Retirement gifts for a farmer

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

Farmers don't retire the way other people do. Most still show up at harvest, still check the rain gauge and still go to the coffee shop to hear what everyone got. What changes is that the decisions are somebody else's now.

So the best retirement gifts mark what they built and give them something for the time they have now. I'm a crop adviser and I've been to a lot of these. Here is what I've seen land.

Their first crop and their last, 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. For a retirement, pick the last year they farmed, or order two: the first year and the last, side by side.

Put the farm's name on it and a line under it, like "Farmed it 41 years". You can mark up to five days in your own words: the last day of harvest, the day the planter went to the neighbor. 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 →

Other retirement gifts that get kept

A binder of stories. Ask the family, the neighbors, the landlord, the elevator crew and the seed dealer to each write down one story about them. Put the pages in a binder. It costs nothing but asking, and it will be read more than anything else they get.
Their stories, recorded. Sit them down with a phone and ask how they started, the worst year, the best year and who taught them. Save the file for the grandkids.
The farm from the air. A drone pilot or a local photographer can take one in any season. An old aerial photo of the place, scanned and framed, works as well.
The plat map from the year they started. County historical societies and county offices often have old plat books. Frame the page with their name on it, or their dad's.
A field named for them. If the next generation is taking over, name a field after them and put it on the field map. It costs nothing and it will get said out loud every spring.
A trip in the busy season. They have never been anywhere in May or October. Give them a trip they can take during planting or harvest, and mean it.
A good chair for the shop or the porch. They will be out there anyway, watching somebody else run the combine.

From a co-op, elevator or lender

If a long-time customer is retiring, a framed print of a year they farmed with you, with a note from the staff in the box, says more than a plaque. One print is a regular order. If you give several customers a print each December, see Rain Prints for your customers.

What to skip

Tools. They already have them, and they will keep using their own. Retirement joke gifts, signs with sayings and anything that says "gone fishing". Most farmers would rather you didn't make a fuss, so keep it about the farm and the people.

Questions

What is a good retirement gift for a farmer?

Something that marks the farm, not the job. A print of their last crop year, or their first and last side by side, a binder of stories from family and neighbors, a framed aerial of the place, or a trip in the season they never got to leave. Skip tools; they already have them.

What do you write in a retirement card for a farmer?

Name the years and something specific: the crop they still talk about, a thing they taught you, the help they gave a neighbor. Farmers trust specifics over big words. One true story beats a page of compliments.

What can a co-op or elevator give a retiring customer?

A framed print of a year they farmed, with a note from the staff, or a binder of stories from the people who worked with them. Keep the business name off the gift itself so it hangs in the house.

Is a Rain Print a good retirement gift?

If they talk about the weather of a particular year, yes. It draws every rain and snow of that year at the station nearest the farm. Pick the last year they farmed, or order the first and last as a pair. Drawing it on the page is free, so you can see it first.

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