Like cooking, tree climbing, skydiving, and naughty things in the bedroom, farming is at its best when done with toys and attachments. A partnership between Saitek and the Farming Simulator folks is about to make virtual farming a touch more like real farming in all the right, non-sweaty ways.
Gamepads do a terrible job simulating a real tractor's steering wheel, as do a mouse and keyboard. Generic steering wheel accessories are made for racing games, and you don't need a brain scientist to tell you those thing handle differently than a tractor. The only sensible solution is to create a dedicated peripheral device perfectly suited for farming. Saitek is currently at work on just such a thing. It seems it won't be around until the 2015 holiday season, but hey, farming requires patience.
Because you know you want to see what it looks like:
The wheel and control panel for Farming Simulator 15 aims for realism. A center sprung steering wheel with 900 degrees of turning along with the a wheel turning knob are exactly what you'd find on the machines in the game. A mini stick on the wheel lets you control your movement when not sitting in the vehicle, buttons allow you to activate your in-game PDA, and gas/brake pedals let you, you know, gas and brake. There's even an exclusive Vehicle Side Panel coming for Farming Simulator 15 which features a front loader control stick to move attachments with programmable buttons. Sweet crop yield of Springfield, that actually sounds fun!