In Stardew Valley, constructing a silo is an indispensable step for any farmer. These 3×3 structures serve as crucial storage for hay, which is essential for keeping livestock like cows and chickens healthy and content. Without a silo, players may find it challenging to sustain their animals, particularly during winter months when outdoor grazing isn’t viable.
Interestingly, many players often overlook the significance of building a silo until they engage in animal husbandry, leading to a rushed effort to erect one in a hurry.
Updated December 15, 2024, by Demaris Oxman: With the arrival of the highly anticipated 1.6 update across all platforms, an influx of players have returned to Stardew Valley, eager to experience rural life anew. This update introduces numerous new items and events, alongside key balance adjustments and quality-of-life improvements. A notable change affects grass growth in winter, directly influencing animal feeding and hay storage in silos. For those immersing themselves in the latest version, this guide provides essential insights.
How to Construct a Silo
Establishing a silo should be among the first objectives for new players due to its affordability and lower material requirements compared to other buildings. Furthermore, a silo facilitates the stocking of essential feed supplies, ensuring animals remain content, leading to higher quality produce. To construct a silo, players need to gather the following resources:
- 100 Stone: Easily collected by breaking rocks with a pickaxe found on the farm or in mines.
- 10 Clay: Obtained by digging with a hoe; players often find adequate clay when prepping land for crops or from artifact spots.
- 5 Copper Bars: Must break copper ore nodes in the mines. Players can find these in the upper levels. Refine five copper ore and one coal in a furnace to produce a single copper bar.
Bring these materials to Robin at the carpentry shop to build a silo for just 100g. Construction will take approximately two in-game days. Players are advised to place silos in the far corners of their farm to minimize obstruction, while still allowing creativity in farm design.
Utilizing Your Silo
After successfully constructing a silo, players can use it to store hay. There are several methods to acquire hay:
- By cutting grass on the farm with a scythe, yielding a 50% chance for hay collection, provided the player has built a silo.
- Harvesting
gives a 40% chance to drop hay directly into the inventory instead of the silo. 
sells hay at 50g each from her ranch.- The desert trader offers 3 hay for 1 omni geode.
- Players may receive 30 hay via mail from Marnie.
Any hay gathered with a scythe is automatically stored in the silo. Players can also add hay to the silo by right-clicking on it while holding the hay. Notably, a single silo has a capacity of 240 hay.
To feed animals, simply access the barn or coop and distribute hay from the silo into their feeding troughs. If grass cutting is necessary and silo space is limited, players can remove hay via a hopper, then store it in a chest.
For players who invest in a Deluxe Barn or Deluxe Coop, an auto-feed system will be included, eliminating the need for daily manual feeding. However, this system restricts the removal of hay from the silo. Players managing multiple animals will benefit from having several silos to prevent shortages of hay.
Strategic Planning
Building a silo is undoubtedly a top priority for new farmers. Though first-time players may feel compelled to invest in a Barn or Coop immediately, doing so without a prior silo is highly inadvisable. A silo is critical for maintaining an adequate food supply for animals, particularly if there is insufficient grass available on the farm.
As players start to clear overgrown areas for construction and cultivation, it’s crucial that they have a silo established; failing to do so squanders precious hay resources. It’s recommended to prioritize the construction of at least one silo—or even two—right at the beginning.
Moreover, properly stocking hay in silos is especially vital during the winter months when animals can’t forage outside and rely entirely on stored feed. Any grass allowed to grow through autumn will remain dormant during winter, so it’s imperative to maximize hay storage before the seasonal transition. Remember that winter grass yields less hay when cut, which places even greater importance on the pre-winter preparation.
Leave a Reply