Minecraft: 10 Best Crops to Farm (1.20.2)

Mining is all fun in games until it turns stressful and scary. So, why not live off the land and become a simple farmer in your time away from the mines? In this guide, I’ll go over the 10 best crops to farm in Minecraft 1.20.2. 

How to Farm Crops in Minecraft

Before we start, let’s go over the basics on how to farm. For most of these crops, you’ll need a hoe, a bit of dirt, and some water. You’ll want to use the hoe on a grass block to plant the crops, and you’ll also need a water source next to your crops so they can grow.

I recommend that you put fences and torches around your farm, too, so mobs don’t spawn in your farm and ruin all of your hard work! To lower the risk of that happening, you can also use bone meal to make your crops grow faster. If any crop on this list requires a different method, I’ll mention the specifics in that section.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the best crops on this list. Read on for more details!

• Most Efficient Crop — Wheat is the most efficient crop to grow since it’s the easiest to find, and you don’t have to wait long to harvest it.
• Best Crop to Sell — Melons are the best crops to sell since you receive multiple slicers per harvest, and they’re easy to grow
• Fastest Growing Crop — Bamboo and Sugar Cane grow the fastest. However, if you’re looking for crops to eat, Melons and Pumpkins are the fastest once they sprout.
• Best Crops for Villager Farms – Potatoes, Carrots, Wheat, and Beets are the best crops for villages. Villagers can harvest and plant these themselves, leaving you with less work.

10 Best Crops to Farm in Minecraft Ranked

Beetroots

Beetroots start out our best crops list because while they’re good to have, they aren’t always necessary, either. The best place to find Beetroots is in Villages, and the best way to farm them is to simply take over the Village’s farm yourself. You can only use beetroots to make Red Dye and Beetroot soup, as well as breed Pigs alongside Carrots and Potatoes.

Beetroots are used to make Red Dye and Beetroot Soup. You can use Red Dye color wool blocks and the collars of your tamed wolves and cats. If you put six beets and one bowl in a Crafting Table, you’ll get some delicious Beetroot Soup to restore six hunger points.

Bamboo

Although you can’t eat bamboo, there are multiple uses for it. Not only can you build scaffolding with it to help you climb up in any direction, which is useful when building tall structures, but you can also use it to breed Pandas. And who doesn’t want Pandas on their farm? What’s even better is that it’s easy to grow. You only need dirt to get some sprigs. No water required!

Sugar Cane 

Sugar Cane can be commonly found next to natural water sources and is another inedible crop that has a few helpful uses. Specifically, you can use Sugar Cane as an ingredient when baking to make cakes. More importantly, you can use it to make paper, which you’ll need a lot of if you want to start enchanting items.

You’ll need three Sugar Cane to make three pieces of paper, and for a complete book, you’ll need three pieces of paper and one piece of leather. So, if you want an enchanting table, you’ll need nine pieces of paper in total to make a book, two diamonds, and four obsidian!

If books aren’t your thing and you prefer baking some delicious treats with Sugar Cane instead, you can put Sugar Cane in the Crafting table to make Plain Sugar. You can use this recipe ingredient to make a Seven-Slice Cake that restores one hunger pint with each slice.

Pumpkins 

I wish I could put pumpkins higher up on my list, but there isn’t much reason to grow a lot of them. With that being said, you can use them to make a Snow Golem and an Iron Golem to protect your territory. Pumpkins can also be used to make some Pumpkin Pie if you’re not a cake person.

To make an Iron Golem to defend your base, you’ll need one Pumpkin with four iron blocks. They’re a bit pricey but definitely worth it. However, if you like more goofy fun like I do, try making a Snow Golem by stacking one pumpkin on two Snow Blocks. They only throw snowballs — and consequently aren’t as good at defending your base as Iron Golems — but is that really a bad thing?

As a professional Pie enthusiast, my preferred use for Pumpkins is to make some sweet pie. For a Pumpkin Pie, all you’ll need is one Pumpkin, Sugar, and one Egg. The dish will restore eight hunger points.

Melons

Melons can give you up to nine melon slices when they’re harvested. You can find melons randomly in jungle biomes, Villages, and Woodland Mansions. Just keep your eyes peeled for big green blocks while exploring. They’re a rare find, but if you can grow a few of these and cultivate the seeds on your own farm, you’ll have plenty of food to eat. 

A single slice of Melon will restore two hunger points, which means a solid 18 points to restoration if you have nine slices. Although it’s only used as a food source, it’s one of the best options in the game.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are one of the more unique crops that you can grow in Minecraft. The best place to find them is in a Mushroom biome. However, you can also find them underground and in the Nether.

To grow Mushrooms, you need a dark, low-light environment and a block of mycelium or podzol. You can plant a Mushroom on either of these blocks and over time, it will grow into a full-sized Mushroom. You can also give them some bone meal to make them into a Mushroom Tree. 

Carrots

Carrots are a great way to restore your hunger. You can find carrots as rare drops when breaking grass. However, the best way to find them is in a Village. When you harvest them, you’ll always get at least two — but you can get up to four if you’re lucky.

They can be used to make rabbit stew for one rabbit, one carrot, one potato, and one mushroom to restore 10 hunger points. However, the best use for Carrots is putting them on a fishing pole so you can ride on top of all the pigs you have on your farm. What’s better than riding on a little piggy?

Remember! You can also find Golden Carrots in chests around Ancient Cities, but they’re rare. They can restore six hunger points or be used to tame and heal animals. The best use for Golden Carrots, however, is to brew the Night Vision Potion.

Potatoes 

Similarly, you can find Potatoes the same way that you find Carrots: in Villages and by breaking grass. They’re also grown the same way. Although they only restore one hunger point, you can put Potatoes in a furnace to get Baked Potatoes, which restore five hunger points. Further, Potatoes are great for breeding more pigs for you to either ride around your farm or to become pork chops. Poor piggies.

Nether Wart 

You can’t eat Nether Wart, but if you want to do any potion brewing, you’ll need a lot of these creepy little things. You can only find them in the Nether, and they only grow on Soul Sand. I found that the best way to find this crop is to sneak around a Nether Fortress if you’re not big on fighting. Check all of the stairwells, and you’ll find small Soul Sand gardens filled with them.

Make sure you grab plenty of both while you’re in the Nether if you want to cultivate them on your own farm. Put them in a cool, dark place; otherwise, they won’t grow.

Wheat

Wheat as always is the tried and true best crop to grow. Finding seeds is as easy as breaking grass or using a hoe on grass blocks. Once you’ve harvested Wheat, you can make bread, cakes, and cookies. It’s good that Wheat is so easy to get because it’s also an integral crop for livestock. You can use it for cows, sheep, goats, and Mooshrooms, and if you have Horses, you can use it to restore their health.

Those are the 10 best food types to farm in Minecraft. If you’re looking for more tips and tricks, including seeds lists, the best gun mods, and more, check out our dedicated guides hub.