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[Lidku]

Currently the only way to have viable aboveground crops is to gamely channel a wide portion of ground or use a pump to spray the ground (natural irrigation the real world way doesn't work in DF). Irrigation where you channel away from a running river should fertilze the ground a couple tiles near it and clear out all the troublesome rocks for farming. This will definitely help if you play civs that are most aboveground based. 

[Shonai_Dweller]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=76007.0

A huge amount of effort has been put into discussing how farming can be improved over the past 15 years. Please don't ignore it all.

BEFORE POSTING A SUGGESTION

Check our development pages. You can find everything in one place at this link.
Search for an existing thread. If you find a thread similar to your idea, you can bump it to expand on the suggestion, even if the thread is old.  However, please do not bump threads just to show support.

[Sarmatian123]

I just cut trees and build a floor above, so that pest, the trees, is not growing there. I wall off pastures (else animals will leave pasture), but above ground fields are an issue for how many seeds are allowed in game. The only cave-ins I do, is when leveling whole map to some lower level (mostly to get rid off the trees) and want to preserve some area for farming.

Trees grow way too fast imho. In 5 years time map can be so over overgrown with trees, that even caravans' wagons can not pass from edge to middle of the map, where usually I place my depot. This is most concerning imho right now, then getting farm land lowered with cave-ins.

Though getting farm land above ground, high in air, with forming obsidian (water+lava) and caving it (over built walls or other obsidian) is a game of chance. Even getting anything to grow higher into air (like on the roof of constructed building) with mud trick, can be a game of chance, as air's different levels have their own different biomes. People using DFHack are saying there is a way to spy on those biomes, as some can be even rising dead and can be used for some reanimation?

Yeah, the rocks spawned from thin air into fresh clay/sand, which can not be removed then by any means (even through additional cave-ins), are a painful part of DF. For now.

[Lidku]

Trees aren't really a problem for me- its the damn rocks that are conveniently always in the right place at the right time that impedes my farming almost all the time. There has to be a job or workshop that allows you to collect aboveground rocks to make space for farm plot. Maybe surface rocks can finally have a use!

[Lidku]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=76007.0

A huge amount of effort has been put into discussing how farming can be improved over the past 15 years. Please don't ignore it all.

BEFORE POSTING A SUGGESTION

Check our development pages. You can find everything in one place at this link.
Search for an existing thread. If you find a thread similar to your idea, you can bump it to expand on the suggestion, even if the thread is old.  However, please do not bump threads just to show support.

That thread isn't what I suggested at all. It wants to overhaul Farming to be more difficult- I just want an easier way to farm aboveground. This suggestion is completely different from that. Basically its a suggestion on better land clearing

[Bumber]

Yeah, the rocks spawned from thin air into fresh clay/sand, which can not be removed then by any means (even through additional cave-ins), are a painful part of DF. For now.

Trees aren't really a problem for me- its the damn rocks that are conveniently always in the right place at the right time that impedes my farming almost all the time. There has to be a job or workshop that allows you to collect aboveground rocks to make space for farm plot. Maybe surface rocks can finally have a use!

Are you talking about the ones that can be removed by smoothing the floor?

[Lidku]

No, the surface rocks that dot the natural surface that can't be interacted with unless channeling to completely destroy it. Start up a game and try to plot a farm and keep doing so until you start getting "bumps" for your plotting.

[Bumber]

No, the surface rocks that dot the natural surface that can't be interacted with unless channeling to completely destroy it. Start up a game and try to plot a farm and keep doing so until you start getting "bumps" for your plotting.

Have you tried smoothing those?

[Lidku]

You can't smooth those rocks o- oh, looks like you can smooth them! Though they merely revert to a stone tile as usual and aren't viable for farming.

[voliol]

I agree we need some way to get rid of these rocks/boulders. Especially since the ground below them is usually not rock but soil, so it makes little sense that the only way to ”get rid of them” is to flatten them, and turn them into a floor. Rather, they should be shattered or hauled off.

Now, the question is what size these boulders are. Are they just big rocks, less than a metre across, or are they tile-sized monoliths? Considering creatures other than wagons can walk throuh them unimpeded, I would argue for the former, the surface boulders are big rocks but not more than that. Knowing this dwarves should be able to haul the surface boulders no problem. Perhaps an ”unearth boulders”  designation could be used to drag these out of the ground, and create. These boulders shouldn’t be large enough to create an actual BOULDER item though, so I dunno what would happen then. Perhaps a ”remove boulder” designation that simply obliberates them would be an easier option.

[therahedwig]

From the dev notes it seems they're intended to be big boulders like the one you get from mining, as the adventure mode notes suggest digging them out and making rough stone constructions with them.

[Sarmatian123]

[...] they merely revert to a stone tile as usual and aren't viable for farming.

Indeed. Stone tile will result from any smoothing of boulder tile. Build floor or wall, remove... stone tile under, for ever.
Somehow pasturing animals, speeds up the process of soil tiles turning into boulder tiles.
The only hope is, some sprout of a tree, will appear over the untouched boulder tile. Then it becomes soil tile again.

I didn't try to pour water+lava on boulder though. I think, mining obsidian out, will do something with its floor, as it can not be obsidian. Due a bug. Hopefully a soil tile?

[Lidku]

There should be another zoning area that allows you to collect dirt like you can for Sand and Clay, so you can use it to coat down particular areas for soil. Also this will allow easier underground farming too be possible without the ol' bucket trick with the Pond designation.

[Azerty]

There should be another zoning area that allows you to collect dirt like you can for Sand and Clay, so you can use it to coat down particular areas for soil. Also this will allow easier underground farming too be possible without the ol' bucket trick with the Pond designation.

We could even use organic refuse for this.

[GoblinCookie]

Currently the only way to have viable aboveground crops is to gamely channel a wide portion of ground or use a pump to spray the ground (natural irrigation the real world way doesn't work in DF). Irrigation where you channel away from a running river should fertilze the ground a couple tiles near it and clear out all the troublesome rocks for farming. This will definitely help if you play civs that are most aboveground based.

No, you just put down a farm plot aboveground on soil and plants the seeds.