research an upgrade for that crop. This research will take time, and will be more difficult and time consuming based on the crop's level. When the research is complete, you’ll either have successfully leveled up the crop (increasing its production or decreasing its growing time) or you’ll get a boost to your success chance and can try again. Each level will take more harvests of the crop to meets its research goal and the max level of each crop is 10, at which point the crop will, on average, be about 20% better.
While researching a crop, harvests of that crop won't count towards its next level research goal, but you can still harvest different types of crops to start working on their goals.
There are also a variety of new achievements for dedicated Plant Splicers, some of which come with exciting titles.
Happy farming!
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FAQ:
Can I research rare seeds, like Magic Beans, Super Blueberries, or Mushrooms?
- No, those plants cannot be researched. Only normal fruit and vegetable crops can be modified using the Plant Splicing Station.