@Sholron To win against a strip-farm, once they've hired away your allies, bank in pots or upgrade a bit, and then leave as little as possible $ out. Once you get 0 gold, sell your SDP's and bank those too. Now, You=0 Gold, losing a renewable resource Them=LOSING SPIES RAGE!!!
Depends on the kind of farmer. There are three main types in my view...those who farm for gold (counter with pots, usually a quick solution), those who farm to retaliate because you did them wrong(time mostly here, these are the worst) and those who farm for entertainment.
If it's entertainment or gold, do what I said. They'll get pissed at losing spies while you lose NOTHING. Same for retaliatory farmers, so long as you haven't pissed them off too much
Those who farm for entertainment are an interesting bunch...there are a few subvariations of these, one must analyze them to discover which they are. One thing...most of this is based on the random farmer. If somebody farmed me because of this thread, they'd be the second type (should describe as a motive farmer now that I think about it)
I farm for strategy. In the book of normal people it's not called farming...it's called playing kingdoms at war.
So, how do you counter them? One...when farmed, don't post an accusatory statement on their wall. Most entertainment farmers love those who do this. Perfect targets. A simple question mark works better. Or, if it's but a single unload...let it slide if you've evidence they're a big time farmer. Most of the single unloads are scouting raid. The entertainment farmers are easily avoided. Once targeted, go on with your life and ignore them. They'll probably heat things up to get you to respond, but don't. Block them even. They'll soon grow bored and move on.