How to make cow farm in Minecraft 1.19

Being a reliable source of beef, leather, and milk, cows are valuable animals to keep close in Minecraft. Additionally, cows provide players with a small amount of experience whenever they're killed, and can be easily bred by being fed wheat.

Since cows are such an important mob in both the early and end game of Minecraft, it's no surprise that many players farm them for resources. With an efficient cow farm, players will always have tons of leather and beef to keep themselves well-fed and stocked with crafting materials for the foreseeable future.

With new farm designs springing up all the time, players are always innovating new ways to farm cows more efficiently. On that note, it's never a bad time to look at a cow farm design that's excellent for both Minecraft beginners and veterans.

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Creating a basic semi-automatic cow farm in Minecraft 1.19+

A basic semi-auto cow farm design in Minecraft, also known as a cow crusher (Image via Mojang)

One of the simplest cow farms is known as a cow crusher, and it operates on the rule that only 24 of a particular mob can exist on a given block at any one moment. The premise of this farm is fairly simple: Two cows are introduced to a one-block space and bred until the number of cows is too high in that space, continuously killing off the cows until 24 are left.

All the killed cows will deposit their beef and leather into a chest through a connected hopper. The only requirement to keep this farm running is for Minecraft players to feed the cows wheat, allowing them to breed.

Building a basic cow crusher in Minecraft 1.19+

1. You can begin by collecting three basic blocks of any type (glass allows for visibility), a water bucket, three slabs, three stair blocks, a hopper, and a chest. You'll also need a few extra building blocks to place your stairs and slabs, but these will be removed later.
2. Begin by placing your three stair blocks ascending upward. You'll likely need to use your spare building blocks to allow the stairs to climb as intended, but they can be removed later if needed.
3. One block behind and to the right of the first stair block placed (at ground level), place a chest.
4. Place the hopper behind the chest, and make sure it's connected to it.
5. Place your slabs above the hopper and adjacent to your stair blocks.
6. Place your three basic blocks from Step 1 atop the slabs.
7. Using leads or wheat, lead two cows into the hole you've created by walking them up the stairs and nudging them in. If you don't mind using cheats or Creative Mode, you can use cow spawn eggs and pop two cows into the hole directly. If you're not using cheats/Creative, you may need to use some extra blocks to build outward from the farm to give yourself a walkway before nudging the cows into the hole.
8. Once the cows are in the hole and standing on the hopper, crouch down and place your water bucket in the space the cows are standing on. If done correctly, the water should be held in place by the slabs, and the cows will float upward.
9. To keep the cows from jumping out, place a fence block over the top of the hole that the cows are standing in.

The Minecraft cow farm's slabs should be placed in this arrangement (Image via Mojang)

Once this basic farm design has been completed, the time-consuming portion begins. Minecraft players will need to feed their cows wheat and allow them to breed until there are 24 cows in the opening. Since cows have a five-minute cooldown between breeding, this can take some time. Spawn eggs can be used to expedite this process if players don't mind cheats or using Creative Mode.

Minecraft players will know that they have 24 cows in this farm once they feed their cows wheat and a few cows instantly die, depositing their contents into the chest. This is due to the mechanics noted above where more than 24 entities cannot be in a single-block space together. Later on, simply keep feeding the existing cows wheat and watch as the beef and leather in your chest pile up.