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[kilozombie]

...but usually that's referring to starvation



I don't know how I've done it but I've probably slaughtered 10-20 elephants and despite having only 3 farms have over a thousand plump helmets.

This sounds like a good thing, but I'm desperately running low on barrels and pots. The food growth is going faster than I can brew more alcohol and I might hit a deficit soon. Jesus Christ, I have four GIGANTIC full food stockpiles and they're just growing every month.

I seriously have a Legendary +10 carpenter making barrels non-stop and there's still tons of food just lying down in the stockpiles.

I have two legendary cooks both of which go 24/7 and I can buy out caravans with a couple barrels of prepared food.

This isn't even funny anymore. How do I get rid of this goddamn meat industry I've made? Along with that, how do I empty some of my barrels to make room for dwarven alcohol?

[Uggh]

I have two  Along with that, how do I empty some of my barrels to make room for dwarven alcohol?

Make a stockpile for empty barrels that gives to the still only. Also use glass, pottery for barrels.
I know your "problem". A flourishing food industry can easily get out of control.

[Garath]

well, first off, don't put prepared meals in barrels. Most meals don't even fit in them, so you run a real risk of 1 or 2 meals per barrel which is inefficient barrel use. Second, switch cooks now and then. I'm sure you have some Urist hanging around who used to be absolutely essential but is now only doing hauling duties. Then, just throw all the meals that are not masterwork or have high value away. Either in a garbage chute or by smashing, and keep only the most valuable meals for trading and making very, very happy dwarves who are dining like kings every time

[Eotyrannus]

Give traders ALL the elephant meat!

Or use it to appease the giant keas or something.

[joeclark77]

Use rock pots, not barrels.  They're bigger, and rock is plentiful.  Glass or earthenware/stoneware/porcelain pots also work, and their supply is unlimited if you have magma.

How big are your farms, by the way?  I usually have a 3x4 plot of plump helmets and a number of 3x3 plots of above-ground plants, and those provide more than my 200+ dwarves can ever eat, wear, and dye.

You could just build additional kitchens and appoint extra cooks to turn all of that meat into lavish meals, and simply stockpile it forever to increase fort value and attract more interesting enemies.

[slothen]

Stop booze-cooking, if you were.  Stop growing plump helmets if you have a ton of them.  If you're low on barrels maybe switch plant production to stuff that can be milled or bagged.  Make rock pots.  Make sure you have a usable well, should your drinks suddenly disappear.

well, first off, don't put prepared meals in barrels. Most meals don't even fit in them, so you run a real risk of 1 or 2 meals per barrel which is inefficient barrel use.

Barrels can hold more than a 10-stack now of plants, meals, etc.  It may still be a good idea to skip barrels for prepared food, but usually I see 2-3 large stacks of meals per barrel.

[kilozombie]

Thank you all for the advice. I haven't been booze-cooking but I forgot you don't need barrels for prepared food. I'll set a stockpile for only barrels (to give to the brewery) and one for just prepared food, no containers.

I want to use rock pots more but they're really quite heavy, right? I suppose I can use ceramics, but I'm stingy with my coal coke in that regard. When I breach magma and try my first pump stack, I might create some magma furnaces, but it's a bit away.

Also, 90% of the meals my cooks make are masterworks. My dwarves are pretty happy about that.

I have 3 max-size farm plots full of plump helmets. Should I use my other soil space for something else?

(I also have a stack of 122 elephant meat. Suck it, Boatmurdered!)

[slothen]

rock pots aren't too heavy, but I'm not sure.  Anything is better than running out of booze for lack of containers though.

max size plots are 10x10.  This is really quite enormous, especially once you have legendary farmers.  That's easily 1200 plump helmets per season.  Double if you fertilize.  In my fort I only use plump helmets for brewing.  If you have like 1000 plump helmets in reserve, and plenty of prepared food as well, and don't need cloth/dye, then you should just let the fields go fallow.

[joeclark77]

I have 3 max-size farm plots full of plump helmets. Should I use my other soil space for something else?

That's way too much.  You have 300 tiles being planted.  My 4x3 plot is 12 tiles and it produces more  than enough plump helmets, and my farmers aren't even legendary yet.

Here's my entire food industry:

4x3 plump helmets
3x3 strawberries
3x3 fisher berries
3x3 sunberries
3x3 whip vines
3x3 longland grass

That's 57 tiles under cultivation for food, compared to your 300.  I also have 3x3 plots for rope reeds, hide root, and blade weed but those aren't for food obviously.  My 200+ dwarves are fat drunk and happy, and my millers and threshers are struggling to keep up with the harvest.

It's amazing how productive agriculture is in this game.  Think in terms of little tiny plots, not monstrous ones.

[kilozombie]

I just have too many plump helmets, you're right. I tried giving fewer barrels to prepared food but all it did was mess up everything.

I have 5 breweries going constantly, so if I set up a stockpile of barrels strictly for them it should be OK.

[jthill]

Why not just not plant your fields?

[Garath]

or destroy them and remake them smaller and farm some other things? I'm usually having too much food and stuff with 10x 2x3 plots for a total size of 10x6 (3 for plump helmets, 2x sweet pods, 2x cave wheat, 2x pig tails and 1x nothing (reserve, to complete the pattern, never need it), though I often later add some above ground crops. Even though I don't have as much as you do, I still have a huge surplus

as a side note, you can only have 200 of any seed type. Having space on 3 max size plots is for at least 300, so however you look at it, you're wasting one of the plots