Welcome to Elderfield How to Make Money — Processing and Task Income

The best way to make money in Welcome to Elderfield is to process goods rather than sell raw materials. A Steam discussion thread asking this exact question gets the answer directly: the best way to earn money is through processed goods such as preserves, keg products and processed animal products. Quest rewards top that up early, and the machines that do the processing are the ones worth unlocking first.

Processing Beats Selling Raw

The economy rewards the step after gathering. Crops, animal products and foraged items keep their resale value but gain more when run through a machine, so the Preserving Barrel, Keg and related processors are where the money is. The Crafting wiki prices those buildings themselves at 50g sell value for the Food Processor and Preserving Barrel and 50g for the Feedmaker, which tells you the game expects you to invest in them rather than flip ingredients.

Machine	Crafting cost (wiki)	Sell value
Grinder	4 Copper Bar, 10 Wood, 15 Stone	5g
Witching Mortar	15 Stone, 5 Wood	5g
Feedmaker	15 Wood, 10 Stone, 3 Copper Ore	50g
Preserving Barrel	30 Wood, 4 Leather, 8 Copper Bar, 2 Iron Bar	50g
Food Processor	3 Copper Bar, 2 Iron Bar, 10 Stone, 25 Wood	50g

Buy prices are deliberately higher than sell prices, so arbitrage does not work. The Cooking wiki lists Dough at 25g sell against 50g buy, Salt at 20g against 40g, and Secret Sauce at 37g against 75g — exactly half. That ratio is the signal: produce, do not buy to resell.

Task and Job Board Income

Quests are the reliable early income. The beginner guide notes that completing tasks earns rewards that make life easier, and the wiki's task tables show coin payments such as 25g for Babysitting...? alongside items. Tools and access are the bigger prize: Molly's Helping Molly task hands over the Rusty Pickaxe, Workshop access and the Furnace, and the Furnace is what turns ore into the bars the rest of the economy runs on.

Income source	What it pays	Notes
General and beginner tasks	Coin plus items	Some pay fixed coin, e.g. 25g
Job Board tasks	Item rewards	Worth clearing early for materials
Preserves	Processed crop and fruit products	Preserving Barrel
Keg products	Fermented goods	Requires the Keg
Processed animal products	Higher-value animal goods	Feedmaker feeds the chain

• Unlock the Furnace and Grinder before buying anything decorative.
• Turn every surplus crop into a preserved product instead of selling it raw.
• Clear the easy Job Board tasks in each new area for item rewards.
• Keep animal production running in the background while you explore.

Two more habits separate a slow economy from a fast one: process everything you will not use for crafting, and treat the machines as infrastructure rather than decoration, because the wiki's own sell values for the Preserving Barrel and Food Processor show the game expects that investment.

• Convert surplus crops into preserves the moment the Preserving Barrel is up.
• Reserve leather for armour and machine costs before spending it on anything else.
• Run the Feedmaker continuously so animal products keep arriving while you explore.
• Keep a stock of task items so you can claim Job Board rewards without a detour.

What Is Still Unconfirmed

The Game Mechanics wiki lists a Tax System, confirming taxes exist, but publishes no rates. Exact sell prices for animal products, keg outputs and preserved goods are not documented yet, so check them in-game before building a plan around one item. For what to cook and eat along the way, see the best food page, and for the materials that feed the machines, see the resources page.