Farming is one of the more difficult skills in Runescape 3. It's not just planting crops or trees but also caring for animals and other related tasks. This makes training Farming a little more varied and less tedious, but sticking to one method might be more efficient. Since the max level of Farming is 120, you have many opportunities to switch modes whenever you want.
Equipment for Efficiency
Efficiency is the name of the game. Otherwise, the journey to 120 Farming will be a slog. These items will help you along the skilling journey by providing various boosts. They'll speed up your leveling or provide other benefits.
Urns: These fill up as you do Farming activities. When done, you can teleport them away to gain some of the experience it needs to get full. There are five types with varying capacities. You can have more than one, but they get filled out individually. Also, you can only have up to 10 at max load.
Urn Enhancer: This adds 25% to the experience from urns. You can make one when you've reached 24 Invention and finished 'Nomad's Elegy.' Each use costs 20 charges from your pack.
Tool Leprechauns: These are NPCs that hang about Farming patches. They act like banks for farming tools of the trade, being able to store the following things:
- Empty Buckets
- Buckets of Compost (different stacks for each kind)
- Plant Cures
- Scarecrows
- Planks
- Liquid Patch Bombs
They can also note harvested produce and be paid to use compost on patches they take care of automatically. That is, as long as the necessary supplies are stored with them. In the Tirannwn region, they're replaced by elves who have the same function.
Compost and Fertile Soil: Compost reduces the chances of a crop dying, with Ultracompost being the most effective. However, as the latter is expensive to make, Supercompost is the most cost-effective version to use. Players with the Lunar Spellbook can use the Fertile Soil spell, which has the effect of adding Supercompost to a patch.
Magic Secateurs: The former replaces regular secateurs and grants increased yield from allotment, herb, and hops patches. You can get it while completing or after 'A Fairy Tale I - Growing Pains.'
Magic Watering Can: It has an unlimited supply of water. You can get it after 'A Fairy Tail III - Battle at Ork's Rift.'
Rapid Growth: This spell from the Seren Spellbook can remove one chance of dying from disease. While a little expensive to cast, it can be worth it if the protection price is higher than the cost of runes.
Scroll of Life: It can recover seeds from Farming patches. Requires 25 Farming and Dungeoneering, plus 10,000 Dungeoneering tokens.
Amulet of Bountiful Harvest: Wearing it allows the player to conserve seeds while planting in an allotment patch. It has 10 charges and may be bought from the Grand Exchange.
Farmer's Outfit and its Master variation - The standard outfit gives a 6% increase in Farming XP gain (1% for each piece and a bonus 1% for wearing the whole set. You used to be able to get it from Treasure Hunter. However, now it's available from the Cabbage Facepunch Bonanza rewards shop and Sydekix's Shop of Balance.
The Master version has the effects of the regular one and a 10% chance to gain bonus produce from fruit trees and bushes. Also, it auto-cleans harvested herbs, enables 7% faster growth when skilling in the Manor Farm, and has better chances of positive traits for animals. More than that, it provides a 10% increase in beans when selling animals and allows you to use the Rapid Growth spell twice daily.
Modified Farmer's Hat: It's created when combining the Farmer's Hat Add-On and the Farmer's Hat. This provides a 1% Farming EXP bonus and 3 daily teleports to the Morytania allotment patch. It also gives a 2% chance of saving seeds while planting them.
Capes of Achievement: The Farming Cape can be obtained upon reaching level 99 Farming and gives a chance to gather all produce when harvesting a Farming patch. The Master Cape variant is obtained at level 120. It provides all the perks of the previous one. In addition, it gives the ability to note the harvested crops automatically, treat Farming patches with Supercompost, and boost the health and happiness of all player-owned farm animals by 20%.
Torstol Incense Sticks: These increase your Farming XP gain by 0.5% every 10 minutes. It caps out at 2% at level four, but you can get that effect immediately by burning 6 at once.
Greenfingers Auras: You can get these by exchanging Members Loyalty Points. They provide a chance to harvest extra crops. There are 5 tiers; you must buy the lower ones to get the higher ones. The highest bonus is 15%.
Relic Powers: With a high enough Archeology skill, you can activate these powers in the Mysterious Monolith. Pharm Ecology and Inspire Effort are the best ones for training farming.
Supreme Growth Potions: You can get these by exchanging your beans for them, which induce rapid crop growth to become harvestable. You can also get them from Sydekix's Shop of Balance by exchanging favor. There are six types depending on which kind of plant or patch they affect:
- Sundry (mushroom, allotment, Evil Turnip, hops)
- Leafy (herb, flower, cacti, Nightshade)
- Bushy (bush)
- Fruity (fruit, Calquat Tree)
- Woody (normal, Elder, Spirit Tree)
- Universal (all)
They're best used during double experience events to make the most out of them. Also, Fruity and Sundry potions are the most cost-effective with XP rates.
Summoning Familiars: Some help you boost Farming or provide other Farming bonuses. The ones in question are:
- Dreadfowl
- Compost Mound
- Stranger Plant
- Giant Ent
- Wolpertinger
Farming Leveling Methods
As the skill is available only for Members, none are open to the F2P portion of the player population. Farming also has a maximum level of 120, so this guide will cover higher-leveled methods.
Active Methods
Manure Mounds
There are some at the northeastern corner of Granny Potterington's house. These can be dug up for 2.5 EXP every 2.4 seconds (4 ticks). It's the fastest way to get to level 15.
Seedicide
It's an item that instantly destroys selected monster-dropped seeds while providing double the experience you'd get by planting them. However, you must have the required levels to grow it to get the XP. Otherwise, you get nothing and waste your items. You can get it from the Cabbage Facepunch Bonanza minigame, Stanley Limelight, or the Farmers' Market.
Some notable monsters that provide high XP rates through this method:
- Turoths
- Aquanites
- Vyrelords
It might be more effective when you're at least level 74, though you can start at lower levels if you like.
Foraging Mushroom Clusters
They're found in The Arc through the Uncharted Isles activity, available after the quest Impressing the Locals. It is also recommended to finish Flag Fall. This method is available at level 90 on The Islands That Once Were Turtles and Goshima. However, clusters are forageable at 94 Farming through the Uncharted Isles activity.
Foraging Rumberry Bushes
The Arc has several Rumberry bushes in the southwest area of Tuai Leit. The method is available at level 86 and may have a rate of 30k XP per hour.
Tombshrooms
This becomes available at level 109. The shrooms are stackable and harvest all at once, so you don't need inventory space. However, it doesn't provide XP per shroom gathered but gives a base gain of 9,032.4. If Torstol Sticks are activated during a double XP event, using Super Growth Potions (Sundry) can give you a ton of Farming XP.
Supreme Growth Potions on Trees
Growing Guarana or Carambola Trees using the Super Growth Potion is recommended during a Double XP Live event. Doubly so if you're also using the Voice of Seren random event. The mentioned trees have the most XP gain.
Farming Patches
These are designated patches where players can plant seeds. There are different kinds of patches for different types of seeds. Growing at one has these steps:
- Rake the patch to remove weeds. If you've previously planted at the patch, you must remove dead plants or harvest fully grown ones. You can also check the health of a growing plant, but you won't be able to clear the patch.
- Treat the soil with Supercompost (optional but recommended for a higher yield).
- Use seeds (3 are needed for planting) or saplings on the patch.
- Pay a farmer to watch crops (optional and available only in a few areas).
Farming runs usually involve harvesting, replanting, and/or checking your patches scattered across Gielinor.
Allotments
These are a group of patches that include two allotments, a flower, and an herb patch. That means you have space to plant your main crop, an herb, and a flower. The latter is primarily for protecting your main crops from disease.
What you can plan in these plots and the flowers that protect them (if applicable):
- Potatoes (1, Marigolds)
- Onions (5, Marigolds)
- Cabbages (7, Rosemary)
- Tomatoes (12, Marigolds)
- Sweetcorn (20, Scarecrow)
- Strawberries (31)
- Watermelon (47, Nasturtiums)
- Snape Grass (80)
- Sunchoke (87)
- Fly Traps (93)
Patch locations (and farmers that can watch over them):
- South of Falador and North of Port Sarim (Elstan)
- West of Port Phasmatys (Lyra)
- North of Caterby (Dantaera)
- North of Ardougne (Kragen)
- Taverley (potatoes only, Head Farmer Jones)
Tree Patches
You don't plant seeds directly in these plots. Tree seeds are planted in pots, which grow into saplings. The saplings are what you tend in the patch to grow into trees. This results in an empty pot you can reuse or discard through an option in Inventory Settings.
Trees you can plant:
- Oak (15)
- Willow (30)
- Maple (45)
- Yew (60)
- Magic (75)
- Money (119)
Patch locations:
- Northeast of Lumbridge Castle (Fayeth)
- Varrock Palace Courtyard (Treznor)
- Falador Park (Heskel)
- North of the Lodestone in Taverley (Alain)
- Tree Gnome Stronghold (Prissy Scilla)
- Trahaearn Clan District in Prifddinas (Eifion, requires completion of Plague's End)
Fruit Trees
These work the same way as the other trees, except these bear fruit. Plus, they'll keep making fruit if you don't uproot them to replant.
Fruit trees you can plant:
- Apple (27)
- Banana (33)
- Orange (39)
- Curry (42)
- Pineapple (51)
- Papaya (57)
- Palm (68)
- Ciku (101)
- Guarana (107)
- Carambola (113)
Locations:
- North of the Agility Course in the Tree Gnome Stronghold (Bolongo)
- West of the Maze in Tree Gnome Village (Gileth)
- East of the fishing spots in Catherby (Ellena)
- North Brimhaven (Garth)
- Lletya (requires either Mourning's End Part I or The Prisoner of Glouphrie, Amaethwr)
- Herblore Habitat (Zombie Farmer)
- Meilyr Clan District in Prifddinas (requires completion of Plague's End, Alfon)
Other Specific Tree Patches
These trees have unusual properties or unique patches in which they can only be planted. One is even so rare; players might never see a second seed for it. These trees are:
- Calquat (72)
- Spirit (83)
- Elder (90)
- Crystal (94)
Patch Locations:
- Calquat: North of Tai Bwo Wannai (Imiago)
- Elder: Crwys Clan District in Prifddinas (requires completion of Plague's End, Sior)
- Crystal: Tower of Voices in Prifddinas
- Spirit:
- Southeast Etceteria (Yulf Squecks)
- Port Sarim (Frizzy Skernip
- Brimhaven (Praistan Ebola)
- Manor Farm (Wilfred Butternut)
Player-Owned Farms
Though slower than the above methods, it guarantees experience because your animals won't ever die. The animals also produce materials for Herblore and other skills or provide valuable perks for specific encounters.
There are two farms: the Manor Farm and the Anachronia Dinosaur Farm. Animals may be obtained by killing, gathering, hunting, or buying them from others (Farmer's Market or GE). Getting a breeding pair (opposite genders) to raise animals is essential. A same-sex couple will also work, but adoption takes longer and can be inconsistent.
You can make these farms as soon as 17 Farming and 20 Construction, but it's best to do it at 92 Farming and 60 Construction. This will give you maximized experience gains.
Animals on the Manor Farm:
- Rabbits (17)
- Chickens (28)
- Sheep (35)
- Cows (49)
- Chinchompas (54)
- Spiders (64)
- Yaks (71)
- Zygomites (81)
- Dragons (92)
Animals on the Dinosaur Farm
- Frogs (42)
- Jadinkos (76)
- Varanasaurs (97)
- Arcane Apoterrasaurs (98)
- Brutish Dinosaurs (100)
- Salamanders (102)
- Scimitops (104)
- Bagrada Rex (106)
- Spicati Apoterrasaurs (108)
- Asciatops (110)
- Corbicula Rex (112)
- Oculi Apoterrasaurs (115)
- Malletops (117)
- Pavosaurus Rex (118)
Feeding
Of course, taking care of animals will require you to feed them. There are several troughs you can fill with all kinds of foodstuff. However, the animals have preferences and won't eat if the food doesn't match them. Also, you can't take back what you put in, as the trough turns it into mush for feeding. Be careful that you don't put in something important to you!
Animal Care
An animal's life cycle has four or five stages: egg, child, Adolescent, Adult, and Elder. The first growth stage won't give you experience, but the rest will. The knowledge you get depends on their happiness and health. The higher those values are, the more experience you get when checking them. The action will also give you various products.
Quests
There are also several quests you can do to get Farming experience:
- Bringing Home the Bacon
- Perils of Ice Mountain
- Recipe for Disaster: Freeing the Goblin Generals
- Tortle Combat
- Spirit of Summer
- Enlightened Journey
- A Fairy Tale I - Growing Pains
- Dimension of Disaster: Curse of Arrav
- Grim Tales
- Forgettable Tale of a Drunken Dwarf
- Garden of Tranquility
- My Arm's Big Adventure
- Rum Deal
- A Fairy Tale III - Battle at Ork's Rift
- The Branches of Darkmeyer
- Rebuilding Edgeville
- Back to My Roots
Alternate Methods
Wilderness Warbands
This is a regular activity in the Wilderness. Every seven hours, players can infiltrate a camp to steal supplies. The players then have to turn in those objects, earning EXP depending on what type they obtained. You can gain experience in five skills here: Farming, Mining, Smithing, Construction, and Herblore.
Once you get the supplies, you're automatically skulled, and you can't teleport or log out to avoid it. You must run to Quercus, who can take the supplies you get. There are safer servers to do this, but even those can't eliminate all the risks of the activity. It's up to you to weigh the risks and rewards of this method!
Giant Oyster
This monthly activity can provide some Farming experience. It becomes available once you complete the 'Beneath Cursed Tides' quest. Return to the Tutorial Island through the Wizard's Tower. With the event active, you can harvest the Tasty-Looking Seaweed for the XP.
Supply Runs
Every 12 hours (at midnight and noon game time), Goebie Supplies spawn at the Supply Rock near Querci in Kanatah. Players can take 10, and they must bring it to Otot in Nemi Forest and exchange it for experience through Quercy.
The supplies will only be available for 25 minutes, and you're automatically skulled when you get the supplies. If you're quick, you can do this multiple times within the open period and get lots of XP.
Enjoy Farming in RuneScape 3!
These are the best and fastest ways to get 99 or 120 Farming. Have fun, and always pick the method that interests you the most! That's the way to stay energized while leveling. There are several methods to choose from and many boosts to help, so it should be quick!
