How to Get Hay in Stardew Valley

Hay is an invaluable resource in Stardew Valley and is used primarily to feed your animals. The more animals you have, the more hay you need each day. Luckily, there are a few different ways you can get hay.

Build a Silo First

You don’t really need to build a silo first if you plan to buy your hay from Marnie. In fact, you can start purchasing hay as soon as you have enough money for it. However, that’s not a very scalable solution in the long run. If you plan to have a lot of livestock on your farm, you’re going to want to have your own means of harvesting hay.

To do this, you have to build a silo first. With a silo on your farm, you can use your scythe to cut grass and turn it into hay. If you don’t have a silo, you won’t receive any hay when you cut the grass.

It’s also recommended that you build the silo before building any barns for your animals. This way you can stock up on hay before you have much of a need for it. If you build your barns and buy livestock before you stock up on hay, you may quickly find that you have more animals than you do feed.

To build a silo, go visit Robin at her shop, located on the mountain road north of the town square. Her shop is open every day except Tuesday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with the exception of Friday when she closes at 4:00 PM.

Once you make it to Robin’s shop, talk to her over the counter and select “Construct Farm Buildings.”

Scroll through the list of options until you find the silo. To build the silo, you’ll need:

• 100g
• 100 Stone
• 10 Clay
• 5 Copper Bar

If you have all of the necessary items, select “Build.”

Next, choose where you want to build the silo on your farm. The silo is 3×3 squares. If the silo can be placed on the selected plots of land, the squares will be green. Otherwise, they will be red.

Robin will then tell you that she’ll start working on it the next morning. It takes two days for Robin to build the silo. One silo can store 240 pieces of hay, so construct as many silos as you think you’ll need. Once your silos are full, cutting grass won’t produce hay!

Buy Hay From Marnie

If you’re in desperate need of hay, you can buy some from Marnie for 50g apiece. Marnie’s Ranch is located in Cindersap forest just south of your farm. Her shop is open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Wednesday through Sunday. She’s closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and holidays.

Head over to Marnie’s shop, talk to her from over the counter, and then click “Supplies Shop.”

Hay is the first item on the list. The price (50g apiece) is to the right of the item name. Click Hay in the list to purchase it.

Though this is certainly an easy way to stock up on hay, it can quickly add up—especially during the early stages of the game when money is hard to come by. You don’t always have to rely on Marnie, though. You can grow your own hay.

Harvest Your Own Hay

You can buy grass or wheat from Pierre’s shop, plant it on your farm, and then later harvest it with your scythe to get hay. This lets you save a ton of money by not having to purchase hay from Marnie. Another major benefit is that you can let your animals graze in the grass on sunny days—saving you from ever having to harvest it in the first place.

First, head over to Pierre’s shop, located in the northern part of the town square, between 9:00 AM and 5 PM on any day but Wednesday. Talk to him over the counter to start shopping. Scroll down the list and find “Grass Starter.” Select it to purchase it.

Next, head back to your farm and plant the Grass Starter on your land. You can’t plant Grass Starter on tilled ground.

You can cut the grass starter as soon as you plant it to get hay, but it’s better to leave it for a few days so the grass spreads and you have more of it.

Once you’re ready to harvest the hay, use your scythe to cut the grass. You can only use your scythe to harvest hay. If you use a weapon, it will only cut the grass with no reward.

And don’t forget that if you don’t feel like cutting the grass, you can let your animals graze on sunny days!

Other Ways to Get Hay

Though harvesting your own hay or just buying it from Marnie are the most convenient ways of getting hay, there are also a couple of lesser-known ways. One way is to take the bus out to Calico Desert (after you’ve completed the Vault bundle at the Community Center) and speak to the Desert Trader. If it’s a Monday, you can trade one Omni Geode for three pieces of hay. By the time you’re able to go to Calico Desert, Omni Geodes aren’t that hard to come by. However, given that it costs 500g just for the bus ticket to Calico Desert, trading an Omni Geode for three pieces of hay is far from a good deal.

If you enchant your weapon, you can cut weeds for a 33% chance of it dropping hay. Your weapon has to be enchanted, though. Otherwise, the weeds will just drop Fiber, Mixed Seeds, or (very rarely) a Living Hat.

How to See How Much Hay You Have

If you’re unsure how much hay you have, there are a couple of different ways you can find out. One way is by simply checking your silos. The equation it uses is <stock>/<capacity>. So if you have 300 pieces of hay and two silos, it would say 300/480. Or if you have three silos and they’re all full, it would say 720/720.

You can also check your hay stock using the Farm Computer, which you can get by crafting one Dwarf Gadget, one Battery Pack, and ten Refined Quartz. This crafting recipe becomes available after you complete the Biome Balance or Aquatic Overpopulation orders for Demetrius.

Other Uses for Hay

Though hay is primarily used to feed your livestock, it does have a few other uses in Stardew Valley. For starters, you’ll need at least ten pieces of hay for the Fodder bundle if you decide to take on the Community Center quest.

If you have a sewing machine and are into tailoring your own clothes, you can use hay to create the Grass Skirt, a special piece of clothing that can’t be selected during character creation.