Top 10 agronomy gifts for Christmas

Even Santa wears booties when scouting!
Even Santa wears booties when scouting!

1. A subscription to Canola Watch. It’s free, but nothing says “I care” like Canola Watch!

2. Scouting apps. You’ll find apps for note taking, for weed ID, harvest losses and other handy uses. Some of them are free. Some are a buck or two, but it’s the thought that counts!

3. Plastic pin flags. This is a low-tech way to mark test strips and other notable areas in a field, and because they’re plastic, they don’t present the same risk to header knives or combine concaves that wire flags do.

4. Blackleg pruning shears. Simple but essential for scouting for blackleg in the weeks before harvest.

5. Sweep net. Simple but essential for scouting lygus bugs and cabbage seedpod weevils.

6. Registration to CanoLAB. Nothing beats hands on learning with a few smart peers.

7. A drop pan for the combine to measure losses. This could pay for itself over and over. Big ones that connect by electromagnet to the bottom of the combine are handy and safer.

8. Trail cameras for time lapse photography.

9. Handheld GPS units to mark test strips, scouting locations, soil test locations, etc.

10. Moisture and temperature cables for the bins. Make bin monitoring a little easier, especially in winter.