Why can't we build farms and fields in the western steppe? Isn't that the Ukraine? isn't that supposed to be some of the best Farmland in the world? Just asking, I don't really know.
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So I may be wrong. But as I vaguely remember hearing something about the type of soil in the region relies on modern knowledge and techniques to make it into some of the best farmland in the world. Thus making it not available back during the medieval period.
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To parrot what I gleaned from watching the news, every April to May Ukraine undergoes mass melting, turning the soil to mud everywhere. People slow to a crawl, tanks sink into the earth, and farming sounds fairly impossible in such a situation if you don't have a mini-tractor who could tread across all this mess.
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Yeah. From what I remember from the "The Mongol WOrld" cities like Sarai, Qaraqorum were sites of intensive farming with some communities entierly moved unto the steppe to help further feed Sarai.
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I doubt that the steppes would be used for farming, even the Ukraine or parts of Kazakhstan, which have black soil. It's either farm or pasture. The game term 'fertility' refers to grass/grazing fertility, the abundance of pasturage for livestock, not soil. Misleading but that's how it is. Large herds need lots of pasture because grass is replenishable but takes time to regrow, so herds need to move and move across the area as pasture is depleted. Feeding the sedentary subjects of the Golden Horde through farming happened in the surrounding areas to the steppes(like Transoxiana). Nomadic people could feed themselves traditionally, so farming would be of secondary concern to them. In any case, farming in Ukraine would be difficult at that time period due to short growing season, lack of other resources and little rainfall most of the year.
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