Getting Hay is essential in Stardew Valley if you plan on raising animals. However, it’s not immediately obvious where it’s all going to come from. Of course, you can buy Hay if you need it, but harvesting it is the easiest way to keep a steady supply. Confusingly, though Hay is extremely common, you likely won’t see a lot of it until you purchase a silo.
How to get Hay in Stardew Valley
There are four ways to get Hay in Stardew Valley:
- Harvest Hay from Grass.
- Harvest Hay from Wheat.
- Purchase Wheat from Marnie’s Ranch.
- Exchange 1 Omni Geode for 3 Hay at the Desert Trader.
The best way to get Hay is to harvest it from Grass using a scythe. When clearing Grass with a regular Scythe, you’ll have a 50% chance of producing one Hay and a 75% chance when using a Golden Scythe. However, you won’t get any Hay for harvesting Grass unless you have a silo on your farm that isn’t full. If you have no silo or your silos are full, then any grass you cut won’t produce any Hay.
Alternatively, you can obtain Hay from harvesting Wheat, but it only has a 40% chance of dropping regardless of the type of scythe you use. As such, it’s a nice bonus rather than a reliable way to obtain Hay.
Can you grow Hay in Winter in Stardew Valley?
Ideally, you should have your animals eating Grass throughout the year while harvesting Hay from a separate plot. That way, you’ll have plenty to make it through the Winter. However, if you do make a mistake, there are two ways to grow Wheat in the Winter that you can use to replenish your Hay supplies:
- Grow Hay in the Greenhouse.
- Grow Hay on Ginger Island Farm.
If you don’t have access to these locations yet, you’ll be forced to either purchase Hay from Marnie or deal with unhappy animals until Spring.
