Most Effective Crop Patterns Using Scarecrows and Sprinklers?

Solution 1:

TL;DR: There is no "most efficient" pattern that works across all farm layouts. Build your farm to yield as many farmables as you can, then do your best to cover the area with scarecrows.

Unlike sprinklers, scarecrows' effective range is circular (actually more octagonal). This can create some problems when trying to place them since it usually means you either have lopsided, asymmetrical layouts (which bothers people who like aesthetics) or you'll eat up a few farming spaces (which bothers people who aim for efficiency). Add to that the complication of different farm layouts and terrain obstacles, plus sprinklers and beehives, and you've got yourself quite the conundrum. No matter what you end up doing, you'll have to sacrifice either appearances or maximum payout if you want to keep up 100% scarecrow coverage.

A scarecrow's is an 8 block radius, as seen on the wiki:

Unfortunately, because of the rounded shape of the range, you are forced to stack areas of effect in order to condense the coverage to a rectangular farm. You can try a "staggered" approach (one scarecrow on one side, another scarecrow on the other side but somewhat lower), which has the benefits of maximum space efficiency with minimum overlap:

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Or you can do a "simplistic" approach (one scarecrow on each side at equal spacing), which is easier to set up but uses up more space and scarecrows.

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The method I have used is to make one large crop field (16x16), putting one scarecrow on the outside of each corner. I also place one scarecrow in the center of the crop field, which covers the missing "hole". Then I'll fill in the sprinklers and crops as best I can.

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Overall, because of various terrain obstacles, I don't think there is a 100% fully efficient method. Just try a couple different methods and use what you like best.