Farming in Stardew Valley is an important piece of a playthrough and can help players earn tremendous amounts of gold. Working out which crops to plant each season and how to improve their quality, however, can be a frustrating enterprise. Especially for those who are just getting acquainted with Stardew Valley.
There are four levels of quality when it comes to crops and getting each crop to reach its best potential is the ultimate challenge for a farmer in Stardew Valley. For those players looking to better understand how crop quality works, this guide is here to help.
What are the Different Crop Qualities in Stardew Valley?
As with most items that can be harvested or fish that can be caught in Stardew Valley, there are four levels of quality: regular, silver, gold, and iridium. When players begin their farm, almost every crop they harvest will be of regular quality with a few exceptions at silver and even fewer at gold. This crop quality is determined when the crop is harvested rather than when it is planted and the game checks from iridium to gold to silver. Iridium, however, is only an option when a player uses Deluxe Fertilizer.
The higher quality the crop, the higher its value in Stardew Valley as well as the more health and energy it can replenish. For example, a basic quality Parsnip sells for 35 gold and restores 25 energy and 11 health while an iridium quality sells for 70 gold and restores 65 energy and 29 health.
How to Improve Crop Qualities in Stardew Valley
Mastering farming in Stardew Valley has an underlying formula. In order to improve the quality of crops, players need to understand what improves their chances the most. In order to ensure that the crops they are planting have a better chance of being higher quality, players need to invest in fertilizers and improve their farming skill level.
There are three levels of fertilizer, the first two of which are relatively straightforward to acquire but the last of which is much more of a challenge. Basic fertilizer is the lowest level and can be acquired through purchase at Pierre's general store (100 gold) or crafted with 2 sap. Quality fertilizer is the next level and can also be purchased at Pierre's (150 gold), crafted (2 sap and any fish), or created with a Bone Mill. Deluxe fertilizer is the highest tier and can only be crafted (1 Iridium bar and 40 sap) after players purchase the recipe from Qi's Walnut Room on Stardew Valley's Ginger Island.
Players also need to focus on improving their farming skills as each level increases the likelihood of harvesting higher quality crops as well. Leveling up comes with experience but is capped at level 10 and the following graph shows the percentage chance of producing a particular quality crop without the use of any fertilizer.
Farming Level | Regular Quality | Silver Quality | Gold Quality |
0 | 97 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
1 | 91 percent | 6 percent | 3 percent |
2 | 85 percent | 10 percent | 5 percent |
3 | 80 percent | 13 percent | 7 percent |
4 | 75 percent | 16 percent | 9 percent |
5 | 69 percent | 20 percent | 11 percent |
6 | 64 percent | 23 percent | 13 percent |
7 | 60 percent | 25 percent | 15 percent |
8 | 55 percent | 28 percent | 17 percent |
9 | 50 percent | 31 percent | 19 percent |
10 | 46 percent | 33 percent | 21 percent |
Fortunately, players can further add to their level through some of the best meals in Stardew Valley. This list includes Hashbrowns and a Maple Bar (both with a +1 level bonus), Tom Kha Soup and a Complete Breakfast and Pepper Poppers (+2 level bonus), and the Farmer's Lunch (+3 level bonus).
It is only by combining Qi Seasoning with a Farmer's Lunch that a level 10 farmer can reach level 14 in Farming for a short period of time. By doing this and using Deluxe Fertilizer, players can guarantee all the crops they harvest will be either gold or iridium quality.
Stardew Valley is available for Mobile, PC, PS4, PlayStation Vita, Switch, and Xbox One.