Gifts for farmers that actually get used

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

Buying for a farmer is hard. If they need a tool, they already went and got it the day the old one broke. If they want something, they usually won't say.

I work with farmers every day as a crop adviser, and I get asked this every December. Here is what I would give, and what I have seen get used instead of sitting in a drawer. It works for Christmas, for Dad, for a farm wife, or for a retirement.

The first idea is one I make and sell, so you know where I stand on it. Nothing else here earns me anything. No store links, no kickbacks.

The year they still talk about, on the wall

Every farmer has a year they still bring up. The drought, the wet spring, the first crop on new ground, Dad's last crop. Rain Print makes a custom rainfall print of that year: every rain and snow at the weather station nearest their farm or home town, from NOAA's daily records, drawn day by day on one 12 x 18 sheet.

You put their name on it, like "The Olson Farm", and a line under it if you want. You can mark up to five days with your own words: planted, the hail, the day they finished. Making one on the page is free, so you can see it 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 on my own printer in Chetek and you OK a proof before anything prints.

For Christmas, the order-by dates for a print and a framed print are on the Rain Print price cards.

This year as a gift. This year isn't over, so I can't print it yet. You can still give it. Order this year's print and I email you a gift card to print and put under the tree, with a code they use to see their print. The print follows in January, once the station's December numbers are in.

Shipping straight to them. Tick "It's a gift" when you order and I ship it to them with your note printed on a card in the box. No prices go in the box.

For your customers. Elevators, co-ops and ag lenders can order 5 or more, each with a customer's own town and year. Your name stays off the print, so it hangs in the house, and your note goes on a card in the box. A logo can go on it, small next to the name, if you upload one. Business orders.

Make one, free to try →

Other gifts farmers actually use

None of these are fancy. That is the point. These are the things I see worn out, lost, or borrowed and never brought back.

For chores and the cold

• Insulated bibs. Bibs get worn until the knees are held together with tape. Go a size up so they fit over jeans and a sweatshirt.
• Gloves, and lots of them. A pair of lined work gloves and a few pairs of cheap chore gloves. They lose one a week and wear out the rest.
• Wool socks. Not fun to give. Always used.
• A boot dryer. Pulling on wet boots at 5 in the morning is a bad start to the day.
• A good headlamp. In December, chores happen in the dark at both ends of the day. Get a bright one that recharges, runs all night if a cow is calving, and has a button you can work with gloves on.

For the truck, the cab and the shop

• A heated or insulated mug. Measure the cup holder in the truck and the tractor first. A mug that doesn't fit gets left on the dash.
• A toolbox upgrade. Every shop has a socket or wrench size that walked off years ago. Ask around quietly about what is missing, then buy the good version of that one thing.
• A good rain gauge. A plain, clear gauge on a post away from the buildings and trees gets read every morning. Get one that can stay out all winter, or plan to bring it in before it freezes and cracks. I'm designing one of my own too. It's in the works, not for sale yet.
• A flashlight that lives in the truck. And another one, because the first one will move to the shop.

For the wall or the shelf

• A framed photo of the yard, or an aerial of the farm. A local photographer or a drone pilot can take one in any season. An old photo of the place, scanned and framed, works just as well.
• A history of their home county. Many county historical societies sell their own books, and some have old plat maps that show who farmed what. Farmers will read every name.
• A Rain Print of the year that mattered. See above. The year usually picks itself.

Time, not stuff

• A meal for the harvest crew. Wrap up a promise for next fall: a hot meal on the tailgate, brought to the field on a night you pick. Nobody forgets that one.
• A weekend of chores covered. If you can do the chores, or pay someone who can, give them two days away. Most farmers don't take them unless someone makes it easy.
• Their stories, recorded. Sit them down with a phone and ask how the farm started, what the worst year was, and who taught them to drive tractor. Save it for the grandkids.

Who it's for

A gift for Dad, who farms

Dads say they don't need anything, and they mean it. Get him something about the farm instead of something for it. A print of the year he still brings up, the aerial of the yard, or a day when you run the chores.

Gifts for a farm wife

On a lot of farms she runs the grain cart, the books, the calves and the house. Get her gear that fits: bibs, a chore coat and gloves cut for women, not a men's small. A meal out the night harvest wraps up, with no dishes, goes a long way. So does a print of the year you got married.

A retirement gift for a farmer

Retirement on a farm is a slow thing. Mark it anyway. A print of their last crop, or their first one and their last side by side, says what a card can't. Ask the family and the neighbors to write down one story each and put them in a binder.

From a business, to customers

If you give customers something in December, give them something they will hang up. A Rain Print of each customer's own town and year does that. Business orders start at 5.

What to skip

Novelty stuff with a tractor on it. Signs with sayings. Gadgets nobody asked for. They end up in the shop drawer, and that drawer is already full.

Questions about any of this: contact me. Sig