Best and Most Profitable Crops - Stardew Valley Guide - IGN (2024)

There are a wide array of seasonal crops you can plant and harvest in Stardew Valley. While some crops are useful as a gift or to complete bundles in the Community Center, your main goal when harvesting should be making money. In this Stardew Valley crops guide, you'll learn which crops are the most profitable for each season.

Best Crops for Each Season

There are many crops you can plant during Spring, Summer, or Fall. Below, you'll find a list of the most profitable crops for each season. We've included information on the profit you can make based on the basic crop versus the price paid for seeds. Some of these seeds are also available at JojaMart, but they are more expensive. That means you get less profit from them.

If you manage to grow a silver, gold, or iridium quality crop, you will make even more profit!

Click the links below to see the best crops for each season!

• Best Spring Crops
• Best Summer Crops
• Best Fall Crops
• Best Winter Crop
• Best Overall Crop

Best Spring Crops

Spring is the season you will start your Stardew Valley adventure. Plant these crops if you're looking to make as much profit as possible during your first season!

Best Summer Crops

Summer has lots of profitable crops to choose from, but the ones below will reap the most rewards for the least amount of work.

Starfruit is easily one of the best crops in the game, yielding a whopping 750g of profit. Make sure you purchase some as soon as you reach the Desert and focus on fixing up the bus stop and unlocking that new area as soon as possible so you can begin your Starfruit Empire.

Best Fall Crops

Fall in Stardew Valley is your last shot to get as much profit from crops in as possible before the long stretch of Winter arrives. You can't grow any crops in Winter, so make yourself a nice nest egg with your Fall crops or focus on other things like Animal Husbandry and exploring the Mines during Winter.

Best Winter Crop

Best Overall Crop

Ancient Fruit is the most valuable crop you can grow in Stardew Valley. This special crop requires a little extra effort and attention to grow, but they are worth crazy money and are well worth the trouble!

The secret to Ancient Fruit begins with the Ancient Seed Artifact. This is an item you can find by killing enemies or by purchasing the Artifact Trove from the Desert Trader. Once you find an Ancient Seed, donate it to Gunther at the Museum to receive a packet of plantable Ancient Seeds and the crafting recipe you need to turn Ancient Seeds into plantable crops in the future.

The best way to farm Ancient Seeds is to head to the Mines and defeat every bug enemy you find there. Bugs usually spawn most between floors 15-25. These enemies have a 0.5% chance of dropping Ancient Seeds. If you rinse and repeat the process for a day, you will hopefully leave with at least one Ancient Seed, if not more!

Pace your Ancient Fruit in a Seed Maker to create even more seeds. Plant your new seeds in your Greenhouse to create immortal Ancient Fruit plants that will never die and continue to provide you with expensive Ancient Fruits every 7 days for the rest of your farming career.

Turning your Ancient Fruits into Ancient Fruit Wine increases their value to at least 1650g.

It may take time to fill your Greenhouse with Ancient Fruit plants, but once you do, you will never need money again.