Most profitable crop

[laclac]

Hello,

I finished my 2nd year, but I realized that the profitability of plants are not identicalThe profitability is not identical according to the plants.
So I look for them to be the most profitable plants per season.
I saw the page https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Crops
But it takes the purchase price into account, but I have the seed machine so it's "free" which ultimately changes everything.
thanks

 

[One More Day]

Seeds from the seed maker are not free. The machine doesn't make them out of thin air. Yes, it outputs seeds, but to do so, you have to input a crop, which has its own value.

Putting a crop through the machine will produce, on average, approximately 2 seeds, so let's take a look at some of the big money crops from each season and crunch the numbers....

A cauliflower has a base value of 175g, and so the two seeds would effectively cost 87.5g each, slightly more expensive than buying them for 80g each
A melon has a base value of 250g, the two seeds would effectively cost 125g, quite a bit more than buying for 80g each
A pumpkin has base value of 320g, the two seeds would effectively cost 160g, again quite a bit more than buying for 100g each

Even at base quality, you can clearly see that all of these are actually a losing proposition, compared to just selling them raw and buying new seeds. Once you factor in the 10% price boost from the Tiller profession, and then on top of that add the quality bonuses for silver and gold, the losses just build up. For instance, a gold pumpkin is worth 528g, so the two seeds it makes cost 264g, more than 2.5x the cost of just buying a seeds.

And if you had the opportunity to process them in a keg or a jar, you're losing out on an even larger amount of money. Going back to the pumpkins, Pumpkin juice sells for a whopping 1008g with Artisan profession. If you stick it in a seed maker instead of a keg, those seeds have an effective cost of 504g.

Your theory only really works with the very cheapest crops, such as tulips, at base quality or sometimes silver quality. As the crops get more valuable, the losses mount up.

As a money maker, if you have a lot of seed makers, and a lot of blueberries or cranberries, it is also a reasonable option for quickly increasing the value of the crop. For instance, a 50g blueberry becomes 2 blueberry seeds worth 80g, in just 20 minutes.

The seed maker is, however, the only reasonable way to generate seeds to grow lots of ancient fruit, as the seeds cannot be purchased.

 

[Gilleafrey]

Agree: also I use seed makers to increase rare crops you can't really buy seeds for, like the Ancient Fruit; but once you have a greenhouse full of those, or sections of your farm growing them from spring through to fall, your returns are good again (I'll crunch the numbers some other less sleepy time)

 

[laclac]

Oh thank you very much. It's very interesting.
I hadn't thought like that at all. I was wrong. Thank you

Suddenly, I have a doubt about another strategy that I was doing.
To multiply my earnings, each product I harvest I put them in a jar or keg (depending on profitability) (I don't unlock the cask yet).
Since kegs and jars do not take into account the quality (gold or silver) but the basic price, I am not looking for quality.
So I never use fertilizer. Is this a good strategy ?

 

[redbobcat]

In addition to ancient seeds I use seed makers to create strawberry seeds just enough for the next spring. This way I can plant them on spring 1st instead of waiting for the festival to buy the seeds on 13th. Gives me 3 additional harvests or so.

 

[Shar]

So I never use fertilizer. Is this a good strategy ?

I'd say yes. I only use fertilizer on parsnips in year 1 spring to ensure I get 5 gold quality ones.
After that, with all the trees that get chopped down thru the seasons, sap is just extra income. They add up nicely. It's my bait money when I need more.

 

[laclac]

Ok, perfect.
Currently in automn, I mainly planted pumpkin (16,92po/d +keg), Canneberge (18,89po/d + keg) and Artichoke (16,25p/d + jar).
In the spring I think I planted just 3 varieties of plants: Cabbage (7po/d + jar), strawberry (15p/d + keg), coffee (20p/d + keg)
In summer, just 2 types : Blueberry (20,8po/d + jar) and Red cabbage (17,78p/d + keg)
(I used the ref: https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Crops)

I think keep this new strategy each year. Is it good ?
Do you have an other strategy to win the money with the crop ?

 

[Boo1972]

So, there is a community spreadsheet on these forums that must list the most profitable crops. I would say hops can be good if you have kegs. Hops make pale ale relatively quickly compared to the wines. There are people who grow nothing but ancient fruit and star fruit in their green houses in order to produce wine. Good luck!

 

[__Fishy__]

If you're wanting to a completely rundown, then this website will help. It has options for the perks, fruits, wines, and jellies, and can even include costs for fertilizers and seeds.

The best crop/item IMO is making ancient fruit wine. It takes a bit of time and requires the green house to begin, but after all of your plants finish growing then every 7 days you are able to make more wine (since every 7 days the fruit grows and the wine is done processing).

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

The answer to your question is... it depends.

The most profitable crop over time out in the farm itself? Probably going to go with Ancient Fruit. It can last three seasons, is extremely profitable, and can be brewed into wine for even greater profits. However, that doesn't exactly answer what I suspect your actual question, which is 'what should I be planting in any given season'. Which, if you aren't swimming in Ancient Fruit, is more of a nuanced question.

For Spring, obviously Strawberries are a great option. However, strawberries also only come from the Egg Festival. So either you saved back seeds from last year or you only plant for half the season, meaning only two harvests (three with Speed-Gro). Therefore, Rhubarb is going to probably be your best contender.

For Summer, Hops and Starfruit are the two primary profitable plants, assuming you can process them. Hops brews into Pale Ale for huge profits overall, Starfruit is just the most expensive crop in the game. However, Hops is a Trellis crop, so you can't walk through them, so rows of Hops interspersed with Starfruit can be a viable strategy.

For Fall... sadly, none of your options are particularly good. Your choice is between Pumpkins and Cranberries, both relatively lackluster. Either way, you can use Preserves Jars to increase profits. But it makes no sense to make Cranberry Wine and the profit margins on Pumpkin Juice over Pickles is relatively small.

Then there's the Greenhouse. Which I've already talked about in my post here.

 

[Tom]

create strawberry seeds just enough for the next spring

Can you motivate me to plant Strawberries "the next Spring"? It seems I will be blessed to be flush with Ancient Fruit in the current playthrough. Gifting? Cooking? Wine? Succulent appearance and flavor?

 

[Tom]

I'd say yes. I only use fertilizer on parsnips in year 1 spring to ensure I get 5 gold quality ones.

What about Luau, Fair, and early birthday gifts? Do you have plenty of gold star without fertilizer? Do you ignore socializing until you have Rabbits, Diamonds, and Prismatic Shards galore?

 

[Tom]

Do you have an other strategy to win the money with the crop ?

Short answer: Tap Oak Trees today! Then gradually put Hops, Starfruit, Ancient Fruit, and other high-dollar crops into Kegs. Also work on donating to the Community Center Pantry to unlock your Greenhouse.
Hops layout:


Tappers and speedy keg layout on Standard Farm, With Hops this gives you about 20-40k gold every couple of days:


Are you talking about in general or right now? If right now, can you let us know

1. What year/season/date are you at?
2. What are all your skill levels?

3. What is your Community Center completion?

 

[Shar]

What about Luau, Fair, and early birthday gifts? Do you have plenty of gold star without fertilizer? Do you ignore socializing until you have Rabbit's, Diamonds, and Prismatic Shards galore?

Other than when I first got the game in March and wanted to befriend everyone at once, I don't prioritize gifting and birthdays anymore. I'm usually fishing or mining all day the first year and don't want to break away for an hour or two from either of those activities to find someone in order to gift them.
The first year I'll have a gold cauliflower that I take to the luau and that gets the highest grade on the community soup. And I will attend the festivals and talk to everyone for friendship points, except the spring dance.
If someone is near me while I'm moving around, I'll right click chat with them. If it's the worst luck day and coincides with someone's birthday, I'll gift them. Although I never gift anything expensive like diamonds or prismatic shards. Most people have a loved gift that isn't expensive. And if not, their liked gifts are generally plentiful somewhere in my inventory.
I don't think I need to go beyond that, especially when you finish the bulletin board @CC, your heart value goes up a decent amount with the whole town.

Now I will say, I do try to do as many quests as possible especially the mining copper/kill this mine monster/fetch this gem quest. You have 2 days to do each one and they help friendship points and more importantly give you early gold when you're still struggling a bit.

Also, starting in year two, I still don't prioritize gifting but do emphasize it more. In my current game (late spring year two), I'm pretty sure half the town is over 6 hearts and the rest above 4 hearts even with my lazy attitude towards befriending them, except maybe Kent who just showed up. I don't see Sandy much but take a gift everytime I need to buy something at her shop. Krobus and the dwarf are kept happy with horse radish and dwarf scrolls respectively - both of which I have in abundance. I now always keep a stack of fruit on me that I pass out when I come across someone, I keep tea for the mayor and caroline when I go to pierre's. Amethyst for the girl who eats them. And so on.
If I keep this up, I think everyone will be at 10 hearts by end of year two. And I think that's fine, no reason to rush it in year one at the expense of doing something else in the game.

 

[redbobcat]

Can you motivate me to plant Strawberries "the next Spring"? It seems I will be blessed to be flush with Ancient Fruit in the current playthrough. Gifting? Cooking? Wine? Succulent appearance and flavor?

I don’t play for “maximum profit”, I play to enjoy the game. The one time I seeded all my fields with Ancient Fruit was probably the earliest game I quit. Because it became boring. I like having different crops on my fields, that keeps ME motivated.

As for strawberries, I use them to seed the greenhouse in first year before I get the ancient seed, then make strawberry wine. I plant a couple of fields with strawberries the 2nd year, sell the gold quality ones, keep the rest for wine making when I’m short on ancient fruit, or sell them. Depends how fast I get ancient fruit and pomegranate trees growing. Pomegranates replace strawberries as a secondary cask filler, they also make good universal gift so I carry a stack in my bag.

I also don’t use fertilizer and don’t have a problem with bundles, Luau, or winning the Stardew Fair on the first year. I carry Pale Ale + Sashimi as universal gifts starting summer 1st year, later to be replaced with pomegranates but mostly ignore socializing until year 2 -ish when I can get loved birthday gifts.

 

[Tom]

I like having different crops on my fields, that keeps ME motivated.

I like that!

I probably use fertilizer because I am growing less stuff. To me, 400 crops is a large field, and I have been staying below 120 in Y1 Spring.

I plant a couple of fields [...]

I am trying to figure out what a "field" is in this context. Can you explain? I usually just have one "field" like this:

 

[Tom]

Other than when I first got the game in March and wanted to befriend everyone at once, I don't prioritize gifting and birthdays anymore.

Interesting. I ignore people except for birthdays until the Luau. Then I start gifting mostly Loved items, and it becomes one of my goals and things to do for fun through the end of the year. I really get into the Lunchtime Downtown Shuffle and the Friday night Saloon party.

 

[redbobcat]

I am trying to figure out what a "field" is in this context. Can you explain?

Ah yes, a fair question :)
My fields are sized 5x5 with one iridium sprinkler. I like to have pathways between them. For no other reason than pretty layout and symmetry is pleasing to me. The first year though I start with 6x6 fields because they work well with 4 quality sprinklers when I can make those.

 

[Tom]

My fields are sized 5x5 with one iridium sprinkler. I like to have pathways between them. For no other reason than pretty layout and symmetry is pleasing to me. The first year though I start with 6x6 fields because they work well with 4 quality sprinklers when I can make those.

Thanks! 6x6. Interesting. I never considered that. Maybe someday I will get decorative, but I am an engineer, not an architect, for a reason, I think.

Needless to say, I have never even coming close to feeling interested in sharing my farm layout with anybody, except for illustrative elements. It's just not shareable, and I know it. Kind of like my bachelor pad with my three sons. It's tidy, but no frills or art. Here: I will show you my Y1 Winter farmhouse from a "rescued" early savefile (I found an early playthrough at Summer 1 with 20k gold or so and decided to see what I could do with it). Pretty ugly, huh?

 

[redbobcat]

It’s functional and it works for YOU. I think the attraction of this game is that each player creates his own version of the farm, his own story, setting his own goals.