Learn how to keep your silo well-stocked with hay during the winter in Stardew Valley. You will never run out of hay again if you follow the tips we have for you in this guide!
Hay is an essential resource commonly acquired from cutting tufts of grass or harvesting wheat. Purchasing hay from Marnie’s Ranch for 50g is also one way to obtain them. You can also get hay from cutting weeds if you own a melee weapon with the Haymaker Enchantment.
Hay should be a priority on the list regarding farm animal maintenance. Hay must always be present in your silo because all farm animals feed on it. Running out of hay can be pretty troubling, especially during winter when fewer means exist to obtain them.
While animals can not die in this game, you cannot trust your chickens and cows to give you products if you fail to feed them and thus make them happy. To ensure that your animals continuously get supplied with hay throughout the year, here are some of the most effective hay-hoarding techniques you can try before winter arrives.
Before Winter Comes
Winter is when no plants and trees would thrive due to the cold climate, except for a few winter crops and pine trees. Most players might already know that seasonal crops die once the season changes. However, it may surprise some players when they get to the first day of winter and discover all the patches of grass on their farm disappear overnight.
The only way to prevent this unfortunate occurrence is to clean up all the grass on the last days of autumn. Using a scythe, you can acquire hay by cutting dried grass. Make sure to cut out the entire grassy field on your farm if you do not like to see them go to waste.
How to Get A Steady Supply of Hay for Winter in Stardew Valley
During your playthrough, you may encounter a hay shortage, and the only viable option is purchasing stacks of hay from Marnie. Although Marnie’s Ranch is just directly south of your farm, there are times when you can not access her shop due to her limited work hours. Sometimes, you may find it tedious to buy hay from Marnie, and you would have no choice but to let your poor animals starve.
If you do not wish to experience all that, you can try this method, which provides enough hay to last through the winter.
- At the beginning of the game, you will be entrusted with a farm full of rocks, weeds, and dried grass. It will be entirely up to you if you want to clear out most of the debris in your first week. But it would be wise to buy a Silo before you start cutting some dried grass. You may also want to wait until the last week of the fall season before you harvest all of your hay.
- You need to have at least two Silos by the time you reach the first autumn season of your playthrough. Should you let the dried grass grow on your farm until autumn, one silo would not suffice as it can only store up to 240 hay. Fill up all your Silos with hay by cutting all the dried grass you can find. Stop cutting grass at once if you notice the small hay icon no longer appears above your head. This only means you have filled up all your Silos with hay.
- Build a Big Barn or Big Coop, and refrain from upgrading it into a Deluxe Coop or Barn. A Big Barn or Coop has no auto-feed system, but it’s big enough to house eight animals. With this, you can manually get hay from its hopper by clicking the action button in front of it. Gather as much hay as possible and place them inside a storage chest. However, if you only have Deluxe farm buildings, you can still extract hay from the hopper by removing those automatically distributed on the feeding bench. You can place a bomb next to the feeding bench, and it will go off and remove all the forage from the bench.
- Clear out the rest of the grass growing on your farm. Once again, acquire rolls of hay from the hopper and store them in your chest. You can plant more dried grass using Grass Starters in autumn or winter. Repeat the process until you are satisfied with the number of hay you accumulate.
And that’s how you amass copious amounts of hay effectively! If you want to know more about gathering resources in Stardew Valley, check out our other guides on Player Assist.
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