Christmas gift guide for life on a farm

Dec 10, 2014

For the farmer who’s got almost everything

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

Christmas is just over two weeks away and the rush to find the perfect gifts for everyone on your list will undoubtedly intensify.

Add to all that mayhem, trying to buy for a farmer, who no matter how hard you press, will say they have everything and need nothing.

Here’s a list of some items that are sure to make any farmer smile on Christmas morning.

Item	Price	Specifics
Farm-Opoly	$29.99 on Amazon	Enjoy the intensity of regular Monopoly with an agricultural twist. Build and sell red barns, but be sure not to end up in “Drought”.
Long Range Wi-Fi Router	Varies	Keep connected almost anywhere on the farm. Some routers suggest they can have a Wi-Fi signal up to two miles away from the wired connection.
Personalized Aerial Hometown Puzzle	$49.95 on Catalogfavorites.com	Keep them occupied with a 400-piece puzzle of their own farm.
Magazine Subscription	Varies	Keep them informed about the most important issues in agriculture with a magazine most suited to their environment and interests.
Agricultural Tour	Varies	AgriTours Canada has plenty of 2015 tours listed and would make a great gift to mingle with other farmers from different parts of Canada and agtoursusa.com does the same for the United States.
Farm Sign	Varies	Selling products from the farm or the old sign looking a little worn out? A new one is sure to attract the eyes of the public.
Corn Maze Kit	$1750 on Farmworks.com	Let their creative juices flow and have them design a corn maze for all to enjoy.
Agricola	$63.99 on Amazon	A strategy game where every move matters. With only 14 turns in the game, deciding whether to collect resources, build fences or harvest crops can change the outcome of the game very quickly.
Solar-Powered Radio	Varies	Nothing makes the day go by like some great music in the background. A radio powered by the sun is a great way to enjoy music and help the environment.
Wireless Meat Thermometer	Varies	Farmers spend countless hours feeding and caring for the animals so when they make it to the table, it’s the best tasting meat yet. Using one of these will ensure the meats are cooked to the favourite temperatures to be enjoyed by all.
Precision Ag Conference Registration	Varies by region	Attending conferences during the winter months is a great way for Farmers to learn information quickly on new topics and techniques in agriculture. In Ontario, the Farms.com team is holding the precision ag conference in February, early bird registration is only $100.00.

Some of these items might not fit under a Christmas tree, but there’s probably room for them in the life of a farmer.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.