Stardew Valley has a wide variety of profitable crops that can be grown in each season, and of course, with the Greenhouse, any crop can be grown out of season as well. With so many options it can be difficult to determine the most profitable crop, especially when many need to be replanted after harvest and some can be harvested repeatedly. Additionally, many valuable products can be made with animal goods. This does require the investment of buying additional farm buildings and farm animals.
However, this investment will pay itself back very quickly if you make the most of your farm. Prices in this guide are from the cheapest in-game source available, which for most seeds means Pierre’s General Store. Monthly profits are calculated with the price of the seed subtracted only once and it is assumed that a Seed Maker is used to generate future seeds if they are required. This is the most profitable way to get more seeds for most crops, with the exception of especially valuable crops like Sweet Gem Berries.
The easiest way to generate gold in Stardew Valley in the early game is simply farming. For maximum profits, the most important metric to pay attention to is the total profit per month. This metric is assuming the crop is of course harvested as soon as possible and replanted immediately if it must be replanted.
Most Profitable Spring Crops
The most profitable crop in the Spring is strawberry. Unfortunately, these are only available on the 13th of Spring, which is the Egg Festival. Pierre sells seeds for 100 gold each, and they are absolutely worth it. Save up your gold the days before the Egg festival if you are able to and stock up! However, because these regrow automatically, they should be saved for the following year or planted in the Greenhouse in order to maximize profits. Planting them on the 13th or any day after will be a bit of a waste of gold, unfortunately. Strawberries sell for 120 gold, which is not much, but they grow very quickly. They take 8 days to mature and after maturing the plant will produce strawberries every 4 days. The monthly profit for a single strawberry crop is 500 gold.
The most profitable crops for Spring.
Outside of this specialty crop, the most profitable Spring crop is rhubarb, another specialty crop! This can only be bought in the Desert, which requires the Bus Stop to be prepared. This costs a minimum of 40,000 gold, so rhubarb is another crop that players will unfortunately not have access to at the start of the game. This plant takes 13 days to mature, so it can be harvested twice during Spring. The rhubarb seeds cost 100 gold and the grown rhubarb sells for 220 gold. The monthly profit for a single rhubarb crop that is replanted is 240 gold.
After these two comes the most profitable Spring crop that can be purchased at Pierre’s General Store or at Joja Mart, cauliflower. It takes 12 days to grow and it must be replanted, meaning you can only plant and harvest it twice per Spring. It does have very good seed-to-sale margins, with a cauliflower seed costing 80 gold and a grown cauliflower selling for 175 gold. This leaves the monthly profit at 190 gold per crop. Outside of the rhubarb and strawberry seeds, it is the most expensive seed in Spring, but the profits are worth it. Planting as many of these as you can during your first year is a surefire way to enter Summer with a lot of gold.
The next most profitable are the green beans, which cost 60 gold per seed and only profit 40 gold per plant. However, they do not need to be replanted and will continue to produce green beans often. The plant takes 10 days to mature and after this, it regrows green beans every 3 days. The monthly profit is 180 gold per individual crop. These are a nice option if you do not want to replant crops, but clearly, strawberries are a much better regrowing option.
The potatoes get an honorable mention because they have a chance at multiple potatoes on harvest, are inexpensive, and grow fast. A drop rate of 1.2 as opposed to 1 adds a bit of randomness and makes them potentially on par or more profitable than green beans. Potatoes grow after 6 days, allowing you to sell and replant them often. If you need to generate fast income in Spring, this is a solid option. Potato seeds cost 50 gold and a grown potato sells for 80 gold, and a single plant (if replanted) provides 175 gold per month.
Most Profitable Summer Crops
Entering Summer, the most profitable crop available is blueberry. These mature after 13 days and regrow every 4 days, with a drop rate of 3. Blueberry seeds cost 80 gold and a blueberry sells for 80 gold as well, but you will receive 3 blueberries per harvested crop. The seeds can be bought like most others, from Pierre’s General Store or Joja Mart. Obviously planting these as soon as possible is the best way to maximize profits. If planted on the 1st of Summer, monthly profits for a single blueberry plant are 880 gold.
The most profitable crops for Summer.
The starfruit is the second most profitable crop of the Summer, however, it is another seed that can only be obtained in the Desert (via the Bus Stop). A single starfruit seed costs 400 gold and a grown starfruit sells for 800 gold. They take 13 days to grow and must be replanted after harvest, allowing two harvests per month per individual plant. This provides a monthly profit of 800 gold, making them just slightly less effective than blueberries. However, they require much less harvesting than blueberries. While they do need to be replanted, it is only once. Due to the value per plant, you can plant many of these to shrink down the size of your farm and the total number of crops.
The third most profitable Summer crop is red cabbage. Unfortunately, it is only available on or after your 2nd year, but it does not really compare to blueberries or starfruit in profitability. Red cabbage takes 9 days to grow and does not regrow. They cost 100 gold per seed and a grown red cabbage sells for 260 gold, providing a monthly profit of 480 gold. While this is impressive compared to Spring profits, this is nearly half as profitable as blueberries.
The honorable mention crop for the Summer crops would be hops, which are somewhat profitable by themselves and can also be used to make a variety of valuable products. They mature after 11 days and then regrow every single day. The seeds cost 60 gold and grown hops sell for 25, although you will have many chances to harvest them. If planted on the first of the summer, monthly profits for a single hops plant would be 365. However, using hops for artisan goods is very profitable! There won’t be many details on artisan/processed goods in this guide, but you can find that in our other Stardew Valley guides!
Most Profitable Fall Crops
The most profitable Fall crop is of course the Sweet Gem Berry, which is grown from the Rare Seed. This can be somewhat difficult to obtain, but it can be found at the Traveling Cart in Cindersap Forest. This is of course a shop with somewhat randomized items and prices, but you have the best chance of being offered this on the Fridays and Sundays of Spring and Summer. It will cost between 600 gold and 1000 gold from this source, and a Sweet Gem Berry sells for 3000 gold. It takes 24 days to grow to full maturity, so essentially one season. This makes the monthly profit 2000 (or 2400) gold per crop.
This is the most profitable crop to grow in your Greenhouse once you can afford it. This unfortunately costs 35,000 gold (from Joja Mart) so many players avoid purchasing it at least for their first year. Because of the amount of gold that needs to be invested and of course the slow grind of purchasing many Rare Seeds over many days, this is also a difficult crop to invest in for your first Fall.
The most profitable crops for Fall.
The most profitable and highly accessible crop for the Fall is cranberry. Cranberry seeds can be purchased from Pierre’s General Store or Joja Mart (for slightly more) for 240 gold each. Cranberries are sold for 130 gold each. The crop takes 7 days to mature and regrow every 5 days. 2-3 cranberries are dropped per harvested crop, with an average of 2.1 cranberries. This results in a monthly profit of 1101 gold from a single cranberry crop. Outside of rare crops, these are the most profitable crop out of all seasons.
Pumpkins are the third most profitable Fall crop but are much less profitable than cranberries or Sweet Gem Berries. Pumpkin seeds cost 100 gold and sell for 320 gold and take 13 days to grow, so a single plant can be harvested twice per season (if replanted). This results in a monthly profit of 440 gold. Fall’s honorable mention crop is grapes. They take 10 days to fully mature and will then regrow every 3 days. A grape starter (seeds) costs 60 gold and a grape sells for 80 gold. Unfortunately, only one grape is harvested per crop, but it does generate good long-term value because it regrows. By the end of the month, a single crop can potentially produce 420 gold.
Most Profitable Crops Overall
Knowing how all of the crops compare in profitability for each season is very important. However, knowing what crops are most profitable regardless of the season is just as important because the Greenhouse is a very important purchase for generating income in the Winter. While 35,000 gold may seem like a steep price for your first year, it really is the most important large purchase in Stardew Valley. Completing all Pantry Bundles in order to avoid this 35,000 gold price is certainly possible in the first year, but this does take a lot of time and effort.
Additionally, the crops you will be required to grow will deviate from the most profitable options. The Artisan Bundle and Animal Bundle can be a bit of a hurdle as well for the first year, which requires products made from every type of farm animal. The Quality Crops bundle is another formidable challenge, requiring 5 gold quality parsnips, melons, pumpkins, and corn. These objectives certainly are not impossible, so you can decide for yourself which route to the Greenhouse sounds better.
Looking at all crops regardless of season, it is clear that Fall crops are king. Sweet Gem Berries are of course the most profitable, but as previously explained, their seeds (Rare Seed) can be difficult to obtain in bulk. While a Greenhouse full of Sweet Gem Berry plants from corner to corner is ideal, it is something that requires time to build up to. With a seed price of 1000 gold and a sale price of 3000 gold, you can expect a profit of 2000 gold per month. Make sure you have a memorized route to the Traveling Cart in the Cindersap Forest because you will need to return every Friday and Sunday all through Spring and Summer if you plan on having a farm of Sweet Gem Berries. Getting a horse is a smart option if you have the income to invest in it, as you will be making this somewhat tedious walk very often.
Most profitable crops overall and greenhouse exterior and interior.
After our top money-maker, the most accessible and profitable crop is still a Fall crop, the cranberry. Generating 1101 gold per month from a single crop, cranberry crops are very valuable. Because their monthly income is calculated assuming it is being planted on the first day, the income will be even higher if it is already at full maturity. When it comes to profitability, crops that regrow obviously have an advantage. Of course, requiring less work due to not having to replant them after harvesting is a big advantage too! Cranberries are certainly the most profitable regrowing crop, which is why many players grow nothing but cranberries in their Greenhouses.
While this guide is not about artisan goods made from crops, it is hard to completely ignore them when discussing crop choices. For this reason, it is worth noting that many players use their Greenhouses for growing hops, due to the value of Pale Ale. It is one of the easiest and fastest artisan goods to produce, making it a popular strategy to grow hops and make Pale Ale year-round. Because hops regrow automatically every single day, they are an extremely good source of farming experience points.
While all crops in Stardew Valley have their own pros and cons, this guide should hopefully make it a bit easier to decide on your crops. Regrowable crops obviously have the advantage of needing less maintenance, but they all end up generating more profit in the long run as well. While animals and artisan goods offer different routes to income, the base of any farm’s income in Stardew Valley starts with crops.
