This DLC pack for Farming Simulator 25 has a clear North American focus, even if some of the machinery probably do exist in other parts of the world as well. In total the DLC contains twenty different machines – tractors, equipment, and even a new truck for your heavy transportation needs.
Let’s start off with the ones that has got the most pre-release eyebrow raisings. The two Ford tractors. The Ford 976 Versatile and the Ford 1156 Versatile are both big behemoths from the 1980s and behind their names hides a bit of intricate tractor company history. So let’s start with that. Bear with me, will you?
Once upon a time Ford – or their Fordson brand – used to be a very common name in agriculture. Since the early days of combustion engine powered tractors it was one of the major brands found on farms in many parts of the world. So it is not too surprising that many farming enthusiasts were happy to see the announcement that Ford tractors where to make an official appearance in the game, even if only in the form of a couple of 1980s tractors.
Versatile was originally a Canadian company founded in Winnipeg in 1963 and was the first company to produce articulated four-wheel-drive tractors. with a long and renowned history of its own before it was bought by Ford-New Holland in 1987 and some of the tractors were rebranded as Ford. This is the reason two of the big tractors in the Plains & Prairies pack come in two different versions and paint schemes – Versatile 976 and Versatile 1156 in their striking tri-colour paint as well as their Ford equivalents in the traditional Ford blue. Of the two, the Versatile one is probably the rarest in real life farming since these models only were sold under that brand for a few years before the Ford rebranding.
The Plains & Prairies pack also has a couple of modern day Versatile tractors. The smaller Versatile Nemesis and Versatile MFWD as well as the quad-track Versatile DeltaTrack series. Because the Versatile company did not end with their amalgamation into Ford. That turned out to be little more than a parenthesis in the brands history.
In 1991 Ford Motor Company divested of their agricultural division, whose brands were taken over by Fiat. The Ford brand for tractors was phased out in favour of New Holland while Versatile remained with their new owners until 1999 when Fiat – now New Holland – had to sell the brand when New Holland was merged with Case IH who already had similar articulated tractors in their line-up. Versatile then was owned in turn by Bühler Industries, then Rostselmash, and now is part of the Turkish company Basak Tractors since early 2024.
So that’s the long and winding story behind the three current, new and shiny Versatile tractors. Of these three the DeltaTrack is the spiritual successor to the groundbreaking Versatile tractors of old and an interesting – and colourful – addition to the quadtracks from other companies.
The two smaller tractors are equally colourful and even if they don’t pack the same horse-power punch, they are two interesting alternatives too for that more everyday farm use. The Versatile Nemesis actually comes with its own, Versatile-branded frontloader which is a nice change from having to use the usual ones.
There is in fact one more tractor included, but that is a rather special one indeed. The Versatile 1080 Big Roy as it is called was a one-of-a-kind experimental tractor (and it sure looks the part) built in 1977. This distinctly special look of a tractor’s inclusion in the pack I see more as a gimmick. It is a fun inclusion, but it’s not exactly a tractor made for everyday use.
In addition to the tractors the pack contains a varied selection of implements from Brandt, GEA, Salford, and Väderstad for cultivating, planting and the likes.
It should be said that many of the implements included in this pack are pretty demanding when it comes to horse-powers. It’s obvious that they foremost are meant to be used either together with the big tractors in this pack or equally large tractors. The Versatile Nemesis and even the MFWD can’t use all that many of these.
As already mentioned there’s also a truck from the International brand’s LT series and a corresponding Trout River Industries trailer. And to round the package off there’s a self-propelled sprayer from Fendt – the Fendt Rogator 900 Series – which may be the only driveable piece of equipment that may be equally useful in a realistic European setting.
To conclude the Plains & Prairie pack is – if you belong to those who like to play your Farming Simulator game realistic or semi-realistic – mostly of interest if you are playing on North American maps (or possibly Australian and South American; I admit I know very little of which tractors were and are in use there). If you are on the other hand, the pack is a very nice addition to the machinery stable with its selection of both classical and modern tractors.
The old-style 1980s heavy tractors are a nice addition and an interesting change from all the modern ones and the fact that they come in both Ford and Versatile branding is a plus, in particular since Ford is one of those classic big brands when it comes to tractors. It can’t be helped that there is a certain charm in sitting in a big, blue Ford tractor pulling a huge seeder over the rolling midwestern plains.
The implements included in the pack are a mix of brands which makes them a good addition to the already existing equipment and in some cases make for a much needed bigger selection in their categories, but most of them requires a hefty amount of horse-powers for their use. This pack is – as the title hints – foremost for those large fields on the North American plains and prairies. For that use however, it certainly has its use.
