Farm anniversary gifts

Sigurd Lindquist, Certified Crop Adviser (CCA), Chetek, Wisconsin

A farm anniversary is one of two things. A couple who has farmed together for 25 or 50 years, or a farm that has stayed in the family for 100 years. Either way the gift should be about the place and the years, not one more thing for the shop.

I'm a crop adviser in Wisconsin. Here is what I would give for each.

The year it started, on the wall

An example Rain Print from Ames, Iowa, in the drought year, from NOAA daily records: rain stepping up across the months, well under a usual year — An example: Ames, Iowa, in the drought year, from NOAA records.

Rain Print draws every rain and snow of one year at the weather station nearest the farm, from NOAA's daily records, on a 12 x 18 sheet. Pick the year they married, or the year the family bought the place, back to 1890 where the station kept records that long.

Put their names or the farm's name on it, and mark up to five days in your own words: the wedding, the day they moved in, the first crop in the bin. Drawing one on the page is free, so you can look before you spend anything.

Digital file $19
12 x 18 print $45
Framed $89

Shipping is in the price, anywhere in the 50 states. I print every one myself and you OK a proof before anything prints. This is the one idea on this page I sell; nothing else here earns me anything.

Draw one free →

For a farm couple's anniversary

The year they married, drawn day by day. See above. Mark the wedding day, and the year's other days that mattered to them.
A night off in the busy season. Cover chores or run the grain cart for a night so they can go to supper. On a farm that is worth more than anything you can wrap.
Their wedding photo with a photo of the yard today. Frame them together.
A dinner with the neighbors. Host it, so they don't have to.

For the farm's own anniversary

The old plat map or the deed. Find the plat book page or the deed from the year the family bought it, at the county office or the historical society, and frame it.
A sign with the year the farm started. A local sign maker or welder can make one for the end of the lane.
The family's story, written down. Ask the oldest relatives what they remember and put it in a binder with old photos. Make a copy for everyone in the family.
A tree planted in the yard. Something that will still be there for the next anniversary.
A print of the first year on the place. If the weather station near the farm kept records back then, Rain Print can draw that year. The page tells you if it can't.

What to skip

Signs with sayings, tractor knickknacks and anything with a cartoon cow. They already have a drawer of them.

Questions

What is a good farm anniversary gift?

For a couple, a print of the year they married with the wedding day marked, or a night off in the busy season. For the farm itself, a framed copy of the old plat map or deed from the year it was bought, a sign with the year the farm started, or the family's story written down.

What do you give for a century farm anniversary?

Something about the place and the family: the old plat map or deed framed, a sign for the end of the lane with the year it started, a written family history with old photos, or a print of the first year's weather if the nearest station kept records that long.

Can a Rain Print show a year from long ago?

Often, yes. It goes back to 1890 where the weather station nearest the farm kept daily records that long. Type the town and the year on the Rain Print page; it says if no nearby station has that year.

Can I mark the wedding day on a Rain Print?

Yes. You can mark up to five days with your own words, so the wedding, the day they moved onto the farm and a first harvest can all go on one print.

More ideas for any occasion: gifts for farmers. Questions: contact me. Sig