I'm not typically an early Christmas shopper, but in the more recent years I've learned to pay closer attention to what my dad needs when we are fixing something, milking the cows or working around the farm.

This past weekend we built a new door for the barn, fixed a waterer, screwed a couple of new boards to the large barn door where others had fallen off in the wind and just did a little general cleanup. And while the number one thing my dad says he'd prefer for a gift is for his kids to come spend a few days at home helping him out, we know that sometimes when you live well over three hours away from the farm, that's not always as easy as we'd hope it to be.

Farmers can be tough to buy gifts for; they only need so many warm pocket shirts, pairs of work gloves or hammer drills. If you're looking for something unique and useful this year, a reference book to help improve the dairy may be exactly what you're after.

Hoard's Dairyman offers a wide range of gift books, reference guides and educational books through our bookstore. There is likely something missing from your farmer's library that you can find here. A couple examples follow below:

Gift Books
2017 Hoard's Dairyman Calendar
Handy Hints
National Dairy Shrine's First 50 Years